Good afternoon. I call to order this hearing of the Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee on U.S. Special Operations Forces and Command Challenges and Resource Priorities for Fiscal Year 2025. I would like to first welcome our witnesses, Assistant Secretary Christopher Mayer and General Brian Fenton, and all of our subcommittee members to this crucial hearing on the operational and fiscal challenges facing our Special Operations community. I look forward to working with everyone in this room on these important issues and I'm confident we will discuss them at length throughout this year. Our objective today is to thoroughly examine the alignment of our Special Operations Forces and U.S. SOCOM with the National Defense Strategy. This includes examining the challenges they face, the resources required to surmount these challenges, and their strategic role in the context of great power competition. As the U.S. attempts to shift its focus away from the threats in the Middle East, we are quickly learning that the threats in the Middle East have not shifted their focus away from us. Counterterrorism, addressing violent extremist organizations, and proxy threats are not missions we can wish away, and as our footprint in the Middle East grows increasingly smaller, we will continually rely on our elite Special Operations community to suppress these threats as we attempt to shift our primary focus to the challenges of great power competition. This is not to say that our Special Operations community is not engaged in great power competition, quite the opposite. There was a false notion floating around that the Special Operations community had their time in the sun and enjoyed a bountiful resourcing, but now it is time for them to take a back seat. This could not be more incorrect. Since 2001, Special Operations may have doubled in size, and they may have doubled in resourcing, but they have quadrupled in requirements. They are busier today than ever. They are asked to do more today than ever. As such, I am dismayed that US SOCOM is again funded at a flat level. When it comes to bang for your buck, there is perhaps nothing as effective as the dollars we spend on our Special Operations community. At least at less than 2 percent of the Department of Defense's budget and roughly 3 percent of its manpower, US SOCOM punches far above its weight. In a time of shaping and information operations, hybrid competition, partner training, and gray zone conflict, the Department should be looking to resource US SOCOM's return on investment propositions to the greatest extent possible. Spending each dollar more effectively than each Chinese one is how we win great power competition, and that is what our Special Operations community can provide. And with that, I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on the priorities for US Special Operations ahead of Congress work on the FY25 budget and NDAA. I would like to welcome our witnesses here today. The Honorable Christopher Mayer serves as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, sometimes known as SOLIC, and General Brian Fenton, who currently serves as the 13th commander of US Special Operations Command. In the interest of time, I ask the witnesses to keep their opening remarks to five minutes or less so that we have sufficient time for questions and answers. With that, let me thank our witnesses for appearing before us. And today, I recognize a ranking member, Slotkin, for any opening remarks she may have. Thanks, Representative Bergman, Mr. Chairman. I think this is the second time, maybe in history, that two Michiganders have chaired a Haas hearing last year. We did the same thing. I think we opened the hearing last year by saying the current global security environment is dynamic. I think it's fair to say that was an understatement. Obviously, we had the attack on October 7th and the ensuing conflict and humanitarian crisis. We've seen what Iran and Iran's proxies have done across the region. We're realizing the real-time consequences of the actions of those malign actors. Not just the threat in the Middle East, but globally with international shipping traffic. In Russia, I mean, in Europe, we still have the Russia's illegal and unjust war in Ukraine, entering its third year, and obviously the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Chinese Communist Party increasingly using coercive actions that run counter to the international global order. We know that this has your full attention, this whole spread of conflicts. And for over 20 years, we've asked the Special Forces community to focus on counterterrorism and countering violent extremism in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and whatnot. So I think as a former CIA officer, I have better part of my 20s and 30s working alongside the Special Forces community, both here and in Iraq, and know firsthand the importance of your work. But we want to understand if you have the resources that you need in this very sort of dynamically changing world. Representative Bergman talked about great power competition. How is the Special Forces community postured to support this effort? What does that look like? Do you have the right training, the right manning, equipping international support, funding, professional military education? Furthermore, we need to make sure we still maintain our eye on that ball when it comes to terrorism, crisis response, integrated defense, I'm excuse me, deterrence. So look forward to hearing from all of you on that. We welcome you here and I yield back. Thank you. And as we're on a bit of a timeline here, it looks like votes are going to be called in about less than 25 minutes or so. So what I'd like to do is let's get our remarks from our witnesses. And then depending on when that finishes, we'll have a, if we're done with your remarks before that, then we'll have a couple of Q&A until they call votes. And then at that point, once they call votes, we will adjourn and then we will reconvene in Rayburn 2337 for a classified session. And we can continue our comments down, you know, your questions down there. We'll just kind of do what we do now, go to vote, come back, go into classified and finish when we finish. So with that, Secretary Mayer, over to you. Well, thank you, Chairman Bergman and ranking member Slotkin and distinguished members of this subcommittee. Thank you for this opportunity to testify in the global posture of our nation's Special Operations Forces or SOF. I'm honored to again appear alongside General Brian Fenton and I thank you for his continued partnership as we posture your SOF to meet our nation's challenges. Alongside General Fenton, I thank Command Sergeant Major Shane Shorter for their collective leadership of U.S. Special Operations Command. I would like to begin by recognizing the dedication, service, and sacrifice of our SOF team, military, civilians, and contractors. There is no starker reminder of these sacrifices than the 15 teammates we have lost in recent months as they prepared for and executed high-risk missions in support of integrated deterrence, crisis response, and counterterrorism in Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific. Their bravery and selflessness are an enduring testament to SOF's dedication to preserving our freedoms. They represent the best of America. Let us forget neither their sacrifices nor the loss their families, friends, and loved ones still feel. In the past year we have seen an increase in demand for SOF and the unique capabilities SOF brings, from evacuating embassies to responding to attacks on allies to continued pressure on ISIS and al-Qaeda, and in the campaigning essential to the national defense strategy and integrated deterrence. SOF creates dilemmas for our adversaries, dismantles their proxy and illicit networks, and provides options for the joint force through unique understanding of the operational environment that benefits from generational relationships with allies and partners. In the Pacific, I have seen firsthand the tangible impacts of SOF presence and engagement, but we know China seeks greater global influence, and SOF, working with natural partners Spacecom, Cybercom, and Stratcom, is well positioned to operationalize integrated deterrence against the PRC globally. In Europe, not only does SOF draw on generational relationships with Ukraine in aiding its fight against Russian aggression, we also are deepening integration in the high north with Norway, a founding NATO member, and with Sweden, our newest NATO member. With these partners and others, SOF is ready for operations in the Arctic. As the Assistant Secretary, my top priority remains strengthening the congressionally directed service-like role for SOF. From this position in the administrative chain of command for SOCOM, my focus is to see that SOF's value to the national defense strategy is not only understood by Congress and our fellow citizens, but also accounted for and incorporated into the department's planning and decision processes. To that end, I appreciate Congress authorizing a second principal deputy to help me lead our SOF service-like responsibilities. In a recent report, GAO reflected our progress in building this secretariat for special operations. In another sign of progress, I am joined today by a new teammate, Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Brad Rylander, who adds a SOF unique perspective alongside the Pentagon's service senior enlisted leaders. In partnership with SOCOM, SOLIC is enhancing our analytic capabilities necessary to convey the value our SOF women and men bring to accomplishing the goals of the NDS, especially our critical role in ensuring the joint force can win without fighting. These advancements also enable SOF to better integrate with the department's process for prioritizing resources. As a key accompanying priority in SOLIC, we have also established a directorate dedicated to SOF's most important asset, our people. It is the people of the SOF enterprise, after all, who make all this work. With the support of Congress, SOCOM continues to tailor the preservation of the force and families, or POTIF, to address challenges for our service members, including a cognitive performance where SOF are leading in combating traumatic brain injury. I also have responsibility within the department for a range of policy issues with a direct impact on SOF, such as information operations, the regular warfare, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, counter-threat finance, and civilian harm mitigation. SOLIC strives to lead in the U.S. government's policy arena for these issues, and we continue to benefit from the support of Congress and this subcommittee in particular with resources, authorities, and advocacy. Together with SOCOM, I am focused on resourcing and readying the SOF enterprise to meet the nation's challenges, be they the well-established mission of crisis response and counter-terrorism that protect Americans from harm, or the campaigning and integrated deterrence that aim to prevent future war, or if necessary, to ensure the United States fights from a point of maximum advantage. We do this around the globe in more than 80 countries at any given time and in all domains and environments. Mr. Chairman, thank you for this subcommittee, thank you, and this subcommittee for your partnership and support. I look forward to your questions. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and General Fenton, you're recognized. Chairman Bergman, Ranking Member and Distinguished Members of this committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Joining me is Command Sergeant Major Shane Shorter, a two-time COCOM Command Senior Enlisted Leader with over three decades of service and special operations. He represents our incredible non-commissioned officer corps that is without equal. Our NCOs stand at the very center of our command, making us the envy of militaries across the world and the object of fear among our foes. Together, we're honored to represent the 70,000 uniformed and civilian members of SOCOM, including 28 international special operations teammates and our interagency team at our headquarters. I'm honored to testify alongside Secretary Chris Mayer. His leadership and the SOLEC team's advocacy are vital for the readiness, modernization, and well-being of our force and families. As Secretary Mayer mentioned, we lost 15 of our special operations teammates over the last five months. They made the ultimate sacrifice, and their selfless acts remind us of the utmost devotion to duty in our formations. Never forgetting our fallen and supporting their families remains our sacred obligation.  From the People's Republic of China to Russia, from Iran to North Korea, and violent extremist organizations, our adversaries seek to divide and weaken the U.S., our allies, and our partners. The PRC's global coercion, debt diplomacy, cyber intrusions, and aggression are common practice in their pursuit to rewrite the international order. Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine grinds into its third year with attack on innocent civilians, abductions, and other crimes fueling their objectives in Europe. All while their disinformation campaigns spread chaos across the globe. The DPRK is increasingly belligerent, complicit, and delusional. They support Russia's aggression in Europe. Iran, a longtime malign actor, leverages its proxies, Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and militias, even more than before, to sow instability in the Middle East, while al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda, and ISIS still seek to threaten our homeland and interest abroad. To combat these threats, your SOCOM team delivers asymmetric and asynchronous advantage for DOD. Through our enterprise priorities of people, win, transform. Our people, the competitive and comparative advantage. Your special operations attract the most talented men and women, driven to solve the most complex problems in politically sensitive and contested environments. And with them, we win by asymmetrically deterring our adversaries, tearing apart violent extremist organizations, and rapidly responding to crisis. To be clear, DOD's main effort, integrated deterrence, is SOCOM's main effort. Since 1942, your SOF have accumulated six decades of strategic competition experience, now combined with over two decades of hard-earned combat experience in the global war on terror. These eight decades make your special operations tailor-made for this era, providing integrated strategic options to prevent great power war, winning before conflict, simultaneously preparing the environment to ensure the joint force prevails if conflict occurs. Those eight decades highlight that integrated deterrence and strategic competition are in our DNA, always has been, always will. Added to this, your SOCOM team preserves strategic focus on the pacing challenge and the acute threat because it's our duty to maintain exquisite capabilities to degrade violent extremist organizations, denying them their goals while continuing to rescue U.S. citizens and diplomats anywhere in the world. Our final priority is transform, to address the rapidly changing environment and character of war. We start with our people, enhancing war-fighting performance and education, then wrapping technology around them, like AI and uncrewed systems, to solve problems for the joint force via agile innovation. With Congress as the architect of Special Operations Command in 1987, we are thankful for your foresight, leadership and continued support. And to those listening today, considering service to our nation, know the profound sense of calling, purpose and fulfillment, those serving in uniform share. Service in our military is unparalleled. Within our ranks, you will meet people from every background and every walk of life. If you want to serve in jobs like cyber, intelligence, operations and more, join our ranks. We appreciate being here today. Thank you. And I look forward to taking your questions. Thank you, General Fenton. Since they haven't called vote yet, we're going to just continue to move forward. I'm going to reserve my questions until the end. So, ranking member Slotkin in an all Michigan effort here on the day, let's go for it. Great. Thanks for being here. Thanks for your testimony. You know, I think from my time working alongside the Special Forces and then just watching you all in the Pentagon operate, you know, there's a speed and agility that comes, I think, from the mission of your organization, but also from the experience of going into some of the most dangerous and chaotic places in the world and having to operate. And it was always something that I thought the rest of the Pentagon could learn from. And a week ago, we had a hearing in this room about acquisition, new technology, how to go from idea to fielding of a new system and how to speed that process. You all have some special authorities that allow you to go from concept to fielding faster. And I saw that particularly in Syria while back now. Can you talk to us about the authorities that you have, the experience you have of fielding new technology, your process, and then is there anything else you need from Congress that you don't have that would aid in the quick and faster acquisition of tech? Either one of you. Well, Congresswoman, I'll happily take that one. First, I start with its division of this Congress that I think has put us in that position as Special Operations Command. What I mean by that is not only the authorities that you speak, but the creation of an acquisition executive for SOCOM that's very unique in any COCOM in the fact that they don't have one. And our acquisition executive is much like the service secretary's acquisition executive services have. I think that's first and foremost. And our acquisition executive, Ms. Melissa Johnson, right now works for us as the SOCOM command team very closely. And we're blessed that she's had three different tours in our command, and she knows what we require in terms of speed, agility, flexibility, and getting equipment in the hands of our warfighters downrange. I think the authorities we have are by large measure the same as anyone else would have. I think the secret sauce is the acquisition executive in that program executive ops team that sits down at the SOCOM headquarters because they can really become part of our DNA. That's interesting. Sorry to interrupt you, but that is a different structural situation, and I'm glad to know it works. Maybe that's something we should look at for other branches. Can you give me an example of the acquisition of a new technology that has aided forces on the ground somewhere, and how you went from flash to bang on it? I can't, Congressman. The other part I think of the key pieces for SOCOM is the culture of the entire SOCOM enterprise. When someone's downrange, in this case, sees a gap or need, there is already at speed identity for our teammates that we've got to work towards. And I think the other piece is that when we identify a gap in the event of counter UAS, for instance, when we look at it, we have an opportunity first to bring industry and enterprise forward with us and turn it very quickly in a way that is in theater, in essence, a battle lab, and then get that feedback very quickly to the teammates we work for within any industry. I think that's part of it. We're willing to do as much work as industry and turning the wheel as fast as we can. I would say counter UAS is one of the greatest examples of that. When I was out in Jordan at this point over a year ago, I was shocked that the way we're doing counter UAS over ATAMF, for example, was with F-16 caps, 24-7 caps. Tell me about force protection in the minute and a half I have left, particularly in the Middle East, particularly in light of the fact that we just lost three soldiers in a drone attack in the Middle East. Congresswoman, I can speak to the SOCOM piece of that, certainly the SENTCOM theater. First and foremost, we have deployed counter UAS and kinetic systems on those counter UAS systems at our basis across the Middle East. It's layered in on top of what the SENTCOM commander has from the Army and other capabilities to allow us the sense, and that, as you know, is tough as these UASs from group 1 to group 3 start to change. And then to defeat or destroy, we have those systems downrange with the SOCOM team. We are partnered with the SENTCOM commander's experimentation. What we learned, we want that team to learn. We want the whole joint force to learn so that we're doing it at the speed of this scourge of these one-way strike drones and long range munitions that have been a long focus of the Secretary of Defense and certainly SOCOM. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. Mr. LaTrell, you are recognized for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Shift gears a little bit. I'm very focused in on cognitive and physical well-being of our forces, especially across the border, but the Special Warfare community, you know, they have a tendency to take it to a whole different level. And I believe, personally, just maybe because I haven't been read in in the past couple months, that there's a miss between the time that an individual enters into our programs, the time they exit our programs, and how we're following that individual through their, if you will, their cycle or their other career. Because there is a huge gap from when an individual leaves the military. As a researcher before I came here, I was dealing with injured brains and bodies. I'd have a Special Warfare guy or girl come up to me with no documentation on what they went through from start to finish, unless they chose to enter and walk into medical and say, hey, I've got this going on. And that's a huge problem. And when it comes to SOCOM, as Ms. LaTrell said earlier, we have the ability to move dynamically in any direction, which means we absolutely have the ability to problem solve for our men and women in our community.  Tell me what it's like going through Hell Week. What's air assault like? What's airborne school like? And everything is going to different variations, right? Let me tell you from a guy that was in the Special Warfare community who's sitting out in the real world, get ready.   And there's nothing on the outside that compares to what you're you're in right now. And it is my belief that we can do a better job of offloading our men and women from that bullet train that they're riding on. There's no stopping at the station.   That's the truth. So from start to finish, when somebody enters into our program, we have to do baseline assessments, a cognitive and physical assessments. We have to we have to track their journey after every deployment. We have to make sure that we document, we have to make sure that we're listening. We need to do that in SOCOM because I'm trying to get the VA to do it. The VA is such a big machine, it's taking forever to create the process. But SOCOM can do that because if it happens in SOCOM, it trickles down into the mass. So my question is, where are we when it comes to the well being of our force? Are we learning from other countries with soft communities on what they're doing to prevent cognitive physical declines after the fact? Mr. Mayor, we missed the opportunity to chat the other day. So I'll open that with you if you don't mind. Congressman, thanks very much for the question. I think to answer your question where we are is we're much more aware of what you just articulated than probably we were five years or when you were serving with a couple concrete examples. You know, we talk about POTIF all the time in the context of SOCOM because it is such a unique set of capabilities and the continued emphasis and growth on the cognitive piece I think is a key part of that. But this transition out of the military from being part of a team and very, and particularly in the special warfare community as you're talking about to being by yourself without a lot of the resources and community there I think is something we're increasingly addressing by looking holistically. A lot of these answers are not going to be sponsored by the federal government or even sponsored by the Department of Defense, bringing in benevolent organizations that are going to be committed to tracking individuals in addition to those small communities of people I think is how we're going to need to continue to look at this. I think General Fenn will undoubtedly have more he'll want to bring to this but I think what has changed even in my time just in this role of less than three years is how much more we're putting on the cognitive side of things both both perspectives both kind of the psychological and spiritual piece as we think about our current folks that are in the force but then what happens to folks when they leave you know the scourge of suicides after folks leave is something that we've not been particularly good at getting at and I think that's something that continues to very much be a focus for us as we we really struggle in some respects to get at the bottom of what's making some of these problems so intractable. Congressman I'll add first as I mentioned in the open statement we've got 80 years of special operations and I think it's only really been the last 10 years we're starting to get our arms wrapped around this in the way that you describe through the POTIF program and we're very grateful to this congress for all the money that goes towards that and the resources to make us a performance-based organization in the way we are through the five pillars physically all the way to social spiritually behavior behaviorively and cognitively I think in that light we're better off than many nation our global soft partner nations across the world yet we still want to learn from them they do have some practices some experiences we don't and we inject that in and we share back with them all the things we have and I think that makes for a winning combination the other thing we're doing is we're certainly working with folks outside even in our own nation outside the government folks like the NFL and many of organizations that have seen certain type of injuries either before or during that profession that we want to learn from because I think to add to who SOCOM is as you mentioned we're also incredibly hungry to always get better so I think that there is still a lot of work to do on suicide brain health many others but we're blessed we've got a great start based on POTIF and this congress and we're we're committed to that thank you thank you everyone in the room for your service thank you thank you i'm mr patty you are recognized for five minutes thank you mr chairman gentlemen good afternoon thank you for being here um I think obviously you're familiar with the fact that third group special forces were assigned to Africa support operations in UCOM I guess is what's happening now and that exposed them to some information sharing uh that SUCCR and UCOM have have in place with their allies and our partners in Ukraine do you you know though obviously they're limited to how DOD can work with and through our partner forces in Africa especially when it comes to sharing information and crisis operations do you see any utility in leveraging what our third group special forces are learning in the information sharing process in UCOM and potentially replicating that process for special operations in Africa congress of net uh absolutely and I think uh we are very focused as an organization on leveraging all the experiences we have and looking to apply them because there's a lot more similarities than there are differences so to your specific question I think one of the things that has really pushed us from a soft perspective in Ukraine is the fact that we had pre-existing relationships then for decisions uh ultimately were made for us to depart it tested our ability to continue to do that uh advising and assisting from a distance so this remote capability that we've had to perfect um although it continues to be a work in progress has tremendous applicability I think with some of our partners in Africa both on counterterrorism and crisis response oftentimes the uh threat situation is such that we can't put our forces or choose not to put our forces as close to a threat so being able to leverage that's important the other area I would highlight sir is the it's already been touched on but the the massive innovation and unmanned systems in Ukraine that we're seeing occur on a daily if not weekly basis some of that's starting to manifest in Africa with threats to our basis threats to our people and so those lessons learned are incredibly valuable and need to be applied immediately sir absolutely general congressman I I think your highlight your vignette on third group is actually a good news story for uh for this congress to know and to hear it's a it's a business practice of socom and the enterprise to share those kind of lessons learned across our formation uh and you know anytime somebody's learning something forward we want that across all of our enterprise elements as fast as we can get it sometimes we do it through t socks sometimes our school houses sometimes the groups themselves which makes us as a whole a much better uh organization I would say toward information operations absolutely we see global disinformation and misinformation you know everywhere we look from the prc and and certainly from uh from uh the russian federation and if we've seen it in yukam we understand it and we can take those lessons learned into Africa I think very important certainly in light of what we're seeing right now on the continent thank you and in general obviously you and I have discussed providing our special operations forces stationed in the Sahel with tax exclusion benefits by designating Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso as qualified hazard duty hazardous duty areas as you know well this designation recognizes the emergent and consistent threats that our service members face in those locations including an increasing number of terrorist attacks uh conflict with conflicts with Wagner and growing military takeovers unfortunately we just saw Niger which is currently under a military junta expelled that they expelled American forces from the region or basically are setting it up to do so which clearly will disrupt critical ISR capabilities for our counter-terrorism operations can you give us an explanation of how that shift in operations in Niger might compound issues near and nearby in other parts of the Sahel and how that might pose increased threats to our service members? Congressman I think uh I'll start by saying there's still a lot to watch uh vis-a-vis Niger that was uh you know recently breaking uh both discussion and uh and news articles and then certainly more fidelity I would imagine from the sector and the policy side so for us still lots to watch still lots to understand and we're doing that through the AFRICOM team and our special operations command Africa I think in general any uh anytime we we uh detach from or lose a partner in that region it's a challenge at keeping our uh if this were to be the case uh it it gives us less insights indications and warnings into what uh you know any of the groups that are there terrorist or narrative wells or potentiality and the Russia PRCPs are doing or thinking about towards the U.S. and towards partners and allies so still lots to watch there we're still working with our SOC Africa team and the AFRICOM team to figure out how this goes but you can count first if anything happens it will always be credible disciplined and reliable from your special ops teams and uh and we'll continue to watch this go I don't doubt that just know that we're watching it too here very closely and if there's obviously anything that we can do to continue to highlight the fact that that's more and more going to be a an unfortunately hazardous area we're here to support their troops thank you thank you Mr. Chairman I yield back thank you Dr. Jackson you're recognized for five minutes we're going to push forward here so that Corey will you go next and then we'll break for votes thank you Mr. Chairman thank you as well to Secretary Mayor and General Fenton for being here today appreciate Charles time I have a question here but I'm going to do a little bit of lead up here just for the record but without a doubt one of the sharpest tools in the American war chest is our special operations forces highly trained highly competent highly motivated these silent professionals frequently perform our country's most critical non-fell missions when there are no other options or alternatives available right now we are confronted with recruitment and retention crisis for the military well I want to help be part of the solution for that it is clear to me that the solution we are looking at for is not to poach soft personnel to fill other unmanned positions it's absolutely imperative that we do not allow the larger recruitment challenges facing our military to impact army special operations units or special operations forces overall as we face the reality of shrinking defense budgets and possibly more missed recruiting goals cutting specialized personnel and their unique capabilities from this force is not just strategically short-sighted but also undercuts any strategy to compete with and deter malign revisionist states like China Russia Iran and North Korea the threat China poses to the United States is real and must be confronted however recent events in the Middle East and across the globe have demonstrated the absolute necessity of special operations forces and their ability to conduct counterterrorism operations as well as train and advise our partners in resisting foreign aggression cuts to these vital special operations capabilities will prove detrimental in both the short and long term unfortunately at a time where the demand signal is high for soft a decision was made to cut personnel from army special operations forces now I've been briefed on this topic and I understand the argument being made that it's not the operators being cut but rather support personnel however I would quickly argue that those enablers are highly trained and specialized as well communications logistics and intelligence personnel are the people that allow the operators to be successful it is a team effort these enablers themselves go to specialized schools have the highest level of training and are heavily integrated they're nearly impossible to replace and ultimately are the best of the best in their profession over the coming months the committee is going to sit in fy 25 posture and budget hearings and discuss how we can best support our military to compete and win against our adversaries I can assure my colleagues that cutting soft is not the answer there are two soft truths that I believe we need to keep in mind as we as we hear in this room and those in the Pentagon way important decisions like this one special operations forces cannot be mass produced and two competent special operations forces cannot be created after an emergency occurs the phrase you don't know what you've got until it's gone will prove too costly in this case if cuts are made felling to appropriately man and resource special operations will result in limited options for policymakers mission failures and loss of life and we will have no one to blame but ourselves any reduction to our special operations community would would signify an intentional degradation of key events capability and comparative advantage over our enemies I have here the budget highlights from fy 2025 2025 and looking at the so-called mission statement I look at the core activities here counter insurgency foreign internal defense security force assistance unconventional warfare counter terrorism countering weapons of mass destruction direct action hostage rescue and recovery special reconnaissance civil affairs foreign humanitarian assistance military information support operations this sounds like a big job that cuts across all services and all communities and it doesn't sound like something that we can afford to lose 3 000 members that are that are making this happen general fenton I greatly appreciate the conversations we've had on this topic and I'm encouraged that you are in lockstep on this general in your best military judgment do you believe that cutting thousands of special forces personnel including these highly specialized enablers will have a negative impact on socom's ability to effectively operate in multiple geographic locations to confront the multiple threats posed by a wide variety of adversaries who seek to bring harm to the United States in our interest congressman a couple thoughts on this and I appreciate the office call we've had last week talking about this first I will just start with convergence of some key factors here that I would want to mistake for everybody first is the recruiting challenge that we all know that across the services and in this case impacting the the army probably more than any especially in light of when we think army soft then the fiscal challenges that's well known to all and lastly all of us so com the army and many others in department have transformation designs and things we're trying to get after as as part of continuing to win tomorrow like we're winning today in that ever-changing environment I think those those all came together in a way that we often reflect to this congress about hard choices that we're all forced to make as we think about moving this in this direction that that resulted in that three three k reduction you just you just talked about I think the challenge is that that's against the backdrop of ever-increasing demands from our combatant commands a hundred and fifty percent increase or more in our crisis response of missions over the last three years and this ever-changing more challenging character and environment award what I think that absolutely has so com doing is one assessing the impacts over the course of the next couple years of these reductions and then always at forefront of mind making sure that we're giving you and this congress and this nation the best soft for the personnel and the fiscal resources will get being more purposeful and more impactful with less if that's if that's a decision but against the backdrop of what I'm seeing I certainly wouldn't support thinking that way as we go forward the next couple years thank you sir well I'll show you the people in this committee appreciate the unique thing you bring to the fight and with that I yield back thank you chairman thank you mr mills you're recognized for five minutes thank you chairman general fenton thank you so much for your decades of service thank you for all that you've done it's not just help our special operations community but across force-wide it's greatly appreciated and I don't think we can put in words all the things that you've been able to do to try and help our warfighters to move ahead shane I don't know if that legs healed up or not but last time I looked at the purple coloring on it didn't look well so I hope that you have recovered from that at some point general fenton how would or is soft so calm contributing to integrated deterrence and south com against the PRC in Russia congressman I'll start by saying against the backdrop of preventing great power conflict and I'll give a sense of that certainly preparing in the event that one were to come and then always always enabling any joint force opportunities to prevail taking that down to south com I think first this starts with our theater special operations command special operations command south it is the supported element for the south com commander in this vein and across the venue of first and foremost thickening and strengthening partners and allies in that region who want to first and foremost be associated with special operations and the 20 plus years of hard earned experiences as you know very well and then the 80 or the 60 years before that a strategic competition we are a teammate of choice in the south com or but then they also want to get a sense of our capabilities the type of equipment you we use and I would add that to that list on top of that it would be exercises in that region to show we are there we care and all that assures partners and allies in that region just how important they are to so come and certainly to the south com team in the u.s. team happy to talk more detail of exact operations and a close I appreciate that just kind of staying on that same thread of south com what is u.s. south com kind of demands for soft when it comes to gray zone activities congressman in the beginning it is about being somewhere in placement and access and I think that starts certainly through the lens of the partners we have in the region many of them for decades that have been aligned with special operations and certainly so com and then south com second it is looking at the world through the very so com-esque pair of glasses the way our teammates do downrange and coming up with challenges and dilemmas for adversaries in this case the prc that has presence in that region through diplomatic economic and other other auspices and given opportunities and advantages back to team south com team democracy team u.s.a. I can get this more of the particulars in in a closed session but those would be the two things that come to mind I appreciate that you know general one of the things that's concerned me and secretary is that we know the geopolitical alignment of russia china iran north korea we've seen them align activities and forward aggression through the now more accessible funds that's been made available through the by demonstration not only the 10 billion and fungible assets but also the amount of oil exploitation that has increased as a result of not holding the proper sanctions on them that's well understood and we've seen this for 20 plus years operating throughout the middle east i'm seeing a bigger shift however not just on the expansion and kind of their takeover for the belton road initiative on the africa continent or expansion of eurasia or domination of africa or sorry oceania to try and cut off western hemisphere supply chain and the hooties are doing a great job of that with the 12 percent of global trade they're disrupting right now and we know that part of that's the emboldment that they felt when they were delisted from the terrorist organization uh under this administration my fear now though is how they prop themselves up in our own hemisphere what we're seeing with the chavis of venezuela pedro in columbia what we're seeing now with the joint training base and operations in cuba what we're seeing with the destabilization and hady what we're noting with uh russia and prc involvement in drc and other areas for economic coercion do we have any type of a strategy or acknowledgement of what they're trying to do in our own hemisphere that we could try and use to prevent this so congressman mills i just hit briefly on the strategy because i suspect you want to hear more from general fendt here on what we're what we're doing um the short answer is yes i think there's actually a dynamic in which south com is a force limited theater has to rely more on soft because it doesn't have large platforms doesn't have the rotations that come through so i think that puts us in a position of where we are able to go some cases more broadly at the prc networks that are built there because we think from a network-centric approach so we see illicit transactions as not individual activities but part of a broader enterprise and i think we have the strategic um direction we need the the real challenge becomes actually executing that with limited forces and i think uh sock south our our so-com component that works in south com has been at the forefront of that for general richardson and south com congressman i would say if you're thinking uh the adversary i think for the prc they've laid it out pretty clearly in their china dream 2049 they want to uh they want to be the global leader they want to bend the the rules-based order in in their own image and likeness i think they want to make sure that that uh economically diplomatically military and many others that they are the premium premium of power power i sense that they're they're looking to do that in all those regions and aggregate those gains with their diplomatic coercion and predatory behavior and even at some point use of private security companies that we're we're really calling parasitic sham corporations because we know what they mean they mean nothing good for south com or sent com or african and i think that and more certainly the prc wants well i want you to both know and i appreciate it mr. secretary i appreciate general that uh any and all resources and assets that we can give you to help you to be stronger in your achievements of your goals you have my absolute support so thank you again mr chairman i yield back thank you uh well it's uh time to just about to head to votes here but uh i'll just make a statement uh as we end the unclassified portion of this um socom cannot be viewed by anyone as a bill pair when it comes for forces resources um that's not the right answer going forward to to create the environment of deterrence and the execution of of elements of operational plans where they need to be executed quickly so just know the whatever we can do and you've heard it on both sides here that we're going to do what we can to make sure that that bill pair status does not happen so with that um this hearing is now adjourned we will reconvene in rayburn 2337 for a classified session immediately following votes probably somewhere in the neighborhood of around uh 515 or 1715 i won't give it to you in zulu time i don't want to confuse too many folks but with that this hearing is now adjourned


Yo, what is good still spinning podcast? What's good? It's your boy Steven. Selie the host I think this is episode 71. We got the new digs if you're watching the video podcast I got my own picture that I created of Miami beach edited that and then I also got a present for Christmas That's me Duncan hashtag dunk life. It's pretty dope if you're looking at the studio. Anyway, what's good still spinning The earth is still spinning and the point of that is that we got to raise our awareness We're kind of got to be conscious of that so that way helps us raise our consciousness to be the best person We can be because I believe the more you know about yourself the more you can enjoy this life And that's what I'm all about. So welcome and also Dunking so dunk training today. We had a special guest. I've been meaning to talk to this guy for a long time I'm really happy that I got to finally sit down and talk to him get to know him a little more And it was just awesome. He's Chuck Milan creator founder of team flight brothers It was really awesome to have a mom. We talked a ton about t-dub. If you don't know who that is definitely go get your dunk knowledge up What are you doing? Yeah, we talked about how we created team flight brothers how we got his first dunk Where he thinks dunking's going about the dunk community nowadays and just a lot more about different contests possibly getting dunking into the Olympics It was awesome. So I look forward to having them back on. I hope you guys enjoy this episode If you want to help me out you can rate the podcast that helps a lot You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify and sound cloud I think and Google play it and stitcher. That's the other one and Google play I believe but watching it on YouTube if you're listening. It's on YouTube and video Yeah, subscribe to my YouTube help your boy out. I'm on patreon do whatever you can bro I love doing this and it would be great to just do it full-time right now I'm in my friggin apartment, but everything's feeling great. I'm happy with everything I'm doing I dunked a little bit today or went training at least a little today I'm gonna be dunking in the in about a week probably getting all healed up. So that's my life I guess I'm good. This is turning into another podcast But anyway, enjoy the episode a lot more content coming a lot more podcasts coming the zoom applications friggin awesome So if you want to sponsor me, let's get it if you actually want to sponsor me, let me know hit me up I'm looking for sponsors for my podcast to help me support what I do. I love doing this I love helping you guys out. I love sharing all my information as I go through my little life coaching training I'm learning so much about the brain and really amping up my life to the maximum if you know me I have a ton of energy. I also could talk a lot as you can tell right now. Hence. I have a whole podcast. Okay That's it. Enjoy the episode. Let me know what you think definitely have a lot more guests coming on that I'm really really excited about stay tuned. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. I love you all Enjoy your life. Let's go All right, we're live. What's good Chuck? What's going on man? Good to see you. Good to have you on It's good to see you. I'm happy to finally be on here. I know we've had this for like a year and a half I'm just like just putting it off. I know man Well, I want to get into that because you mentioned you had something to coming up But I'll let you get into that afterwards. Um, first of all, I just want to see how you're doing what I see you Training lately. Tell me a little bit about that man, I just My life because I'm here.  I stepped on a scale and I was like now man. That's not good So probably since like November, I've lost 50 pounds 51 pounds as of today. So damn dude, just like just trying to get healthy I'd like to I'd like to jump every once in a while again, but I'm still just trying to get the body Did you dunk that last day we spoke or didn't get the dunk yet.  I was sat out today trying to do the same thing just because of every it's always one thing I had like a hamstring issue now, but my knees are finally healthy But yeah, it's cool to see you back trying to get Duncan. Anyway, that leads me to my first question Which was when was your very first dunk? My very first done was it was February 8th 1998 I was an eighth grade Spring's middle school And it was like within like a couple of weeks because I had never tried to touch the rim before like I Think like December because back then I was like only guys on TV can like don't write And I like accidentally touched the rim during a game. It was like what the hell and my coach Told me it was like trying to dunk a couple times and I tried Lob off the lob one foot one hand Really So how tall tall were you then about the same height or I mean on it. No, I was shorter I was probably like five six or something like that. I'm not I'm not sure because I like I Think back then I was like, I wanted everybody to think of taller. So yeah, never like got measured So if I was like five six, then I'd be like, yeah, I was five ten Right So just hooping you just touched the rim one time and that kind of just Well, I went up.   That's awesome. So when you got your first one did it like and six months later Were you trying or you didn't really think that it was a fluke right? I tried so much and I think I just got perfect. Wow, right and like maybe there was like Some girls that I had like But it just like happened perfectly.  He's a couple years older than me He was in high school. It's a little town. We need a spring for that So I like got home and he like woke up from his nap or something He's like, did you don't today? He didn't even go to my school. It was like everybody new Wow, everybody wanted to see me dunk. Yeah, and it's no don't get Yeah, I couldn't dunk again for like you tell that summer and I'm sure you didn't videotape that first one You kidding me? I do have some of those I do have some of those camera tapes around here Wow, but I would have had to have like a big big short, but no that's So if we just start like filming anything till it's like late cool Yeah, so So you got your first one and then were you hooked and you just see how far you can take it or Yeah, well, I was hooked before that So I used to dunk like low rims all the time and I was like I just always loved dunking like my first memory that I can think of like as a child isn't like my parents like You know, whatever it was a dunk contest. It's like my first memory of you know when I was younger So I like obviously wanted to all the time But I just kind of like studied the way everybody jumped So I like could figure out like what would be the easiest way for me to dunk if I'm smaller and whatnot So like yeah, I was absolutely hooked and I'd go and find like nine and a half foot hoops You know Find nine foot hoops and be like man, if I was the same height it's straw mile swift This is what it would be like, you know, I mean like just did you just random shit like that Did you have a favorite dunker in the mba or even out of the mba when you were younger before you could dunk? He's a herald miner was my favorite dunker interested mba I just Love herald miner like just the power, you know, he was left handed. So it looks sweet There's him and then you know, I'm from florida. So we knew about vince carter And then ronnie fields is like that was I would like This was when the internet was like dial up. I would like find out things about ronnie fields And I just see pictures. I didn't know sure, you know, I never saw a video besides like a 10 second clip But yeah, those were the three guys. It was like herald miner ronnie fields vince carter That's awesome. So then you're in high school. Were you playing in high school? Yeah, I played in high school a little bit Uh, I just you know school wasn't really like for me and stuff. I was just like the kid I you know, I got referrals for like hanging on the room It sounds funny. Yeah, but yeah, I played dunking in games and stuff Yeah, I had a couple my I had a fair share of game dunks. I wasn't like a freaking stud like just you know Catching five dunks a game or anything like that, but I caught a couple I have a few that I got like a year ago on vhs, but I just haven't had anything to confirm So I'm just like need to get off my lazy ass and like figure that out Yeah, I mean, I would love to see that so High school dunking in games got your first dunk and then tell me how it kind of transitioned or did you find people around? I started dunking how did this start? okay, so there was a kid that This is like junior year high school and this is by the time my the end of my freshman year I could dunk consistently and whatnot and every once in a while like I could squeeze in like a nice dunk So like sophomore junior year come along and I was doing windmills and like pump reverses and at the time, you know, I'm Fucking like It was me and then there was a kid uh that went to k pro high school named tim lowe who We would hear about each other and like immediately I hated his guts because they were like he did a 360 with him I'm like, yeah, I know he didn't so then one day like my cousin and my And his you know two two of my cousins one was friends with him and then one went to school with me It was like we're setting this up.   Okay, so in person it was uh in lull massachusetts. I actually Here's the story behind it. If you don't mind. No, I I would love to hear it So I did a couple games against the an1 team Like playing on the other team with the guys that they just like destroyed. Yeah, so I was like the guy that was like a better professor Yeah, and then like realistically it was like not something to destroy you so One of the guys on the team. I forget his name is a dude from dc Uh, he told me he was like there's this kid in minnesota. It's like 17 years old 18 years old Jumps out the gym. So I got his name from one of the guys from the coach mike ellis for the other team He's like, yeah, man, and it's on there. It says the the oldest her So, all right download thing and mind you um 22 what did the name say? Sorry theodist her always remember this and I we were just talking about the other day when I saw so I looked for this guy and mind you we didn't have like the crazy internet back then But I could download like an app or a thing on the computer that was You know, I paid 50 bucks to find like somebody with this last name So I find theodist Turner Okay, like hey, man I'm starting this thing flight brother. There's wool blonde.  He's like, oh, man. You talk about double I'm like, let me I'll get you connected with him. He was only 17. He used my id Yeah, oh my god So then finally, uh, I connect with somebody with teedob's last name It's his uncle that he hasn't talked to in years. He's like, you're looking you're looking for You're looking for terrell. Yeah, like for what?  He was like He was like, all right. That's what's up. He was like, I've never been on the plane though. Maybe I'll drive. I was like, oh my god I was like, I'll fly you. Yeah. He's like, all right. I pick him up from the airport. He's just like, man That was the first time like I I met teedob When I flew him out when I was working three jobs in lull massachusetts Uh, and like it was it was crazy And there's like It was a good time and like the most tragic events ever That's wild So it's so before when you first met him in person, had you ever seen him dunk yet? Or you only heard of him dunking I saw him on the ESPN show on oh wow, but it wasn't like he wasn't Like not the last one where a lot of people seen it was one where he just like went baseline and dunked on someone They're like, yeah, he's like five six and he's like more like Five eight five nine like I think usually I mean everybody knows I put people like an inch shorter It's like me whatever Like he's he's probably actually like five.  Yeah okay, so You when you contact a teedub was he one of the first people you tried to recruit for team flight brothers? And like how did team flight brothers start? Where did that start? Okay, so this goes back to when I got out of high school There was a lot of buzz on the internet about me and tim low Tim low the buzz was real about me That is like I wasn't that guy, you know what I mean?  This is in 2005.  Wow, but it ended up it ended up being worm And that was the first that's the first time I've met worms. So okay, it was it was worm Uh, it was worm myself Tim There was this kid Robert Parker who lives in Orlando now this kid Mark that lives in Orlando now and we were just like We were just trying to like figure something out. I don't know. It was just like fun at the time I didn't have pills yet. Yeah, so it was like, you know, it's trying to make this happen But the original was like worm worm was like the first one that's still around now So you're that's cool. So you kind of just decided to try to make a team and kind of compete against other people Or was there like any business behind it? It wasn't so much like it was more like halftime shows and hobbies So, okay, like I was like boys and girls clubs. That was like our first like shows for boys and girls clubs in like 2004 Like before t-dub was there. So we would do like ymca's and boys and girls books.  I don't even I did. I did uh I did paris Was shanghai and taipei long Taipei tai chung is like a couple cities in taiwan and that's that was like my like You know year of dunking and stuff, which was awesome Yeah, so where did that come from? You just got like uh, they kind of saw some videos or they so they saw videos of tim and I It was like it's just like such a it was like traumatic time like because I was 19 uh, and I you know the the company it was jeremy, um, adina who's now he's uh was a go bears agent Now uh, and I run into him every once in a while But he hit me up. He was like hey like we're gonna bring some americans with us You know would you and tim want to go?    It was like I was like man, I'm not that like so that was like that was like the eye over like him And like labelle. I was just like man, there's no way like I can deal with this because those guys they were consistent And they just jumped out the gym. It was like the first time I I thought tim was like the highest jumping dude on the earth I was like this guy is shorter than me and yeah Like so that was like it was really intimidating and I was shook for like Two shows I'm I probably made one felt like two shows. Yeah, and they're like who they're like Who's this garbage guy and then after that it got a little better, but it's still like I was nowhere near them their level Right, that's rough. It was tough man. I'm 19. I'm just like damn Like this was my chance, but then yeah like other opportunities came after that But it was just like you got to make that decision like whether you're gonna go this way or this way And yeah, you know, I I feel like I made the right decision Yeah, so so then when you came back and you kind of made that decision Did you have like a game plan in mind or any like goals and had in mind or no not at all It was just like there was there was nothing there like even that avenue wasn't like Even before I got out there with slam Asian. I didn't know who they were I was just like, all right, this is dope. Like I saw pictures of them. It was on a on a website That's Ronnie field sacred temple. So I'd see I'd see Pictures and I'm just like man, that looks crazy, but I didn't know until I got there They had DVDs and stuff. So they had already been like doing stuff You know could door always puts the stuff online. They were, you know, the original the original guys, but it was just like I just felt like it could be like so much bigger and like for some reason like what they're what Jeremy was doing I was like I think I can do this better and I guess there was like a competitive thing that came in me that I was just like man like I can Like I can do I can put guys together and run this thing a little You know different that's that's really cool. I just had a thought Are there any from the original guys? Maybe t double worm that were anybody in the original crew when you were running pickup games that you weren't filming that you remember A dunk that you wish you had on tape Anything like that. I'm sure there's plenty but anyone that stand out couple So we're doing a city of palm show in 2007 And you know I'm at the time I'm not like so much like a Manager or a boss. I'm like their boy.  We got a practice session in this was bam It was like first time there and bam was like, you know, I'm not going to jump We didn't jump at all. So And I this I wasn't even there for this either. So I left. I was like, all right. I trust you're not going to jump in political life He absolutely did.  We watch the video and it's there.  We went out. We come back home So we press record and record it over the whole What did they record another game or just the back? No, just the wall just hit. Oh, no, my god to this day Like Jonesy and Danny Ford like if you just like say you say to him, you're like, hey the lost tapes They're just like, oh, yeah, because Danny even had one that was crazy. Yeah, like with Jonesy laid out on Dude the Jonesy ones um When his game dunks are some of the most vicious like the way he took off on.  Yeah, like he like that. He was always tricky. Apparently he still is You know, yeah 42 years old Yeah, his game dunks were crazy inspiring to me and also just like I've always wanted to dunk on people the way he does and like the left right the way he does is just nasty Um, so moving on a little bit from the past to the future Do you have any favorite dunkers right now or any people you're most excited for?  Yeah, like he um, he's been progressing super fast Well, he's jumping on concrete all the time man his concrete and rubber. So he got him like wood floored He was like, man, this is crazy. Yeah crazy, man. How tall is he again? He's uh, I think he's like six three Okay, something like that either six three or six four, but he's like he's consistent, man. He like he gets up um I don't I don't put like Isaiah and cj and that anymore like they they're there already. Yeah, um I don't know. I there's I guess there's like too many Yeah, I have a follow-up Who do I? Hmm I don't know. It's just it's it is tough. I asked you because I know it's like kind of your job to kind of know who's up and coming But um, I'm like I'm all about the people that are just working their butt off. So even like because for me, I know like My own experience is taken forever. So when I see people make any type of progress It's just hype and when I see that they're super hype about just landing a new dunk or just not stopping and working every detail That's what I'm about. So I zanned like he started his youtube up again. So it's just so fun to watch his training I know um, I just talked to a lot of the dunkers all the time j clark's like putting in so much work and Even chase it's fun to see chase kill gannon and put it get up again Like he's been injured a lot So just see I like seeing people come back because it just shows that their real dedication and even jordan kill gannon Like he's just still doing it Everybody it's just there's so many coming up too.  But my follow-up question was um Since you're kind of the guy that people like people look for for um Opportunities, what would you have as advice for some of these young dunkers that are on instagram if they're trying to stand out? Is there anything that you could give them? Well, I mean, it's like crazy Like because you know, I obviously get a lot of dms and stuff if you want to check my stuff Check my stuff, but really like in that sense.   I don't I don't like it uh, it's just like You know, we're here like a lot of people have this like awesome gift and this like great You know ability to like Possibly be the there's so many people that could be the best dunker in the world You know what I mean? It it's really cool before it's like what? We're like each other. I'm like, yeah Yeah, it's it's actually I'll do all right. Yeah, it's actually a pretty positive community from what I see I'm sure you see the same thing. It's like a lot of people are really high for everybody working It's like there's very little of the back and forth But compared to like a lot of other things on social media the dunk community is pretty positive You know like with guys with So, I mean, I think everybody just calls it your group of guys You guys have a solid group that you come up the past four or five years And that like is like crazy because I'm used to the other group of guys that just like With you guys, it's like you're happy for the you know for like I say it does great CJ is like man. I'm so happy for my stuff.  I'm better It's like whatever. All right.  Yeah, I mean so that's like I had another question about contests because these contests we know NBA contests how they're working your master at it It's pretty evident But is there a style of contests you think would because I've been discussing with All the people on instagram and things like that. It's it's tough to judge a contest with somebody that's Short for somebody that's tall if they do the same dunk if somebody jumps way higher What would you say is a good way to judge a contest? Is there a good way? So when like all said and done like the ultimate goal is You know Olympics So I think like something should be like put in with you know A 1.0 to a 10.0 with different Categories power originality style Uh, and I think that's how it should be judged uh obviously It's Like every people know the tricks.  I need to do a push-off Yeah, that's the cross that I react. So it's just like I guess It there's really no right answer like I Obviously like would love to see things more original like unfortunately in other contests like I judged like city slam Even dunkly the first one There would be dunks and like for city slam.   Yeah, you know, so I guess like originality. It's just like tough It's tough. It's tougher than it looks like even the NBA is so so much tougher than it looks like it's tough Yeah, I I the crowd factor is really tough I I was also thinking like the the right judges need to be in there because a lot of times It's like it's so subjective as you know, but it's like some people don't know about those tricks I feel like the judges should know about those push-offs. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And I mean If we're talking like NBA stuff, then yeah, like absolutely even though They're great people But I'm just Well, the year in 2018 With donovan one like I you know, I got to talk with a couple of the judges and be like, hey, like this is This or whatever and they did all right, but obviously it was a couple This year it was just like Yeah, like what can you do? But judges that like mean something that like no more about dunking should definitely be there Uh, but even like Sometimes that doesn't work out. So it's just like and they won't like if we're talking NBA We're never going to let you know, kudorziani me T-dove go judge a dunk contest, you know, right? Like but that's like something that maybe like dunk league can Like yeah, that's really cool. Um What was I about to say I was about to ask. Oh, yeah, so that uh whole production It was with Vince Carter. Can we talk about that? I don't know what you're talking about, but Soon I can't talk about that one. Okay. Maybe I have to come back Yeah, we're gonna come back to that one. Okay. A couple months, man, but you know, those NEA's are For sure for sure Do you have any goals for the dunk world or anything you'd like to see happen? In terms of maybe olympics or any type of like progress towards that Honestly, I think olympics is the Honestly, that's always been kind of the goal after I was like 25 or 26. That's always been the goal. Uh, I it's I feel like You know managing some players and like just doing this whole thing. It's taken years off of my life So I'd like it to happen as soon as possible But the olympics is a hundred percent. It's realistic And it's a goal that's like achievable. It's just like being like right things happen The feeba contest and whatnot because now it's like the same stuff over and over Like to change like a couple things up if if possible because the olympics is Obviously a goal. I'd like to see it get to a point where this is You know, we say dunk league made it into a sport But I'd ultimately like to see it like actually become somewhat of a sport where players are taken care of on like a On a salary basis and like it I started thinking like healthcare type of stuff too Like I just they're like as I get older. I just I'd like to see it be more of a profession than a hobby Yeah, and it is a profession for what six to ten guys Yeah, I'd like to see that go to like 50 to 60 guys almost like skateboarding Yeah, I actually had the same exact analogy with skateboarding or actually mma Because the way mma was like popular kind of like in the underground That's kind of how I feel dunking is right now and then eventually like right now It's it's so similar because mma used to be in gyms like in the back corner And now right now i'm dunking in between games at an la fitness, but as mma grew it became its own gym And now I'll tell you on the mma point Uh, it'll bring me back to the dunk contest and my good friend and the guy that kind of like Really like helped me get into everything his name's anthony pitosa He he worked for the ufc for a while and I was like we're talking about the mba dunk contest It was like man because hami Used one of his four dunks that we were going to use he didn't use three of his dunks Like man, like how could we like facilitate like making this happen where everybody goes for it? And he was like well Ufc has fight of the night You know the the performer of the night So you can have the champion and you can have the dunk of you know like the dunker of the night type of thing Like if his score is fucked up because he messed or whatever it can be like a different thing and have a purse for You know the best dunk of the night or not So for the olympics would it just be like a dunk contest similar to the mba or would it be kind of like a new format like I would go new format with it for sure like obviously there'd be free limbs and whatnot and then Like similar to what we do in dunk league like props Hey, man Actually, I'd be like use your props like we know it So it's like I I just like to Definitely like with free limbs, but just kind of different like more more More opportunity but not as many attempts like if this is going to be a come of the olympic sport Like we have to have guys doing 360 between the legs like every fucking time And that's like it's tough to man, but that's like what we're going to need I mean, yeah, if we're talking olympic level, I would say that's pretty standard Yeah, we need like we need like clerks, you know, we need that kind of crap going on all the time clerks and myries and those freaks the nature Yeah, for sure man, um That's pretty wild like I would love to see it in the olympics I definitely think it its own gym like it's going to be inevitable just because it's growing so much and I just think dunking as a as its own sport like you were mentioning is healthy because like you're saying with knees We all have bad knees. It's like it takes your whole body It takes your mind it takes so many things that You need like its own gym for it and you need to like you can't just dunk in between games You need a your own court where you're where you are allowed to film so you could critique your Friggin footwork. I think it'd be great to have a dunk gym. That would be awesome. I completely agree. I think the dunk camp what Andy has going on is just like Fucking phenomenal. Yeah, like that's something obviously it's been brought up like years and years ago, but that's just not Right, like that's just not for me. It's just really good to see like him like take over that And do like what he's doing. That's like that's Going in the right direction and that's like that's what needs to happen So this like continues to move forward because like if shit like that doesn't happen Then we're just we're running on treadmill. So that's like a huge step towards it. Like it's awesome It's so awesome the dunk camp. I'm so excited for this year. It's just it's so awesome for the For us to meet up because we don't as as like all of us guys even though we live close We don't even meet up because we're on such different schedules and we're just all trying to train But it's also all the people that we talk about or see we get to all meet up And then it's also cool for kids that we we don't know about to show out and also get their first dunk It's just awesome. Um, yeah with dunk camp What so so dunk camp is not really your thing, but what is your goals? What do you have any goals that are specific to you? Yeah, I just honestly like the number one goal is just to be healthier and pain-free Be able to move around honestly like six months ago I Was just like laying around well when I was home I would just play around and just like think about like man. I would just love to run full speed right now Like I hadn't done that in years. Yeah, I'm still like trying to build up to that. I'm still like mentally not ready um, but I See number one's healthier. Like obviously I want I want to dunk again. Like I got I got these guys going on Yeah, yeah, yeah From trying but it's just Yeah, I guess the ultimate goals like to dunk but just to be healthier, man. There's you don't You don't know a wake-up call like seeing yourself on tv and being like Yeah, like that's That's the bad one when you're like, man, what's going on right now? And that Yeah, I can't even post things. I can't even post throwback thursdays from last year Yeah Any other goals outside of dunking or just life goals in general? Yeah, no, just be healthy be happy. I'm I don't know. I'm just like I'm I'm in a weird space now where It used to be like competition. It used to be like all this stuff. Although like competition still gets me going like I'm just like Just want to be happy and I want this I want dunking to do well like I just want to be able to be like I helped Like do something for sure that was bigger than just You know, whatever I do for myself, dude, that's awesome. I love that So dude, it's what's crazy to me is that Since even when me like you started before me But even when I was starting like there was not many short people dunking And now it seems like because of the internet so many younger kids are seeing it and starting so young It's really they're like in high school jump in close to like upper 40s. It's just wild Uh, what do you think? What do you think of zion you think he's gonna be in the mba contest winning it easily or Anything, you know, no, I can do this now because I'm on contract.  Dude's like, yeah, I know 100 I I will go back to the college contest if zion's not the contest maker So that's like 100 the goal. Wow the goal next year and I'll just I'll round it off for you real quick This is what I want. I want six guys. I took the zion, homie Jamarant Terence Ferguson Derek Jones.   That's what I want and that's like and You know, I'm there to suggest me and chase are there to suggest things like help out through the process and whatnot But that in Chicago would be Crazy, yeah Bring bring back the 2002 format like just like the thought of that You know, wherever Yeah, like what's like he hit me up the other day. He was like, dude, it's so crazy when I thought You know when I saw the zion declared all I could think was like, man I'm so happy for chuck. He's gonna get to work with this guy. I was like, man, I hope so Did so Is zion the most explosive person you've ever seen best dunker at like his size? I mean Oh his size.  It was just like zion Every time he leaves the floor. I like get nervous.  Is it just like a new dunk landed?  I'm not familiar with that What is the difference? Just three dunks in the first round two in the finals I feel like right now two and two is like doing the players justice of what they could do I even did three three dunks in the first round two in the drop the worst score that they had in the first round So it'd be like if somebody missed They could drop that score then use the other two scores So right I feel like that would be a little a little better for the guys What's wild about those people that you named to be in the contests is that like it seems like especially I I think erin gordon sticks out to me as like he's kind of like adopting the dunk culture Like even when he was in high school like he's trying like he tried to under both oversize Like he looks like he's watching the community as well The crazy thing with erin is that I don't know like a couple of people know this but not too many but In 2016 He only made that dunk one time the under both over someone He only made it one time and he tried it over a hundred times All right And he made it the first time in that contest. So that contest was just special.  So yeah that dude It's really cool to see the mba guys do it if the thing is with that contest It's like those six guys do it and they have like an amazing contest They're all trying like crazy stuff that we know as a dunk community, but the world doesn't really know I feel like that'll help spark the Its own sport Yeah, I mean for sure if but it's like Sometimes the guys are like very outspoken about it and being like I didn't do this first like this person did sometimes they're not Yeah, so it's like that's what we need like this year You know with homie like the contest was eh, he did his thing He was super vocal. He was like, yeah, man. Like this is what I did You know, whatever donovan, you know, just like talking about it stuff during the contest uh glenn And it's just like there's certain people That just need to be like, yeah, man. This this who helped me out or this is where I got the inspiration for it If if say, I don't even know just say like best case couple olympics from now I don't even know just say there's like prelims starting Could you fathom some mba players that are gonna go that route? Like kind of like that made it to the mba and now they see dunking as like something that they love as a part of it Or the mba is too much for them I mean, I don't It just depends on like what they're doing. If they're like a g-league or them. Yeah, absolutely.  This is what you guys want to do So I can absolutely see that happening. Like there's a couple guys that I'm like, yeah, why wouldn't they go to the olympics and just like make this money?  Um I also have this app. I know it's it's weird. It's gonna be awesome. Anyway, I had this other thought that was random What about you? What do you think about a league that kind of Has a height requirement and then you all dunk on lower rims like uh, like for under six feet people There's like a nine and a half foot hoop or something like that.  Yeah, just give me like a year, bro. I mean, dude, that would be so That would be awesome. Well, they have that baby dunk on it. Yeah, and that's like super dope. That's like That's what we used to do.  But yeah, I mean Anything that's involving like that surrounding dunk as the main objective has my like 100% though.   I love that. I love that guy to death, man And he me too. He uh, he just back in the day. He smoked cigarettes. He you know, whatever and he's just I never saw this dude work out a day in his life But to this day he's like the most phenomenal thing I've ever seen just I don't know happen whether there's like actually I guess it's genetic There's legendary stories about his dad and stuff like that his dad could like really you know hang on 11 feet and stuff So Yeah He literally I never saw him. He would just chill all the time. Yeah And then also Bama air Bama who Has gone through three acl surgeries Two on I think his left and one on his right That dude would sleep before like shows and then he'd go like hit his face on there. Yeah so like It's there's just some guys that just I guess, you know are blessed with it Yeah, Tdubs definitely at the top of the list. Yeah, dude. Yeah I think that's a great place to go I mean just just watching your videos was actually probably the first thing I saw that ever like Open my eyes that there's freaks like that. Like I remember I like Andy Nicholson since he was my height White dude starting at the same. He showed him just touching rim to dunking that was like probably what sparks me Like believe I could do it But Tdub like the first time I saw it like broke my brain And just was that was always my dream before I even knew it was possible And I also just just got to say thank you for uploading those videos because god damn I still watched those I just watched like a week ago his in-game dunks And I think you were throwing the lobs and it's just like those dunks I can't even imagine doing that still and I'm I'm kind of close to it But still that's literally my dream when everybody anybody asked me my dunk goals. I say just look up tdub You're getting there. Yeah I mean you've come a long way Yeah, I remember I remember when you first started uploading your videos I remember seeing I think your first dunk off You were left foot right hand. Yeah Yeah, I I remember seeing that I was like, oh good for this guy and then like years later. I'm like, this is the same Yeah, I mean he brought he brought that I've always had like that aggression in me But then when I watched the way he dunked dude every time I go up is like I just try to take off like that and just don't like that you do it on your off the backward ones You do the same like look away. Oh man. I just like yeah, it's really dope And I you know, I just saw tdub two weeks ago for the first time in six years Yeah, uh, and we hadn't talked Said like until last year for four of them Uh, and it was just like it wasn't even like disagreements or anything like that. It was just like Both going like our separate ways type of thing and You know, he's still He looks like he's in shape It's like But here's the thing is that his lifestyle has changed like big time You know, he's got two like beautiful kids like he's and he's like Prioritized and prioritized a lot differently.  So that's like You know, dude, he's 32. So dude, it's more than doable Yeah, if he's if he ever gives you the green light, let me know and I'll be down there in a minute and Dude, that was like drive. Yeah, it's not even it's just crazy How like just him playing in a game watching those highlights like could inspire me so much I never even met him But just like the way he finishes and like the hype like I remember that in-game dunk I just watched him. He just like catches a pass There's a little like drop step like he sneaks a pass in and then like just takes a little hops up two hands I hear him go. Ha just like at the top It's just like even for a basic dunk against whoever it's just like that's how I would be every time I dunk it It's easy and everything about teed up Like, you know, he does the thing. He's like greatest dunker of all time. Where's dunker in the world and stuff There was literally for a period of time There was everything that he did in the air and even not in the air that made him You know goat area and that's even with tj Even with gi like even with everybody.    It just didn't look real, man I mean they still fuel me because I see those things and that's all I just want to do that for like a Period of a couple months. Just have those type of games and just that's it. I've seen a couple I've seen a couple Yeah, I did I did I'm trying to make it this year. We'll see Even do what this year. Yeah Well, maybe all right Anyway, I think that's it man. I really appreciate your time. It's been a while It was really great getting to know you a little bit. Um, I definitely would love to have you back Is there anything else you'd want to say anything you want to shout out anything you want to leave with just you know, I just like hope every everybody just keeps pushing this forward Just stay humble.  If it's just one person doing all right and doing really good It's not gonna work out.  Mm-hmm. I love it. Thanks a lot man. Um What's it gonna say if you get a dunk down you're gonna be posting it Not man I know the people that don't like a meter. Yeah I'm actually I'm not a fan. I'll like it, but I I'm not a fan of those store bikes Because I'm like, is this new or not and then it it just feels like I got me not not fan You know what? I know Bruin pisses off. That's why I do it I like it. I love it. All right, man. We'll talk soon, brother. I really appreciate it It's my pleasure. Take it easy Stevie I'm a planet earth native. I'm enjoying all the moments because you're such a thrill living and I'm not sure if you notice


Everybody forced here. I got a couple boxes of 2023 prism football hobby for Jeffrey H to rip Best of luck Jeffrey. Thanks as always for the order. Let's find a yeah, let's find a CJ shroud black finite real quick Let's do let's do that All right, blue ice up first is a gym all Adams DTR about a kind of gym all Adams out of 99 Silver hype to a tongue of my Loa orange wave the 60 almond Ross ain't brown nice bet there 32 of 60 almond raw Harrison and cam Smith thumbs up from and raw Dude a snake skin heck. Yeah, heck. Yeah, should be this way Come on. Come on. Nice. Dory Williams rookie snake skin The SSP about a case it Dory Williams rookie snake skin. All right. Good start to this box It's a purple ice of most or does well the 225 Smith and jigba and tank bigsby Silver Darius lay junior orange Thurman Thomas number to 249 say Quentin Johnson Bryce young Purple ice number to 225 Jeremy shocky Sean Clifford Peter Skaronski Silver rookie a no Connell. It's over. Good silver rookie to get hyper to 175 Chandler Jones Deuce Vaughn and Jalen Carter Spencer which Lions player would make the best Tigers player Any position whatever you want to do which current Lions player would make the best Tigers player President flashback Quentin Johnston Blue ice rookie Dorian Williams out of 99 Bonnet chain and demarviate over shown silver emergent Remondres Stevenson with a nice a Bijan Robinson rookie autograph Pretty good box as far as like low numbers and good rookie autos are concerned so far at least On a D.K. Ozama is a flowers base Oh, geez. Oh, geez, Sam purple power Christian Kirk number 249 Spencer speechless as any jayden reed Kenny McIntosh Sammy getting Papa John's tomorrow after the magic Stole that win against the nugs I'm ordering that as soon as I wake up tomorrow. I'm ordering that Silver and joku with a Nice adam vetted tiari auto Flashbacks are numbering on this. Oh, there it is 75 flashback auto adam vetted tiari And sam are you going to the game on sunday? Banks and wicks A blue wave it looks like yep of keanu benton number to 199 Yeah, you had the yabi Elijah Dotson Nice. I'm going to the game on a tuesday I agree Vaughn go kicker best kicker ever Yeah, I'm going to the game on tuesday actually silver josh allen red wave dat noin 149 mcdonald's and musgrave. Okay. I mean got the snake skin got the bijon. Is it okay? It's a solid box There were some uh There's some good stuff in there. Let's see what else. Let's see what box two has in store So box two has They're playing the wolves on tuesday Think I might try to go to the february 13th game now They play the thunder and they retire shacks jersey that night. So I might really try to go to that one Yeah, I so I told vaughn I need to make a sign for the game and he told me to make a uh a lukega garza sign A sign like taunting lukega garza All-purposed as a redder blue ice is ricky isiah foskey out of 99 It's all as in sharpen a and I mean, I don't know how I don't know what that I that would probably confuse lukega garza quite a bit purple ice at 225 chase clay pool Kenny mackintosh and felix anadike ozama I wouldn't think it's gonna get done tonight jordan There are there are like 20 plus boxes still ahead of yours silver hype of drake london and that is a wow franchise legends auto gold drew breeze These are such great designs with the logo behind Holy cow one of ten gold breeze auto Gorgeous hey congrats jeffrey I don't go into a mag Nice vest sneaky good vet hit there a tweet below to and mingo portals of trevor loren's navy camo of james cook let him cook third leading rusher in the nfl right now currently I think I think he's third Nice cook number to 25. There's a shroud base too number to 25 on the cook. There's a shroud base They tie jay spears Yeah, those franchise legends cars are so weeds. I like I like that design a lot Really elevates the prism the prism vet auto a little bit silver jamar chase on the portals hyper to 175 nice a ze flowers rookie sweet ze 34 of 175 I bet sam will do one of these in chat now Bryce young again. There's a jane reed as well this read Silver chris godwin orange out of 249 kyle pits schoonmaker nullan smith red wave is kandith walker the third number to 149 skironsky and johnston silver cream hunt with a demarvian overshown rookie autograph jaylen carter rookie shone clifford. Um Yeah, i'm gonna i'm gonna get to it brad. It's probably gonna be Probably another half hour or so after this one once this one ends probably another half hour or so purple eyes daniel jones number to uh to 225 williams and hall Yeah, so there's Three orders and then yours will be so yours is the fourth order in queue Blue eyes of sweat Out of 99 i have in pace douche von silver rookie bjo jalari hyper is a jones this time a couple of ze hypers 175 marvin mims derrius davis silver cleal mac purple ice the 225 mahomes or sheer ice dalton concave All right jeffrey uh some good stuff there nothing too too crazy. I do appreciate it I'm gonna get the breeze magged for you, but yeah some solid boxes. We'll get those out to you


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