Rick Kaiser always had a fascination with the sea, so at the age of 17 he visited the Navy recruiter with the intention of joining the submarine service. However, while sitting in the office, he picked up a pamphlet about the SEALs and decided that was the course he would rather follow. Rick would go on to serve with both SEAL Team 2 and SEAL Team 6. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the National Navy SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce Florida.

He recently published a book titled “Frogmen Stories: Life and Leadership Lessons from the SEAL Teams”.  We spend this episode talking about some of his service stories and takeaways from the book.

During this time with SEAL Team 2 he spent a great deal of time in winter combat training. He says it was a training exercise in Greenland that taught him to never make an important decision about your military career until ten days after returning home.

Rick emphasizes that when SEAL’s aren’t fighting they are training to fight. He shares one story of a near miss with a freighter during an underwater training mission in Little Creek Harbor that could have been fatal. Rick fought in the Battle of Mogadishu and was involved in the planning for the Maersk Alabama (“Captain Phillips”) rescue. He also shares a humorous story involving a communication lesson he taught his daughter and her friends during a sleepover.

There are only approximately 2,500 active Navy SEALs at any period of time and only 16,000 Navy SEALs or predecessor units have been commissioned since 1942. Stolen Valor is a common issue with SEALs being perhaps the most common claim among impersonators. Rick says they run into this problem every single day at the Navy SEAL Museum.

The Navy SEAL Museum was established in Ft. Pierce because that is where the original WWII Frogmen were trained. In addition to the museum itself, they provide a number of programs in support of Navy SEAL families.