• Jocko Willink is a retired Navy SEAL commander who led the highly decorated Task Unit Bruiser in the Iraq War.
• As a cofounder of the leadership consulting firm Echelon Front, he's found many executives incorrectly want to force discipline onto their teams.
• He learned why tyrannical leadership is ineffective when he was part of a mutiny as a young SEAL.
• Successful leaders, he found, have to rely on trust.

For the better part of a decade, former SEAL commander Jocko Willink has passed on what he learned in the Navy to the civilian sector. In recent years, he's become a bit of a celebrity due to a few New York Times bestsellers and a hit podcast.

With that has come more clients for his consulting firm Echelon Front, which he cofounded with his fellow former SEAL commander Leif Babin in 2010. He soon found that some of his clients expected a tough military guy to come in and yell at their team members, boot camp style.

"One of the early clients that I worked with, he said, 'You know, I can't wait until you come here and whip my people into shape,'" Willink told Business Insider for an episode of our podcast "Success! How I Did It.""I said, 'Well, if you want someone to whip your people into shape, you should hire someone else, because I'm not going to whip anyone into shape.' If you want people to do things, you don't whip them. You ended up with a beaten dog, and a beaten dog is useless. Or you'll get a rebellion. The people that you're beating, the slaves, will rebel against you and kill you."

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Willink said he learned this lesson as a 22-year-old SEAL. "The officer in charge of the platoon was a tyrannical leader, and he wasn't very experienced and he wasn't very confident. He made up for that by being tyrannical." If one of the officer's team members questioned one of his orders, he'd tell them to, "Do it anyway," Willink said.

Willink and his fellow SEALs had a mutiny. They refused their officer's orders and went to their commanding officer to tell him that their leader was inadequate. The leader was fired and replaced.

"Then the new leader who came to take his place was this extremely experienced, extremely capable, extremely intelligent guy who's also extremely humble and great to work for," Willink said. "And all of us just aspired to make him happy and make him proud and make him look good. When I saw that difference between those two leaders, I said to myself, 'Wow, that's important, and I need to pay attention to that.'" The demonstration of true leadership inspired him to pursue becoming an officer.

Willink said that forcing a team to follow an order will work for awhile. "But it doesn't work forever, and it actually doesn't work as effectively even right away as someone else saying, 'Hey, here's how I think we should do it,'" and the leader considering the suggestion and deciding, "'OK, well, I like your plan. Go ahead and do it.'"

SEE ALSO: A retired Navy SEAL commander says he learned one of his biggest leadership lessons through a mutiny

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NOW WATCH: A former Navy SEAL shares his workout routine for staying in amazing shape

With a busy schedule, Jocko Willink finds time to get everything done by waking up before everyone else does. Willink, former Navy SEAL and author of "Way of the Warrior Kid" explains the one habit from service that he can't shake.

For the full interview, search for "Success! How I Did It" on Apple Podcasts or your favorite app. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/success-how-i-did-it/id1205997729?mt=2 

Following is a transcript of the video. 

Richard Feloni: Are there some things from your service that you can't shake? So for example, you still wake up at 4:30 in the morning, to go workout, what was it about your time in the Seals, that you wanted to keep these habits up?

Jocko Willink: They're good habits, why would you not wake up at 4:30?

Richard Feloni: Well what does this bring to you?

Jocko Willink: Waking up early? You just get a jump on the day. The reason I wake up at 4:30 in the morning is because no one else is awake yet, so that gives me the opportunity to do things that I need to get done, kinda selfishly for myself, and the big one in that category is working out. And it doesn't feel good at 4:30 when you get up, but by the time 7 o'clock rolls around, and you've already worked out, and you've already got some work done, and you've got some time to say goodbye to your kids before they go to school? It's infinitely better than sleeping in until 6:45, and you get out of bed, and now you've missed your kids going to school, or whatever. You're not prepared for the day, it's awful.

Feloni: So if someone, maybe they don't have time to work out or they just need something that could be like a quick fix, is there something that you recommend?

Willink: Oh yeah, workouts don't have to take a long time. Workouts can be very quick. Matter of fact, go do two minutes of burpees, as many burpees as you can, in two minutes, or four minutes, or six minutes, go and sprint, go and do anything very intensely, for a short period of time and you'll get great benefit out of it.

Feloni: Something I'm sure you hear a lot is 4:30, like this either just can't fit into my schedule, or if I'm gonna be realistic, I'm probably not gonna wake up at 4:30, what do you tell people who say that?

Willink: Yeah, and there's people that work night shifts, and there's people that it's unhealthy for them, they can't fall as-- it's like no, be healthy, get enough sleep, but, first of all, wake up at the same time every day and, if you pick that time and you start waking up at the same time every day, that's very good for you. It doesn't have to be 4:30, it could be 6:30, it could be 7, I don't know what your personal schedule is, but find out a time, pick it, set it, stick to it, and maintain that schedule, and that's gonna end up better for you.

I recommend it's earlier. I recommend that you go to bed earlier, 'cause what are you doing at night, most of the time? Most of the time at night, you're not working on anything super productive, you're just winding down and watching stupid YouTube videos, or surfing the internet, reading clickbait stories, right? Don't do that, instead, go to sleep, and then wake up early.

Feloni: Could you explain that notion of discipline equals freedom?

Willink: If you want more freedom in your life, you have to have more discipline. If you don't have any discipline, you'll end up with absolutely no freedom, you'll end up being a slave to other people that boss you around. There's all kind of problems that can occur, if you don't have discipline in your life. And the more discipline you have, the more freedom you're gonna have.

Feloni: So just the discipline of the Seals, will never-- it's impossible to leave?

Willink: No, it's possible to leave, there's retired seals all over the place that are undisciplined. They've moved on, and they don't care about that anymore. It's fine, I don't judge other people on what they're doin', like they're probably stoked to sleep in and hang out with their kids, and eat breakfast in bed, that's fine. I don't have anything against that. But for me? I wanna get up and go.

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When sailors hit the Navy SEAL training grinder, they'll undergo what's considered the hardest military training on earth in attempts to earn the Trident.

Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training uses the sandy beaches of Coronado, California, to push candidates beyond their mental and physical limits to see if they can endure and be welcomed into the Special Warfare community.

Roughly 75% of all BUD/S candidates drop out of training, leaving many to wonder what, exactly, it takes to survive the program and graduate. Well, former Navy SEAL Jeff Nichols is here to break it down and give you a few tips for finding success at BUD/S.

SEE ALSO: These are the 15 countries with the most troops ready to fight right now

1. Diversify your training

According to Nichols, the ability to sustain yourself through various types of physical training will only help your odds of succeeding at BUD/S. Incorporate various exercise types, variable rest periods, and a wide array of resistances into your training regimen.

2. Get massages

When candidates aren't in training, it's crucial that they heal themselves up. Massages improve the body's circulation and can cut down recovery time. That being said, avoid deep-tissue massages. That type of intense treatment can actually extend your healing time.

3. Find sleep wherever possible

If you can avoid staying up late, you should. Nichols encourages candidates to take naps whenever possible. Even if its only a quick, 20-minute snooze, get that rest in as often as possible.

• The former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink completed six months of Navy SEAL training when he was 19 years old.
• He went on to command SEAL Team 3, Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated US special-operations unit of the Iraq War, for nearly two decades.
• Willink walked away from training with one important lesson: Don't quit.

On the outside, basic Navy SEAL training appears to whip trainees into shape and prep soldiers for tough situations. But according to the retired SEAL Jocko Willink, "they don't train you at all."

Instead, trainees are simply told, "If you don't like it, quit,"Willink told Business Insider's Rich Feloni on an episode of the podcast "Success! How I Did It." After six months of physically and mentally demanding SEAL training, Willink said, he learned one major lesson: Don't quit.

Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training is designed to push trainees to their limits. Willink said 80% of people leave the program. It's no easy task to constantly strain your body and mind in harsh conditions, and it certainly wasn't easy for Willink, who entered BUD/S training at 19 years old.

"There's very limited amount of training in basic SEAL training," Willink said. "They don't say: 'OK, listen. When you start to get to a point in your mind where you're feeling tired, what you need to do is calm your breath, relax your inner mindset.' They don't say that to you. They're, like, 'If you don't like it, quit.' And so a lot of people quit, and other people don't quit."

BUD/S training is broken up into three phases: eight weeks of physical conditioning, eight weeks of diving, and nine weeks of land warfare. The first phase of training is the toughest, with a "Hell Week" at the halfway mark. Two-thirds or more trainees call it quits during phase 1, according to the SEALs' website. After completing BUD/S, the remaining trainees endure three weeks of basic parachute training.

"It's fun," Willink said. "Everyone makes a big deal about it, the big SEAL training. It's push-ups, pull-ups, dips, ropes, climbs, swims, and runs. And you don't sleep a lot. You are exhausted and people do get sick."

Despite countless hours of conditioning, diving, and land training, Willink did not quit. He said BUD/S was not a life-changing experience for him, the way it is for some people. "It's, like, 'Yeah, we're going to be cold, wet, miserable, and we're going to keep going. Next question,'" he said.

After completing BUD/S training, Willink spent 20 years in the SEALs, and went on to serve as the commander of the most highly decorated unit of the Iraq War, SEAL Team 3 Task Unit Bruiser, before retiring in 2010.

SEE ALSO: A retired Navy SEAL commander says he learned one of his biggest leadership lessons through a mutiny

DON'T MISS: This is the method Navy SEALs use for focusing on long term goals

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• Jocko Willink served as the commander of SEAL Team 3 Task Unit Bruiser.
• Willink said to be a Navy SEAL you have to consider the job you're signing up for, without romantic frills: "You're going to be risking your life; you're going to be shooting guns; your job is to kill people."
• Men who join the SEALs tend to be young men with a "high-level of aggression" who, through discipline, learn to refine their headstrong attitude and use it productively.

Jocko Willink wanted to serve in the military ever since he could remember.

As a child, Willink played with ornate miniature toy soldiers and wore Army-Navy gear everywhere he went, the retired Navy SEAL commander told Business Insider's Rich Feloni on an episode of the podcast "Success! How I Did It." Despite his grandfather serving in the Army for 20 years, Willink said there was just something inside him that wanted to fight as a Navy SEAL. He went on to have a 20-year career in the SEALs, and served as the commander of SEAL Team 3 Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War.

"I guess there are some people who say, 'I want to be a businessman,' and there are some people who say, 'I want to be a rock star,' and there are some people who say, 'I want to be a car mechanic,' and I wanted to be a machine gunner in a SEAL platoon, you know?" Willink said.

He went through a six-month training process that weeded out 80% of the people who signed up. Willink said you have to consider the job you're getting into, without the romantic frills that movies can sugarcoat: "You're going to be risking your life; you're going to be shooting guns; your job is to kill people ... And your job is to take the risk of being killed."

Willink said there are people who decide to take that route and become criminals. The key with the military path is that it takes those impulses and refines them through discipline.

One major misconception about military personalities is unquestioningly taking orders — which is a complete fallacy, Willink said. He said young SEALS, including himself at the beginning of his career, "get in trouble all the time" (getting into a bar fight, for example) because of their aggressive, independent personalities.

"We constantly have to rein guys in. And those are the kind of guys you want. There's nothing wrong with those guys. But, you know, they're born to do something," Willink said. Getting older and growing with the SEALS steered him and his team in the right direction, he said.

"I just grew up. And I mean, sure people would say stuff along the way, but nothing that was so impactful, nothing that was remotely as impactful as just getting older," Willink said. "You start to see, well, 'What do I want to do? And where do I want to go?' And you need to put yourself on the right path."

SEE ALSO: A retired Navy SEAL commander says he learned one of his biggest leadership lessons through a mutiny

SEE ALSO: A day in the life of a retired Navy SEAL commander, who wakes up at 4:30 a.m., trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and doesn't eat for 72 hours at a time

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Jocko Willink served in the military for 20 years and led SEAL Team 3, Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated US special operations unit of the Iraq War.
• Willink said soldiers do not blindly follow orders from their leaders.
• He learned that a good leader shouldn't feel like they have to force people to do things.

If you're not in the military, you probably think soldiers blindly follow the orders of their leaders, since that's all movies and books have lead us to believe.

But according to former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink, that blind obedience is a "complete fallacy," he told Business Insider's Rich Feloni on an episode of the podcast "Success! How I Did It."

Before retiring in 2010, Willink trained and served as a leader for 20 years and led SEAL Team 3, Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated US special operations unit of the Iraq War. Achieving that success did not come from blind obedience, Willink said.

To become a SEAL leader and move up in ranks, you need to learn from a good leader, something Willink did not have in his second SEAL platoon. Willink said the officer in charge of his platoon was "tyrannical" with little experience and a lack of confidence.

Willink and his platoon would confront their leader if they did not agree with an order. "If you're a bad leader, you're not going to be able to maintain that leadership position," Willink said.

He gave an example of how orders are typically followed and what happens when they are challenged:

"That bad leader that we had, we did what he said. He said, 'We're going to do this like that,' and we went, 'That doesn't make sense.'

He said, 'Do it anyways.' 'OK.' But that only lasts so long. So that's another thing that in leadership positions, sometimes people feel like they need to force people to do things. And it'll work once. It'll work twice. But it doesn't work forever, and it actually doesn't work as effectively even right away as someone else saying, 'Hey, here's how I think we should do it.' 'OK, well, I like your plan. Go ahead and do it.'"

And so Willink and his team rebelled.

"[We] went before our commanding officer and said, 'We don't want to work for this guy.' Which is amazing, right? You don't hear about very much of this happening. But it's also something that you deal with in the SEAL Teams. It's something that you deal with in the military," Willink said.

The mutiny was successful and the platoon's leader was fired. A new leader who Willink described as experienced, capable, intelligent, and "great to work for" immediately took his place.

"When I saw that difference between those two leaders, I said to myself, 'Wow, that's important, and I need to pay attention to that,'" he said. "And that was what sort of got me thinking about moving to the officers' side and becoming a leader in the SEAL Teams."

SEE ALSO: 2 former Navy SEAL commanders explain what Hollywood gets wrong about the SEALs

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• Former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink retired from the SEALs in 2010 after 20 years of service.
• He created his own leadership consulting firm with former platoon leader Leif Babin.
•  As a civilian, Willink continues "good habits" he learned as a SEAL, including waking up every day at 4:30 a.m. and having a strict workout plan.

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When the day came for Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink to retire in 2010, he gave a speech, packed up his locker, put his gear in a van, and went home. After 20 years, he knew it was time to move on.

But he didn't drop his military ways after retiring — he applied them to his everyday civilian life. 

"I was definitely bummed. I mean, there's no better job in the world," Willink told Business Insider's Rich Feloni for an episode of our podcast "Success! How I Did It.""The hardest thing of all of it is knowing that the guys are going to continue. Guys are going on deployment, the guys are going to go back on the battlefield and you won't be doing anything to help them."

Entering civilian life, Willink kept some of his military habits. Willink wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every day (including weekends), sticks to a strict workout routine, and maintains a military mentality for everything he does. Willink credits his career success to Navy SEAL's BUD/S training which led him to start a leadership consulting firm, Echelon Front, with a former platoon leader, Leif Babin. The two also co-wrote best selling books, not to mention Willink's hit podcast. 

"What we realized over time was, as we started talking to people in the civilian sector, they had problems with leadership," Willink said about Babin and their firm. "And the things that we had learned on the battlefield and from training leaders in the SEAL teams were the solutions to the problems that they were having." 

Every corporate leader Willink spoke to about company challenges were issues Willink already experienced with a SEALs platoon. 

"The good thing is not only did we know what the problems were, we knew what the solutions were, too. And so that's why the business was able to grow so quickly," Willink said. 

This chapter was not something Willink planned for after retiring from the SEALs eight years ago. His original intention was to surf, do jiujitsu, work out, and have quality time with his wife and kids. But he's on board with a change of plan. 

"I guess the way my mind works or whatever, it's, like, 'OK, new mission is go do this,'" he said. "And so I don't spend a lot of time dwelling on what the past was and I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. I can't change it. It's happened. I can't get it back. It's gone. So I just focus on what I can do today."

NOW WATCH: This is the method Navy SEALs use for focusing on long term goals

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NOW WATCH: A Navy SEAL explains why you should get up at 4:30 am every day

• We use acronyms all the time, and in some cases, we don't even realize we're using them.
• You may not know, for example, that Taser stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle."
• Other examples include "radar" and "snafu."

Acronyms show up everywhere in our everyday language, from ASAP to BYOB, JFK to ROY G. BIV.

But sometimes, an acronym is so natural-sounding that we forget it even stands for anything in the first place.

That's certainly the case for Taser — invented in 1974, Taser stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle," an homage to a fictional character from the early 1900s. The word caught on and eventually gave us the verb "tase," meaning to fire a Taser at someone.

Read on for 11 words most people have no idea actually stand for something.

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Laser is an acronym describing how the technology works.

Laser stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."

Lasers were invented in 1960, but the first use of the term came one year earlier, when physicist Gordon Gould coined it for a paper about the technology.

'Taser' comes from the name of a science-fiction book character.

Tasers sound like an invention taken from science fiction, and as it turns out, the name of the device actually was.

The weapon was invented in 1974 by NASA researcher Jack Cover, and when it was time to give his device a name, he found inspiration in Tom Swift, the title character from a series of adventure books about a teenage inventor from the early 1900s. In one of the books, Swift invented an "electric rifle" that could shoot bolts of electricity and was powerful enough to bring down an elephant.

Cover did have to employ some creativity with the word "Taser"— the books never actually reveal Tom Swift's middle name, but Cover added it to ease the pronunciation.

The 'BASE' in BASE jumping describes the objects people jump from.

For thrill-seekers, BASE jumping is one of the most adrenaline-filled activities out there.

"BASE"is an acronym describing the types of objects the risk-taking parachuters jump from: building, antenna, span (like a bridge or steel beam) and Earth (like a cliff).

• Thai officials said Saturday they are aiming to rescue the 12 trapped boys and their soccer coach soon, before seasonal monsoon rains hit.
• The boys have been trapped since June 23, when they went exploring in Thailand's Tham Luang Nang Non cave after a practice soccer game.
• An underwater escape is extremely risky — as the boys are untrained in diving — but with rains coming and oxygen depleting, it may be the only option, officials said.

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — Worried that heavy monsoon rain could soon make the job even more difficult, Thai officials said Saturday that they may need to quickly rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a partially flooded cave by helping them make risky dives to safety.

The boys, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach have been trapped for two weeks — since June 23, when they went exploring in northern Thailand's Tham Luang Nang Non cave after a practice game. Monsoon flooding cut off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days.

The only way to reach them was by navigating dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents, as well as oxygen-depleted air.

Getting out via the same route looks like the only feasible option, but a high-risk one, Thai officials say. Experienced cave rescue experts consider an underwater escape a last resort, especially with people untrained in diving, as the boys are.

The path out is considered especially complicated because of twists and turns in narrow flooded passages.

The local governor supervising the rescue mission said Saturday that mild weather and falling water levels over the last few days had created appropriate conditions for an underwater evacuation, but that they won't last if it rains again.

Thai officials are stressing that they may have to act very soon — meaning within the next couple of days. If weather forecasts are correct, access to the cave could soon close again due to flooding from seasonal monsoon rains. Earlier efforts to pump out water from the cave have been set back every time there has been a heavy downpour.

'The battles to search, rescue, and send them home'

Chiang Rai acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said authorities were waiting for two big groups of volunteer foreign divers to arrive this weekend, after which they will be ready to act quickly to bring the team members out when the conditions are right.

Narongsak said experts told him flooding from new rain could shrink the unflooded space where the boys are sheltering to just 10 square meters (108 square feet).

"I confirm that we are at war with water and time from the first day up to today," he said. "Finding the boys doesn't mean we've finished our mission. It is only a small battle we've won, but the war has not ended. The war ends when we win all three battles — the battles to search, rescue and send them home."

The boys sounded calm and reassuring in handwritten notes to their families that were made public Saturday. The notes were sent out with divers who made an 11-hour, back-and-forth journey to act as postmen.

One of the boys, identified as Tun, wrote: "Mom and Dad, please don't worry, I am fine. I've told Yod to get ready to take me out for fried chicken. With love."

"Don't be worried, I miss everyone. Grandpa, Uncle, Mom, Dad and siblings, I love you all. I'm happy being here inside, the navy SEALS have taken good care. Love you all," wrote Mick.

"Night loves Dad and Mom and brother, don't worry about me. Night loves you all," wrote Night, in the Thai manner of referring to one's self in the third person.

The most touching note came from one whose name was not clear: "I'm doing fine, but the air is a little cold, but don't worry. Although, don't forget to set up my birthday party."

Another, of indistinct origin, asked their teacher not to give them a lot of homework.

In a letter of his own, the coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, apologized to the boys' parents for the ordeal.

"To the parents of all the kids, right now the kids are all fine, the crew are taking good care. I promise I will care for the kids as best as possible. I want to say thanks for all the support and I want to apologize to the parents," he wrote.

The risks of making the underwater journey

An update Saturday from the Thai navy said three navy SEALs were with the boys and their coach, one a doctor. The 13 are having health evaluations and rehabilitation, and are being taught diving skills. Food, electrolyte drinks, drinking water, medicine and oxygen canisters have been delivered to them. A major concern of the rescuers is that oxygen levels in their safe space could fall dangerously low.

Rescuers have been unable to extend a hose pumping oxygen all the way to where the boys are, but have brought them some oxygen tanks.

The death on Friday of a former Thai navy SEAL, Saman Gunan, underscored the risks of making the underwater journey. The diver, the first fatality of the rescue effort, was working in a volunteer capacity and died on a mission to place oxygen canisters along the route to where the boys and others are sheltered.

Rescuers are also pursuing other options to extract the boys, hoping that finding a shaft or drilling into the mountain in which the cave is located will lead them to a sort of backdoor entrance.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has sent a team of engineers to Thailand to see if they can help in the rescue effort. Musk's Boring Company digs tunnels for advanced transport systems and has advanced ground-penetrating radar.

A spokeswoman for the Boring Company who declined to be named said it is in talks with the Thai government and people on the ground to determine how they could best assist their efforts.

SEE ALSO: A rescue diver says the easiest way to get the Thai soccer team out of the cave is to drug them

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• A rescue operation is now underway to extract 12 boys and their soccer coach from the Thailand cave where they've been trapped since June 23.
• Chiang Rai acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said 13 foreign and five Thai divers were taking part in the rescue and two divers will accompany each boy as they are gradually extracted.
• Osatanakorn said it will take at least 11 hours for the first person to be rescued.

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — The operation has begun to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach who will need to dive out of the flooded Thai cave where they have been trapped for more than two weeks, with officials saying Sunday morning that "today is D-Day."

Chiang Rai acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said 13 foreign and five Thai divers were taking part in the rescue and two divers will accompany each boy as they are gradually extracted. The operation began at 10 a.m. and he said it would take at least 11 hours for the first person to be rescued.

The only way to bring them out of Tham Luang Nang Non in Chiang Rai province is by navigating dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents, as well as oxygen-depleted air. A former Thai navy SEAL passed out making the dive Friday and died.

Experienced cave rescue experts consider an underwater escape a last resort, especially with people untrained in diving, as the boys are. The path out is considered especially complicated because of twists and turns in narrow flooded passages.

But the governor supervising the mission said earlier that mild weather and falling water levels over the last few days had created optimal conditions for an underwater evacuation that won't last if it rains again.

Before announcing that the rescue was underway, authorities ordered the throngs of media that have gathered at the cave from around the world to leave.

The boys, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach became stranded when they went exploring in the cave after a practice game June 23. Monsoon flooding cut off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days.

'The battles to search, rescue and send them home'

Authorities had said that incoming monsoon rains that could send water levels in the cave rising, coupled with falling oxygen levels in the enclosed space, added to the urgency of getting those trapped out. Earlier efforts to pump out water from the cave have been set back every time there has been a heavy downpour.

Narongsak said Saturday that experts told him water from new rain could shrink the unflooded space where the boys are sheltering to just 10 square meters (108 square feet).

"I confirm that we are at war with water and time from the first day up to today," he said Saturday. "Finding the boys doesn't mean we've finished our mission. It is only a small battle we've won, but the war has not ended. The war ends when we win all three battles — the battles to search, rescue and send them home."

The boys sounded calm and reassuring in handwritten notes to their families that were made public Saturday. The notes were sent out with divers who made an 11-hour, back-and-forth journey to act as postmen.

'I promise I will care for the kids as best as possible'

One of the boys, identified as Tun, wrote: "Mom and Dad, please don't worry, I am fine. I've told Yod to get ready to take me out for fried chicken. With love."

"Don't be worried, I miss everyone. Grandpa, Uncle, Mom, Dad and siblings, I love you all. I'm happy being here inside, the navy SEALS have taken good care. Love you all," wrote Mick.

"Night loves Dad and Mom and brother, don't worry about me. Night loves you all," wrote Night, in the Thai manner of referring to one's self in the third person.

The most touching note came from one whose name was not clear: "I'm doing fine, but the air is a little cold, but don't worry. Although, don't forget to set up my birthday party."

Another, of indistinct origin, asked their teacher not to give them a lot of homework.

In a letter of his own, the coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, apologized to the boys' parents for the ordeal.

"To the parents of all the kids, right now the kids are all fine, the crew are taking good care. I promise I will care for the kids as best as possible. I want to say thanks for all the support and I want to apologize to the parents," he wrote.

An update Saturday from the Thai navy said three navy SEALs were with the boys and their coach, one a doctor. The 13 were having health evaluations and rehabilitation, and were being taught diving skills. Food, electrolyte drinks, drinking water, medicine and oxygen canisters have been delivered to them. A major concern of the rescuers is that oxygen levels in their safe space could fall dangerously low.

Rescuers have been unable to extend a hose pumping oxygen all the way to where the boys are, but have brought them some oxygen tanks.

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• Two Navy SEALs have been relieved from duty after an investigation into sexual assault and sexual harassment.
• The two sailors were ordered back to the US from an overseas deployment after the allegations were made.
• Navy SEALs have faced increasing scrutiny for drug use and other misconduct in recent years.

Cmdr. Jarrod Donaldson and Master Chief Jon Franklin, the commander and senior enlisted officer of a US Navy SEAL team, have been relieved of duty after an investigation into sexual assault and sexual harassment, officials told ABC News.

Donaldson and Franklin were relieved on July 9 by Capt. Jamie Sands, who is the commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, a spokesperson for the unit said.

The allegations were made while the two Virginia Beach-based SEALs were deployed to East Africa. Defense officials told ABC News that one was investigated for alleged inappropriate touching of a female service member during that deployment, and both faced investigations into sexual harassment allegations.

Donaldson and Franklin were "pulled from deployment" in early May after the allegations were made. They retained their positions within the unit while they were in the US and the investigation was being carried out.

They were relieved after the investigations were finished and could still face administrative punishments.

"The Navy will follow due process," the spokesperson said.

Navy SEAL units — of which there are eight, four odd-numbered teams stationed in California and four even-numbered teams stationed in Virginia, plus the elite SEAL Team Six — have faced increased scrutiny for misconduct in recent years.

A few days prior to Donaldson and Franklin's return to the US, 11 Naval Special Warfare personnel, including 10 SEALs, were administratively discharged from the service after testing positive for cocaine or methamphetamines between March and April.

That incident that came less than two years after East Coast SEAL units took an operational pause to investigate drug usage and a little over a year after three current and former SEALS told CBS News that SEAL units had a "growing" problem with drug use.

"People that we know of, that we hear about have tested positive for cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, ecstasy," one of the SEALs told CBS News. "That's a problem."

Some have attributed recent disciplinary and conduct issues with the SEALs to the drawdown of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, though the US military's special-operations community continues to face a high operational tempo in relation to the ongoing war on terror and campaigns elsewhere.

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• Some members of the Thai soccer team recently rescued from a flooded cave say they want to be Navy SEALs when they grow up.
• Thailand's Navy SEALs were an important part of the rescue mission that got all 12 boys and their coach out alive.
• After being found by rescuers, the team spent a lot of time in the cave with SEALs, who provided company and supplies.
• Three boys, and their coach, raised their hand when asked at a press conference whether they'd like to join the SEALs someday.

Four members of the Thai soccer team that survived being trapped in a flooded cave for more than two weeks now want to be Navy SEALS.

Three boys, and the team coach, said they now aspired to the join the SEALs, whose divers swam into the cave and helped get all 12 boys and the 25-year-old coach out alive.

Asked during a press conference on Wednesday about his future plans, the 14-year-old goalkeeper Ekarat Wongsukchan said: "I still want to pursue my dream to be a professional soccer player, but there might be a new dream, which is to become part of the Navy SEALs."

Wongsukchan and three other members of the team — including the coach, Ekapol Chantawong — then raised their hand when asked how many of them wanted to be Navy SEALs.

It was met with applause from the SEALs onstage at the conference as well as many members of the audience.

Six other members of the team also said they hoped to one day be professional soccer players.

Rescuers found the team huddled on a dry ledge in the partially flooded cave complex after nine days of searches.

Three Thai Navy SEALs and a doctor stayed with the boys over the ensuing week until they were extracted one by one as part of a three-day mission that ended last Monday.

Sanam Kunam, a former SEAL who volunteered to help, died while placing oxygen tanks in the cave.

The team paid condolences to Kunam toward the end of the conference while holding a portrait of the diver with personal messages written around it.

Chanin Vibulrungruang, 11, the youngest of the team, said in his message:

"I would like to thank both Lt. Saman and everyone involved in this. I hope that Lt. Saman has a good sleep and I hope that he rests in peace.

"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

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On July 12, US soldiers and sailors and foreign counterparts blew up a retired US warship roughly 60 miles north of Hawaii, bludgeoning the decommissioned USS Racine with missiles and torpedoes as a part of the Rim of the Pacific exercise, a series of drills attended by 25,000 personnel from 25 countries around the Pacific between June 27 and August 2.

A few days before, the fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii carried out a much more discreet mission closer to the shores of Oahu, secreting special-operations personnel close to shore to practice a submarine-insertion maneuver that's a mainstay of naval commando raids.

Below, you can see how US special operations force troops and their counterparts from six other countries carried out a submarine-insertion exercise.

SEE ALSO: The US and its allies sank a warship for practice in the Pacific, and it's a preview of how a fight with China could go down

The submarine-insertion exercise on July 9 involved special-operations personnel from the US, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Peru, and Japan.

Source: US Navy

RIMPAC is meant to provide training opportunities and strengthen security partnerships among Pacific countries. Four other submarines took part, in addition to 46 ships and about 200 aircraft.

Source: US Navy

The insertion exercise was meant to improve the maritime interoperability of the forces involved.

Source: US Navy

Not sure about whether to stay in or get out as your enlistment nears its end within the next six months? Well, depending on your rating, the United States Navy could have as many as 100,000 reasons for you to stick around.

According to a NAVADMIN released February 2018 that was signed by Vice Admiral Robert P. Burke, the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education, the Navy has revised Selective Reenlistment Bonus levels for 39 skills across 24 ratings to encourage enlisted sailors to sign up for another hitch.

The highest of these bonuses is $100,000, being offered to those sailors who ratings include explosive ordnance personnel, special operators (SEALs), and electrician’s mates with nuclear qualifications, depending on their Navy Enlistment Classification, or NEC.

Military.com notes that these bonuses vary given the needs of the service.

Usually, half the bonus is paid out immediately. The other half will be given out in annual installments over the course of the re-enlistment. A servicemember can receive a maximum of two SRBs, totaling no more than $200,000.

Those who are eligible to receive the SRBs are sailors who hold the ranks of Seaman (or Airman, Hospitalman, or Constructionman), Petty Officer Third Class, Petty Officer Second Class, or Petty Officer First Class. Those selected for Chief Petty Officer are not eligible to receive the SRB.

The Navy Personnel Command website notes that to receive the SRB, the request must be made no less than 35 days before and no more than 120 days before the re-enlistment date. Sailors should contact their command career counselor for more information about possible eligibility for the SRB.

They should do so quickly because the Navy “will continue to assess retention behavior and adjust SRB award levels accordingly,” according to the NAVADMIN.

SEE ALSO: The Army's and Marine Corps' latest uniform changes hint at preparations for a looming 'big-ass fight'

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• Dan Cnossen, a Navy Seal with a purple heart and a bronze star, won the 7.5 km seated biathlon at the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang.
• Cnossen finished 14th in the same event at Sochi in 2014 and had never won this event in any previous international competition.
• Cnossen was a platoon commander for SEAL Team One in 2009 when he stepped on an IED and lost both of his legs just above the knees.

Dan Cnossen is a Navy SEAL platoon commander with a purple heart and a bronze star. Now he is also a gold medalist.

Cnossen won gold at the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics in 7.5 km seated biathlon.

Biathlon is the seemingly unusual event that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting (there is actually a logical explanation for the combination). Now add a huge degree of difficulty of athletes having to do the entire event with just arm strength and even having to navigate the transition from seated skiing to laying down — and back — for the shooting portion.

Cnossen successfully hit nine of his ten targets and when he crossed the finish line he had a 9.3 second lead. At the time, his finish was still up in the air due to the staggered starts for the skiers. He even seemed unaware of his strong performance.

"A guy who was taking the transponder off was saying, ‘I think an American is in at first,’ and I was like, ‘Maybe that’s me,'"Cnossen told NBC.

Dzmitry Loban of Belarus, who started after Cnossen, still had a shot to catch the American, but crossed the finish line 7.3 seconds behind to take silver.

Here is the moment Cnossen crossed the finish line to take the lead.

Cnossen was a platoon commander for SEAL Team One in 2009 when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan and lost both of his legs just above the knees. The 37-year-old was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor for his service.

This is Cnossen's second Winter Paralympics, having participated in five events in Sochi in 2014. His previous best finish in any Paralympic event was fifth and he finished 14th in this event in Sochi.

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• Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona appeared to have a friendly dig at each other's military service.
• Zinke served in the US Navy and Gallego in the US Marine Corps.
• The GOP appeared to take the verbal exchange seriously on social media.

Republicans posted a snarky tweet after a congressional lawmaker and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke appeared to make friendly digs at each other's military service during the House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Thursday.

While scrutinizing the department's policy priorities for the upcoming budget, Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, a former US Marine, asked Zinke, a former US Navy SEAL, how many meetings he's held with a coalition of Native American nations.

"How many meetings did you hold with the Bear Ears Inter-Tribal coalition?," Gallego asked.

"Pardon me?," Zinke said.

"How many meetings did you hold with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal coalition?," Gallego asked again.

"I met them in Washington DC, I met them there, I met them over the phone, and had individual meetings," Zinke replied.

"So the actual coalition, it sounds like you had one meeting then," Gallego said. "One face-to-face meeting."

"That would be incorrect," Zinke responded. "I had a meeting there ..."

"Ok, so what would you say the number is then," Gallego later asked. "If you had to take a guess. Even giving you some sway on the meetings ..."

"I had a meeting there with the coalition," Zinke answered. "I had a meeting in Utah with ..."

"Secretary Zinke, I'm asking just the number," Gallego interrupted. "I know you're a Navy SEAL and math might be difficult, but you know, give me a rough number here."

"Rough number of what is specifically your question?," Zinke shot back. "And I take offense about your derogatory comment about the United States Navy SEALs. Of course, having not served, I understand you probably don't know."

Gallego, chuckling, appeared to reload for another quip.

"Not in the Navy and not in the Navy SEALs," Zinke said with a smirk.

"Alright, Secretary Zinke, I apologize," Gallego said. "But as you know, we have inter-rivalry jokes all the time as a Marine and as a grunt. And of course, I appreciate your service."

"Semper fi," Zinke said, referring to the Marine Corps shorthand motto of "semper fidelis," or "always faithful."

"Semper fi, brother," Gallego said.

While the exchange appeared friendly, the House Committee on Natural Resources appeared to take offense to Gallego's comments. The committee's official Twitter account uploaded an edited clip of Gallego's quip, and wrote: "Leave it to Committee Democrats to disgrace the service of a Navy SEAL for political gain..."

"Denigrating someone for their military service is weak," another person tweeted. "Sorry that @RepRubenGallego didnt have substantive arguments."

The GOP got some heat on Twitter, though, for editing out the "semper fi" exchange between the two.

"Gross. @RepRubenGallego served bravely in Iraq as a Marine. Today he ribbed Secretary Zinke as a former Navy Seal. You edited out the part where Sec. Zinke smiles and says 'semper fi' to Rep. Gallego, who smiles back. We have enough work to do without ginning up fake outrage,"Rep. Don Beyer tweeted.

As a Marine in Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Gallego deployed to Iraq in 2005. His company, which lost 22 Marines and a Navy corpsman, would experience arguably one of the toughest campaigns during the war.

Zinke served as an Navy SEAL officer and took part in operations that included capturing a Bosnian war criminal.

Watch Zinke's and Gallego's comments here:

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• SOLKOA Survival Systems makes a SEAL Team Six survival kit that contains over 25 different life-saving tools that can fit snuggly inside of your cargo pocket. 
• Housed in a SUMA Container, the kit comes with an emergency blanket, leatherman, steel wire, button compass, and a signal mirror.
• The kit was specially designed to be taken into rough areas and functions as a durable piece of gear for any warfighter or backpacker looking to explore the unknown.

If there’s one group in the military that’s trained to survive in the most horrible conditions known to man, it’s the U.S. Navy SEALs.

From the icy Arctic to humid jungles, SEALs are prepared for any kind of fight against the enemy at a moment’s notice.

Sometimes, missions don’t go as planned, so troops need to ready for anything and expect the unexpected while outside of the wire. To that end, troops should carry a survival kit filled with everything they need to endure the night in a harsh, potentially hostile environment.

But no ordinary survival kit will do. The SEAL Team Six survival kit puts all the essentials into one, easy-to-carry pack.

Although the kit doesn’t contain much food (SEALs can fend for themselves), it’s packed to the brim with the items necessary to keep you alive in an emergency.

This unique system contains over 25 different life-saving tools that can fit snuggly inside of your cargo pocket. Housed in a SUMA Container, the kit comes with an emergency blanket, leatherman, steel wire, button compass, and a signal mirror.

The container’s anodized finish makes cooking small meals over a campfire possible. The larger kit covers eight different survival essentials, like water purification, temporary shelter construction, and fire starting.

The kit was specially designed to be taken into rough areas and functions as a durable piece of gear for any warfighter or backpacker looking to explore the unknown.

Check out Black Scout Survival’s video below to watch a complete breakdown of the SEAL Team Six survival kit for yourself.

SEE ALSO: The Navy can now 3D-print submarines on the fly for SEALs

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• Ten US Navy SEALs and one sailor in Navy special warfare have tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamines, a Navy spokesperson told Business Insider. 
• This is not the first time the elite US military service has been troubled by drug use in its ranks.
• SEALs have reported a culture of repressing reports of drug use, and Congress worries that the high workload on US Special Forces may be taking a toll.

Ten US Navy SEALs and one sailor in Navy special warfare have tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamines, a Navy spokesperson told Business Insider. 

"During a number of command drug tests from March to April 2018, 11 service members from East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare units tested positive for controlled substances," Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence said in a statement.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy for the use of illicit drugs and as such these individuals will be held accountable for their actions," the statement continued. "We are confident in our drug testing procedures and will continue to impress on all members of the command that illicit drugs are incompatible with the SEAL ethos and Naval service."

This is not the first time the elite US military service has been troubled by drug use in its ranks. In 2016, the East Coast SEALs took an operational pause to investigate drug usage, according to the US Naval Institute, which first reported the SEALs and sailor testing positive.

In April 2017, CBS spoke to members of the SEAL community who said that reporting or speaking up against drug use was a "career killer."

The SEALs' simmering drug-use scandal even sparked concern from Congress in November. Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, commented that US military special forces' "operational tempo is so incredible."

"The idea that you would have within six years, multiple deployments, some people every six months to deploy, that in and of itself causes lots of consequences," he added. "And we haven't seen a break in those deployments."

SEE ALSO: Mattis hints at new Navy aircraft carrier strategy to throw off Russia and China in a potential future war

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With a busy schedule, Jocko Willink finds time to get everything done by waking up before everyone else does. Willink, former Navy SEAL and author of "Way of the Warrior Kid" explains the one habit from service that he can't shake.

For the full interview, search for "Success! How I Did It" on Apple Podcasts or your favorite app. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/success-how-i-did-it/id1205997729?mt=2 

Following is a transcript of the video. 

Richard Feloni: Are there some things from your service that you can't shake? So for example, you still wake up at 4:30 in the morning, to go workout, what was it about your time in the Seals, that you wanted to keep these habits up?

Jocko Willink: They're good habits, why would you not wake up at 4:30?

Richard Feloni: Well what does this bring to you?

Jocko Willink: Waking up early? You just get a jump on the day. The reason I wake up at 4:30 in the morning is because no one else is awake yet, so that gives me the opportunity to do things that I need to get done, kinda selfishly for myself, and the big one in that category is working out. And it doesn't feel good at 4:30 when you get up, but by the time 7 o'clock rolls around, and you've already worked out, and you've already got some work done, and you've got some time to say goodbye to your kids before they go to school? It's infinitely better than sleeping in until 6:45, and you get out of bed, and now you've missed your kids going to school, or whatever. You're not prepared for the day, it's awful.

Feloni: So if someone, maybe they don't have time to work out or they just need something that could be like a quick fix, is there something that you recommend?

Willink: Oh yeah, workouts don't have to take a long time. Workouts can be very quick. Matter of fact, go do two minutes of burpees, as many burpees as you can, in two minutes, or four minutes, or six minutes, go and sprint, go and do anything very intensely, for a short period of time and you'll get great benefit out of it.

Feloni: Something I'm sure you hear a lot is 4:30, like this either just can't fit into my schedule, or if I'm gonna be realistic, I'm probably not gonna wake up at 4:30, what do you tell people who say that?

Willink: Yeah, and there's people that work night shifts, and there's people that it's unhealthy for them, they can't fall as-- it's like no, be healthy, get enough sleep, but, first of all, wake up at the same time every day and, if you pick that time and you start waking up at the same time every day, that's very good for you. It doesn't have to be 4:30, it could be 6:30, it could be 7, I don't know what your personal schedule is, but find out a time, pick it, set it, stick to it, and maintain that schedule, and that's gonna end up better for you.

I recommend it's earlier. I recommend that you go to bed earlier, 'cause what are you doing at night, most of the time? Most of the time at night, you're not working on anything super productive, you're just winding down and watching stupid YouTube videos, or surfing the internet, reading clickbait stories, right? Don't do that, instead, go to sleep, and then wake up early.

Feloni: Could you explain that notion of discipline equals freedom?

Willink: If you want more freedom in your life, you have to have more discipline. If you don't have any discipline, you'll end up with absolutely no freedom, you'll end up being a slave to other people that boss you around. There's all kind of problems that can occur, if you don't have discipline in your life. And the more discipline you have, the more freedom you're gonna have.

Feloni: So just the discipline of the Seals, will never-- it's impossible to leave?

Willink: No, it's possible to leave, there's retired seals all over the place that are undisciplined. They've moved on, and they don't care about that anymore. It's fine, I don't judge other people on what they're doin', like they're probably stoked to sleep in and hang out with their kids, and eat breakfast in bed, that's fine. I don't have anything against that. But for me? I wanna get up and go.

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When sailors hit the Navy SEAL training grinder, they'll undergo what's considered the hardest military training on earth in attempts to earn the Trident.

Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training uses the sandy beaches of Coronado, California, to push candidates beyond their mental and physical limits to see if they can endure and be welcomed into the Special Warfare community.

Roughly 75% of all BUD/S candidates drop out of training, leaving many to wonder what, exactly, it takes to survive the program and graduate. Well, former Navy SEAL Jeff Nichols is here to break it down and give you a few tips for finding success at BUD/S.

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1. Diversify your training

According to Nichols, the ability to sustain yourself through various types of physical training will only help your odds of succeeding at BUD/S. Incorporate various exercise types, variable rest periods, and a wide array of resistances into your training regimen.

2. Get massages

When candidates aren't in training, it's crucial that they heal themselves up. Massages improve the body's circulation and can cut down recovery time. That being said, avoid deep-tissue massages. That type of intense treatment can actually extend your healing time.

3. Find sleep wherever possible

If you can avoid staying up late, you should. Nichols encourages candidates to take naps whenever possible. Even if its only a quick, 20-minute snooze, get that rest in as often as possible.