Becoming a Navy SEAL Not Knowing how to Swim | Terminal List | Actor | Author | Remi Adeleke | Combat Story Ep. 83

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

Today’s Combat Story is one of perseverance and hustle on another level. We hear from Remi Adeleke who deployed multiple times as a Navy SEAL, but only after overcoming a truly difficult childhood of being stripped of his family’s wealth in Nigeria to hustling on the streets of the Bronx to make ends meet. Remi would be one of those rare people who wanted to become a SEAL even though he couldn’t swim, just to give you an idea of his attitude and beliefs. [Support us on Patreon and get exclusive content and insights at www.patreon.com/combatstory] After leaving the service, Remi has done it all. He was contacted by Hollywood and has either acted in or advised on multiple blockbuster movies and shows like Transformers, SEAL Team, and most recently the Terminal List with Chris Pratt. He’s also a best selling author with a fantastic book “Transformed: A Navy SEAL's Unlikely Journey from the Throne of Africa, to the Streets of the Bronx, to Defying All Odds,” a clothing line called Kojo and more. This is a true Combat Story of not just overcoming the odds down range, but overcoming every obstacle life in the inner city can throw at you. Find Remi Online: - Instagram @remiadeleke - Twitter @remiadeleke - Kojo Wear Clothing Line - Book Transformed: A Navy SEAL's Unlikely Journey from the Throne of Africa, to the Streets of the Bronx, to Defying All Odds - Muskegon Maritime Academy https://muskegonmaritimeacademy.org/ Find Ryan Online: - Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory - Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combatstory/ - Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory - Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial - Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial - Email ryan@combatstory.com - Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus - Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 0:27 - Guest Introduction (Remi Adeleke) 2:00 - Interview begins 4:26 - About his family’s tribe from Nigeria and what it means to him today 7:12 - Growing up in Nigeria 13:16 - Formative years spent hustling in the Bronx 24:24 - Why the military? 27:58 - Being in NYC on 9/11 30:56 - An influential recruitment officer and getting his record cleared 34:43 - Becoming a SEAL without knowing how to swim 39:01 - First deployment experience 43:10 - Combat Story - First time outside the wire as a Humvee gunner 45:30 - Being an African American in the SEAL teams and how being black helped down range 50:25 - How his time in the Bronx gave him skills in the military 52:17 - Direct action ops and running sources 57:56 - Combat Story - a quick snatch and grab operation that turned into 14 hours with an intense foot chase 1:08:22 - The decision to get out 1:11:55 - Getting the call to work on Transformers without a formal audition and how he got into acting and consulting 1:21:50 - Starting the Muskegon Maritime Academy, a military themed charter school 1:26:59 - What did you carry into combat? 1:27:32 - Would you do it again? 1:27:50 - What do you think your old man would be saying now? 1:28:31 - Listener comments and shout outs This interview is all about special operations and special operators. If you want to learn more about special opertaions, you can click: https://www.combatstory.com/ This interview is describing what it takes to be in special operations but also try to cover the following subjects: - What are special operations? - Combat Story - Remi Adeleke - Navy SEALs - Combat Operations Remi Adeleke was born in Western Africa, but following the death of his father, he, his mother, and his brother relocated permanently to the Bronx in New York City. After years of making regrettable decisions, Remi joined the Navy in 2002 and later became a Navy SEAL. Ending his successful naval career in 2016, he was led to pursue a career in speaking and acting. Remi holds a BS in organizational leadership and an MS in strategic leadership, both from the University of Charleston West Virginia. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Jessica, and their two sons, Cayden and Caleb. Speaking about joining the team, Adeleke said: “Since I departed from the military in 2016 my main focus in life has been to inspire, motivate and educate people — whether through writing, speaking, or visual storytelling." If you would like to learn more about Remi Adeleke I suggest you look into our various other video clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyApoJr-mNmdMNwdk22xEQ _________________________ Have I responded to all of your questions about what are special operations? Individuals who searched for Remi Adeleke also searched for Navy SEALs and we have interviews with many Navy SEALs at www.combatstory.com, including those in Naval Special Warfare Development Group (or DEVGRU), which many people refer to as SEAL Team Six.