Mark Esper

So you had that added stress level that, yeah, things can go wrong.

There have been accidents in the past.

Um, but the view was always, I'll throw another phrase at you.

We used to always use it.

And that is the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed more.

And so that was another factor is you got to work hard.

You got to go hard because, um, we're saving people in the long run.

We'll be far more successful in the mission and bring far more people home.

If we train as hard and as realistic as we possibly can, uh, you know, in peacetime.

Absolutely.

I mean, even in hobbies, right.

You and I talked beforehand about

being triathletes, running triathlons, you obviously have done far better than I did.

But to me, the, you know, the simple acronym of fit, you know, frequency, intensity, and time.

And to me, the challenge is always intensity.

I see, I go to the gym every day.

I see a lot of people in the gym, but they're just hanging out, right?

You have to be there and you have to have an intensity to either, whether you're lifting weights or on a bike, to constantly pushing yourself as hard as you can, get that heart rate up.

And because again, you're training for a race.

If you want to win or improve yourself, it's, there's no shortcut.