After 9/11, Tom worked construction while he trained for the Navy and the grueling Navy SEAL program. Tom graduated from BUD/s, Airborne School and SQT, receiving his SEAL Trident in 2008. Tom joined SEAL Team One as a Breacher in 2008 and served until 2016 with four deployments including Iraq and Afghanistan. While still an active-duty Navy SEAL Pre-BUD/s Instructor (Lead Petty Officer LPO) stationed at Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command (RTC Great Lakes) in North Chicago, Illinois, Tom enrolled at Northwestern University as a full-time student and walked onto the football team as a linebacker after not playing football for 15 years. Tom played in the Big Ten for Pat Fitzgerald and the NU Wildcats from 2014-2016 at 32, 33, and 34 years old. James studied Journalism at the University of Missouri. James wrote his first novel in 1999 and cut his writing teeth in Chicago while owning 10 nightclubs and sports bars over many years. James owned a restaurant early in his career sponsored by the Mario and Michael Andretti IndyCar racing team owned by actor Paul Newman and Carl Haas. Andretti’s 1987 Indy car was in the main dining room. Also, James survived a restaurant partnership with martial arts action-star Steven Seagal during Seagal’s glory days following the breakout hit movie, Above the Law. James described the business relationship with Seagal as interesting. “It was before Seagal went to the other side.” James Pomerantz novels before The Breacher’s Playbook include Ghost Bandit, Undisclosed Sibling and The Spitting Image of My Father. James wrote a 2004 biography entitled They Call Me Sid Rock…Rodeo’s Extreme Cowboy. (Triumph Books, Chicago) The book was a colorful expose of Sid Steiner, 2002 PRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler. The Steiner family is Texas rodeo royalty. Sid’s father Bobby Steiner was a PRCA World Champion Bull Rider in 1973. James lost his wife, Mary, in 2019. They raised four kids in Winnetka, Illinois. James now resides in the Chicago area near his family. The Breachers Playbook: https://tactical16.com/product/the-breachers-playbook/ Today's Sponsors: Montana Knife Company: https://www.montanaknifecompany.com/ TrueWerk: Check out the full lineup and get 15 percent off your first order. https://www.truewerk.com/clearedhot
Chapter 1: What are the backgrounds of Tom Hruby and James Pomerantz?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. Man, we got a banger of an episode for you today. All right. There are some cool things about my old job. A lot of people think that it is the, I don't know, the apex of what your life could potentially be. And I'm just here to tell you that if today's guest doesn't convince you that that's not the case, I don't know what to tell you.
So there's two people today, two guests, James and Tom. James, I met today. Tom, I served with in the military. Well, I can't say necessarily served directly with him. Apparently, I was a BUDS instructor at around the same time he went through. He has a memory of that. I do not. James, before we get into this, is, man, what a hell of a life the man has lived.
Worked in the bar space for quite some time. He's also an author of A very well-published author. And with Tom, they have created a novel, which is what we're going to get to. But the book is called The Breacher's Playbook. This is a fictional novel. But what I like about this kind of genre is that it's very similar to Jack Carr in many ways, meaning –
lot of truth woven in and when you know what you're looking for you can kind of tell about the authenticity and it speaks to you in that way and then if you just still want to be able to detach your mind you can go down the fictional route as well so i actually think it was james that reached out to me first and i need to read right off of what he wrote tom's background because it's ridiculous
Tom obviously went to Bud's and successfully graduated, served at SEAL Team 1 as a breacher. Before that, he was a professional MMA fighter, 7-0, no big deal. Joined the Navy after 9-11, 10-year career as a SEAL. Then he enrolled in Northwestern University and walked on and played D1 football as a linebacker when he was 32 to 34 years old.
What does somebody do after they've already done all of those things? I don't know. How about continue to stay in school and educate themselves author. Unbelievable. It just goes to show you that you are really limited by the barriers that you put in front of yourself. And I'm going to shut up. I'm going to let them talk for themselves. We're going to get into episode 380 with James and Tom.
Before that though, give me a quick sec. Let's pay the bills. Today's episode is brought to you by Montana Knife Company. I know everybody who listens to the show is familiar with the brand. Last week's episode was with the founder, Josh Smith. It was really cool. We combined like a little bit of a podcast with a little bit of a vlog. Go to montanaknifecompany.com.
Right now they're having a sale on their apparel. I'm actually wearing one of their shirts right now. That was accidental. I generally dress in the darkness, and whatever t-shirt is on top is going to be what I get. They just dropped their tactical line. We talked about that in last week's episodes. There are four knives associated with it. It's actually what I carry in my fanny pack as my EDC.
Not because I'm looking to get into a knife fight, but mostly because I like to open envelopes in boxes efficiently. These knives are ridiculously sharp. Please be careful. They have chef's knives. They have hunting knives. They have tactical knives. They have knives for people like Greg Putnam who work out on the Little Belt Cattle Co. Ranch. They have knives for people who are fishing.
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Chapter 2: How did Tom transition from Navy SEAL to author?
My middle son, Tyler, wouldn't you agree he's like 40 years old, Michael, trapped in a 19-year-old's body? I would agree with that. Yeah, he'd be more likely to be found on a Friday night reading a stoicism book with tortoise shell glasses on.
Interesting, yeah.
Yeah, and trying to figure out which crypto to short the next day. Amazing, man. He wakes up every morning in college and day trades.
like what are you doing he's he's sees a goal for himself he sees like this is how i can become something else and he's he's working towards he's gonna be fine and he's totally fine with that and when he started his businesses he um the only way he got business is he went and knocked on doors he doesn't care if he gets told no if somebody tells him no or get the fuck off my property he literally say well do you happen to know anybody of your neighbors that might need my service so he
He doesn't care. So I look at him, I'm like, you're going to be so fine. The world actually probably isn't ready for you because he just keeps going. I'm like, you're good. Let me know when I can start borrowing money from you. You're going to have to hire him. I don't know if I can afford him.
Do you feel like you can see how each of your kids are a variation of you? I mean, they make up a combined total. They make up you. But in each category, something even better. Something even... I see my deficiencies in them.
Okay.
Like my daughter.
My daughter, Michael can probably attest to this, has got a real sharp mouth. She's got some sass. Real smart ass, if you will. I'm like, well... I know where you got that from. My oldest son's stubbornness and ability to just kind of detach and do his own thing. Like kind of know where you got that from. Cause that's how I deal with things as well.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Tom face while writing The Breacher's Playbook?
But he would pull it out on Fridays and lay it out on his bed and just count it. I'm like, you are a psychopath. And then he ended up having so many hollowed out books that he wanted to open a bank account and is on YouTube researching how much cash can I put into a bank account before the IRS finds out. Wow. All because of this. What a kid, man.
But we would have done the same thing, I think, if we would have had those tools.
Yeah.
We didn't have those tools.
Yeah. Yeah.
I don't think we did.
I don't think we did. I know I didn't have those tools. No. I recall too, the first time somebody showed me Google, I think I was about 19 years old.
Yeah.
And my cousin came over and goes, check this really cool thing out. It's called Google. Yeah. I said, what the fuck is Google? And he showed it to me and I thought, this is ridiculous. I never looked at it again.
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Chapter 4: What parenting challenges do Tom and James discuss?
What were your thoughts on writing the book? Did you enjoy the process?
I enjoyed it a lot.
Okay. Do you think he enjoyed it though? Because it was based, so Jack Carr, a good friend of mine, his books, I think you guys have an advantage and the advantage is you can do 98% realistic and then a little 2% of flair and you can call it nonfiction.
Yeah.
I think writing, or you can, I'm sorry, you can call it fiction. Yes. Writing a nonfiction book. God, I feel like there'd be a lot of pressure, especially if it's going to be anything other than a historic event that you can really, really research. And in the modern era, too, where people might say something like, oh, well, that's not, you know what I mean, or come at you.
So you have creativity, which is awesome, but you can also balance it really well in realism, which Jack does a great job of. For people who know what they're looking at reading those books, like, damn, dude, did you have to include that detail? Like, leave that shit out. The reader, though, the average reader doesn't know where the authenticity and the fiction aspect is rolled on top of it.
I wonder how much you would have enjoyed it if it was a nonfiction book.
Yeah. Well, it's a different lens. It would be, it'd be a lot more anxiety in it for sure. Right. And be a whole lot of questions of what, what do you add? What do you not add?
It would be judgment.
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