Chiseled Ep 51 What it Takes to Become a Navy SEAL - Andrew Paul

Chiseled with Rob Commodari

Andrew Paul grew up in a military family. His grandfather enlisted in World War II at age 17 and flew B-17 bombers in Europe. Other family members were submariners, pilots, a master chief, and a vice commander. As a boy, Andrew remembers the family sitting in the living room watching military documentaries together and telling stories about their own experiences.

"At a pretty young age, I got it in my head I was going to go in the military one day," he said.

Despite people trying to discourage Andrew, who was 5'7" and 155 pounds, he was dead set on becoming a Navy SEAL. At Vanderbilt University, he joined ROTC, the reserve officers training program. He learned there that the SEALs only take 16 candidates each year. Determined to become one, he won a slot to go to the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado.

Then 9/11 happened.

"All of a sudden, the tone of everything changes. No longer was I like, 'This is going to be training. I'm going to be a SEAL.' We knew that if we got through training we were going to war," he said.
Andrew underwent rigorous training meant to discourage and dissuade the heartiest of souls. It included physical preparation, dive training, small unit tactics, ambushes and raids, explosives, patrolling, sleep deprivation, mission planning, and finally SEAL qualification training. Making his way through the whole program, he was then assigned to a SEAL team.

"After all that, you're in a SEAL team and you have zero experience," Andrew said.

Andrew was deployed several times and he has faced extreme challenges that I can't imagine. In this episode of Chiseled, he shares what it was like becoming a member of the SEALs, rising through the ranks, and deciding when and why it was time to leave.

Speaking of endurance training, Andrew went from being in the military at the start of America's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to becoming a mortgage lender at the start of the 2008 housing crash. As expected, he hustled his way through the financial crisis and ended up on top. He now helps veterans and others become homeowners in his adopted state of California.

If you have questions about his experience or want to talk about mortgage lending, you can reach Andrew at [e-mail] or call him at 619-964-9404. You can also find him at www. theveteranadvocate.com.