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 we hear the Combat Story of Jon Macaskill, a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness and meditation teacher. He spent a career in the Navy's Special Warfare and military Joint Special Operations communities and served in Iraq, Afghanistan, off the coast of Somalia, and in Panama.

One story that Jon shares in this episode and which shows the burdens and gut wrenching aspects of combat, was his association with Operation Red Wings, which many will recall from the book and movie Lone Survivor.

Jon is a Naval Academy graduate, holds a Master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, and, since retiring, runs a consulting business that brings mindfulness and meditation to high performing teams to aid in dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression, all while increasing focus, creativity, and productivity.

He shares the benefits and opportunities both on the show and on his own podcast, called Men Talking Mindfulness, which, as Jon described it, is what happens when you combine a Navy SEAL and modern day Hippie!

I hope you enjoy Jon's honest, humble, and challenging Combat Story as much as I did.

#combatstory #SEAL #NavySEAL #specialoperations #specialwarfare

Find Jon online: Website: https://macaskillconsulting.com/ LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmacaskill/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulfrogman/ Instagram Men Talking Mindfulness: https://www.instagram.com/mentalkingmindfulness/ Find Ryan online: Follow on Instagram @combat_stories (https://www.instagram.com/combat_stories/) Email [email protected] Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle Show Notes 0:00 - Intro 0:55 - Jon Macaskill's bio and guest introduction 2:00 - Interview begins 17:30 - SEAL competition at the Naval Academy 24:55 - Something most don't know about BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training) 33:02 - Being an Officer in the SEALs 40:07 - Combat Story #1: Deployment to Afghanistan 51:03 - Combat Story #2: Operation Red Wings and the Lone Survivor connection. LinkedIN article on this event that's well worth the read: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/this-is-why-i-meditate/ 1:00:50 - Managing trauma, guilt, depression and finding meditation and mindfulness 1:15:48 - Common difficulties for people new to meditation 1:18:13 - How to find Jon online 1:20:27 - The coolest thing Jon did as a SEAL (leaving a submarine on an SDV - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAL_Delivery_Vehicle) 1:22:14 - What's one thing you carried with you on missions? 1:23:45 - Would you go back and do it all again?