Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
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Security Halt!
From the Battlefield to Business: Marc Fitzwater’s Mission to Empower Veterans Through I-68
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In this episode of Security Halt!, Marc Fitzwater shares his journey from military service to launching I-68, a firearms training company built on faith, purpose, and community. He opens up about his struggles with alcohol addiction, the challenges of transitioning to civilian life, and how empowering others—especially fellow veterans—through training and support networks changed his life.
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Produced by Security Halt Media
Security Hub Podcast is probably sponsored by I Star. Petition Moments truth of your Liberty Lab. Mark, welcome back to Security Hub Podcast, man. Thank you for coming back on, dude. Well, thanks for having me, man.
SPEAKER_01:And uh sorry we messed up the thing fortune. But it's always good to see your pretty face again.
SPEAKER_00:You flatter me. Yeah. That's uh the the one thing we have to do is to make sure everything uploads before we log out. That was like those of you listening at home.
SPEAKER_01:I used to be an echo, so I'm a little uh you know, a little embarrassed.
SPEAKER_00:Dude, I gotta tell you, man, I've been reflecting on uh we always shit on our echoes, but um dude, all of my friends that I know that are highly successful on the outside, um doing amazing big things, big innovation things in defense tech, they're all JTAX rating echoes. So if you're listening and and somebody's shitting on you in the team room, I just want you to know right now, when you get out, as long as you have just a decent amount of of common sense and skill sets, you're gonna thrive.
SPEAKER_01:I 100% back that statement. 100%.
SPEAKER_00:Oh well, Mark, today I want to I want to dive into your journey, man. Um, one of the great things we've been able to do with Special Forces Foundation is uh reach out to our Green Berets are going into that that pivot, going into the civilian world that are entrepreneurs and highlight their businesses, highlight their endeavors. And watching your, you know, everything you're doing with I-68, like you're a great leader for our, you know, Green Berets are coming out and looking to start their own business. Um, I-68 has now done some great things. We've been able to follow it from the very beginning. And I think that when we look at that that crawl, walk, run methodology that made us so successful, guys just need to be able to feel comfortable reaching out and be like, hey Mark, I I I'm not in the same industry, but maybe we can sit down over a cup of coffee and talk about what it takes to build a successful business.
SPEAKER_01:100%. No, uh yeah, I I think I think you you hit the nail on the head. Where I'm at right now, where I've come from, it was really that crawl walk. And uh I still think we're we're in the in the walk uh phase of it. Um, but we're about to hit uh it's it's a rock march walk. We're moving pretty quickly, and uh we're you know, some opportunities, potential opportunities are coming up to where we might go from a hey, uh fast walk to we're sprinting. So planning for that. And then yeah, I'd love to talk about that journey. Heck yeah, man. So tell us where did this whole concept start, man? Well, so I I grew up in seventh group, as you can see. I got I got two uh two berets back there, but um, I grew up in seventh group, uh 2nd Battalion, 7212. Uh, in my opinion, that was the greatest teen, greatest ODA in the regiment. And uh I'll I'll fight you on it. Uh um so you know, got to one two, did you know some back-to-back trips to Afghanistan, down south rotations. And um, so I was with the Echo to be on a Fox, you know. I got home from El Sal, getting ready to go to uh Columbia, Turn and Burn. Got home from El Sal in November, turn and burn in in Colombia. And uh my wife, um, you know, who I met in college, we had we had two girls at the time. You know, we're getting ready to go to Columbia. And she's like, hey, Mark, um, hey, last eight months, eight years, uh, three years, you've been home a total of eight months. So that was my hey, yep, got you. Um, so went to Columbia, chain of command was uh super, super supportive. Originally I thought I would do what every uh SF guy does. Hey, I'll just go work a group for a year and uh and take a knee there and then come back. You know, funny enough, they didn't have a job for me. So I was like, what? 18th Fox? You don't have a job for me? Oh well. Um and so they offered me a job at uh Sock North here in Colorado. And uh my wife and I are hillbillies from the Appalachian Mountains, so like, yeah, we'll go back to the mountains. And so I got here at Sock North doing the staff job. Um, and so I I didn't know what to do with my hands. Uh you know, so I went back to school, uh, got my master's degree, but I also uh through a mentor of mine, uh retired, you know, 10th group sergeant major, was like, hey, look, you're going back to a team. Um, you know, why don't you start a company and teach people how to shoot? And I was like, well, that's kind of good because I knew if I went back to a team, uh, you can't be a fat, can't be fat. You better be able to uh you know, you know, keep up with the PT. And so that was eight years ago. Yeah, eight years ago is when it started I-68. Originally I thought I I started for selfish reasons. Hey, this is a way to keep me up, you know, with those hard skills. Uh, and then also the teaching portion, which we obviously we always do in SF, you know, started, you know, just teaching, you know, family and friends and stuff like that. But as we moved, uh, you know, as I was kept teaching, is I found that um I was able really to resonate with our with our students, like really connect with them on, you know, not just you know what the shooting, how to shoot, um, but really I saw the empowerment that we're able to give. Um, you know, because over 70% of our graduates in the last eight years have been women, which has been was really which was really surprising to me. Uh I thought the adage was like, hey, women only want to learn from women, but what we found is women just don't want to learn from assholes. You know? Yeah. Um so and and so when I went from Stock North and I went over to 10th group as a JED team sergeant, I kept the company. Um, and and so though I brought a lot of guys on um from you know from 10th group. I was um um, you know, they saw the vision, they saw the impact we were having in the community. And so, you know, through that time, I was like, man, maybe I could do this, you know, for real. Um, you know, and so because the impact we were having, you know, we were having the fundraisers, the women's only events, the men's only events, all that stuff, and really started building like, you know, a community out here. Um, and so when it was time to retirement, I hit the retirement transition. I had my skill bridge internship lock, uh, you know, ready to rock and roll. Um, you know, I was I was a JTAC. That was my niche uh throughout my career. My last job was at the Fires Institute IC as a 10th group. And I I had it. Like, hey, I I had plan, you know, hey, I'm going to, you know, internship, then take a take a job with that company, um, doing JTAC stuff. Um, and about a week or so before I start my internship, they called me. I knew all the guys, uh, it's a small community, and they're like, hey Fitz, yeah, sorry, man, we don't have a job for you. I'm like, huh? We've just been talking about this for two years. Um so, you know, through a lot of prayer um and a lot of mentorship, um, and I'll tell the story in a second. Um, I decided to go all in on this. And so I what did I do? I went out and bought 160 acres of property out here to develop.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's uh that's definitely going all in.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, if we're gonna do this, let's do this right. And and you know, it was funny because I was sitting there, you know, my uh my father-in-law, uh Holly's mom, you know, he's a retired SF guy, uh, he and he is out of fifth group. We don't we won't hold that against him. But uh he he looked at me and he and I've never been punched in the face so hard in my life. He was like, hey Mark, you know, throughout this you know journey, I-68, what you're doing with this, you know, you you said, hey, look, you felt God's presence as as you're doing this, and God just really shut this door. And he goes, Do you even have faith? I was like, Thanks. I was like, man, I never punched in the teeth. And so that was really the motivation. It's like, hey, we're if we're gonna do this, let's do this right. So we bought the 160 acres. We just had our grand opening in June, was uh this past uh last weekend. We just had a our sixth annual uh Housing Hall Points Pistol competition, which is a fundraiser for Victory Service Docs, the biggest event we had. And so it was it was definitely scary to go out on my own. Um, because you know, granted, you know, I'm retired, we get that check, but you know, as you know, Denny, you you take that pay cut, a standard of living changes. I'm not, I'm I used to be stressed and worried because when I I had this people piece of property, it's not bringing revenue in. How am I going to how am I going to pay the bills? Because now I had overheads because for the last you know seven years, uh, you know, before we got this property, um, I I was very, very fortunate to be able to work on other people's ranges and they would let me do it for free. So it was really like those those pieces were in place, but now that I have a mortgage to pay and and debt to pay off and all that other stuff, and I'm just like, holy smokes. Every time I would get really, really worried about financially, God would sprinkle an opportunity here, God would sprinkle an opportunity there. That and so um, you know, I I've said this you know more than once, you know, now I'm I used to be stressed and very worried, um, but now I'm just stressed, you know, because I'm business, good stress, right? So just stressed because, you know, I it's you know, at least with my walk, you know, with Christ, is that if I do it the right way, if you know God has shown me this is what I'm supposed to do with the company, this is the way that I can have impact in my community, then then things will come the way they're supposed to. And so that's been a big lift off my off my chest. Um, and so um, you know, that crawl was that eight years while inside business. You know, I would go to work, uh, come home, work, you know, work until 10 o'clock at night on the business, um, you know, you know, while being operational.
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SPEAKER_01:But they but this all set this up for when I retired. And now this is the only thing I do. Um, and you know, it's it's been, you know, I wouldn't say we we've launched, but we're growing in more success and we're trending upward um and uh you know, making more impact in the community.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man. And I I want to pause and highlight something you said, man. That that fear part, like a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of guys are questioning the uh entrepreneurial path. They're hanging on to two options and they're they're screwing up on both. Like they're they're committed, or so they think they're committed to their dreams of this business, but they won't walk away or push away from this job that's keeping them focused on, you know, it's it's dividing their focus and energy. Have faith. Believe in your dreams. And if you don't believe in dreams, then move forward, rebuild, redesign, look at a new business opportunity. But if you're gonna be committed to it at some point, you got to walk away and you gotta say, I'm I'm gonna burn the boats, I'm gonna push off from the shore and go 100% on this endeavor. And then it actually gets easier because that's your only thing you're focused on. And the opportunities start coming and you start being open to things that are coming your way. And uh, you know, I try not to push faith on anybody, but I'll tell you, man, like just like you were saying, like, those late nights, talk to God.
SPEAKER_01:I've worked I worked more hours than I ever did. Other than the things, I work more hours, and I work almost every, I work every day, at least something. Um, and it's hard. This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. One of the one of the hardest things you've done. And and I kind of put it like when you're thinking about going to selection, right? Um, and we talked about guys that you know, you know, you talk about you talk to you know, young kids, you know, I think I want to go SF. It's like, well, you think or you do. Like it's one of those things like, you know, you want to be a Green Beret, you're all in. You know, you want to go to selection and go to the Q course, you know, that's just the very beginning of it. You have to be all in on that and prep and preparing for that. And then, and as you know, and a lot of our listeners, your listeners know, like, hey, then once you get on a team, that's all you do. That is, that's it. Uh, I I and that prepared me for entrepreneurship, right? This is what I'm doing. Um, you know, I I what when we're when we're in, you know, you know, we're fighting for the guys to the left and right of us. The way I look at it is now that as an entrepreneur, um, it's all on me. I'm fighting for my family. That's the way I look at it. That's my mindset. I'm fighting for my family to provide for my family on this. Um, I'm just very lucky that I found my niche that also, you know, personally fighting for my family, but having a big impact, you know, in people's lives and and um and and in you know, having a positive impact in the community. So I just lucky I got pretty lucky with that one uh because I'm able to resonate with a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I know one of the things that I initially was very like, I think when I when I saw I-60, I'm like, man, like Job all places Colorado. Like, there's a lot of hurdles to navigate guns and ammo. What are some unique problem sets that you let you found yourself facing early on with because Colorado is not the the greatest place for uh a man trying to run a range?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, I will tell you, um, it was fine. It all all this this craziness really happened uh within the last two or three years. Um, and I'll I will say this, um, you know, because we have the law as SB 25003 that's supposed to take effect in 2026. And and it and it makes buying a firearm extremely cumbersome and extremely difficult. Um and so for the training side, it doesn't affect me yet, but it's the clients that I have that I worry about. Um, you know, because if you if you live in then if you lived in Colorado, we'll be fine because we have our firearms, we can still go train and and a lot of our you know, as I said before, we have a lot of you know women clients that come in. Well, a lot of them are, you know, I wouldn't say a lot of them. Uh we have a major portion of them that's you know uh recently divorced um or or were um you know you know, or had a scare, we'll say how to scare they could have been a victim, and then then they decided, hey, I need to become my own protector. You know, especially with divorcees. Hey, now hey, it's just me. I gotta protect my fam. Uh or the the the ones that had a scare is like, oh. And so what keeps me up at night with the craziness going on in Colorado is that is that woman like that had that scare or recently divorced, like, hey, I need to get a firearm and get training. Well, now it's a huge, cumbersome, extremely expensive to just get the firearm. Then you have to go to do the training. Um, so that's you know, for me, when I went up and testified up at the state capitol, that's that was really my like the point I made is that the people that have firearms will be will be fine. We have our firearms, you know. Uh, but the people that, you know, feel that they need to become their own protector and they want to use this skill set to protect themselves, you just made it more difficult. Much difficult to be able to do that. Um, and so, but I will say this, you know, because of the craziness that the state laws uh is trying to impose on Coloradoans, it's also lit a fire under that Second Amendment community, um, you know, bringing them together, you know, common enemy, I guess, so to speak, is are these walls. Um, and so I'm, you know, not to sound too political, I'm very curious to see um, you know, we have elections coming up next year to see how all of this craziness affects the election, kind of like it did nationally. Yeah. So wait, we'll wait to see, you know. Um, but uh, but no, so training-wise, it hasn't really affected me. Um, you know, maybe, you know, maybe that's um part of the reason that that, you know, we're getting more business now. We have a lot more people, we're feeling classes a lot more. Um, and that might be a part of it. I I don't really know. Um, but also it might be a part of it because 2025 is the first year uh, you know, I've been full-time I-68. So probably a little bit of both, I would think.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I do love the fact that it's a community um business, man. When I look at everything you guys are posting, it's it's easy to see the uh allure of scaling really fast and building that training site that can be utilized by 10th group that's right there. But building something that's of service for the local community, the the moms that need help learning how to defend themselves, the women, like the Valkyrie uh competitions you guys have, like that's that is awesome. Like you see any of that before you guys started going?
SPEAKER_01:Not not particularly. Um, and it's a funny story because, you know, again, with all the women that we were training, my wife and her best friend, they're like, Mark, you need to do something specifically just for the women. I'm like, right, you know, a life smarter than me. And uh, and so that's and and so that's that that's what came out with the you know I-68 Valkyrie's uh events. Uh we had one this Friday, for example. And so for all the graduates, women graduates, I rent out all of an indoor range. Um, and so they come, we shoot for about an hour or so, excuse me. Um, and then we have a big social, you know, um right afterwards. So it's a really good community event, good social uh social event. You know, I after doing it, you know, you always, oh, I did this, and let's look back on the impact. You know, what I have found is okay, it gets these ladies on the range, right? Um, because they don't think about defensive shooting and shooting like I do, and and I and I understand that because this is this is my business, this is my world, but it gets these ladies back on the range, you know, to get training, but then also at the same time, um, you know, it brings all those ladies together in a community, that social event. Uh, you know, they're all good friends, they bring guests they uh that are that get introduced to the I-68 family. Um, and so it's been really successful, and you know, it's it's just now it's it's a staple of our of our company. Um, and then I think we did this for like a year or two years, and all the all the husbands are like, Mark, what about us? All right, so we started the Aries event. Uh, you know, I did steal that from my old call sign at 10th grade, but my JTAC call sign, Aries. Um we did that, we started the Aries event last year, and it's been really successful. Uh, what I found is the guys, they want to shoot for two or three hours. They want to come out and train. We do that at 68 training facility, uh, you know, train for two to three hours, have a big barbecue at the end of it. You know, good fellowship for the guys. Um, you know, because you know, we get around and we talk about we talk about men's stuff. Like, hey, as protectors, as fathers, as husbands, you know. Um, and it's it's just it's a good venue for the guys to get together. Um I almost like the team room, man. You go and you train all day, you know, and you're and you're tired, but then you get back in the team room and you're with your guys and you talk about things that you're not going to talk about at home. Like those those struggles you have or or or the wins you have, you know. So, you know, you got your the guys that are cheerleading each other on, um, but also able a safe place to talk about, hey, what are they struggling with?
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SPEAKER_01:Um, and I think that's the purpose of it. You know, the shooting, the shooting is just a venue, it's just a vehicle to get people together.
SPEAKER_00:No, yeah, absolutely, man. Vast majority of our guys, they don't want to, you know, they're gonna be they're not gonna be comfortable or jumping at the bit to go talk to somebody in an office on a couch. But uh, you get some trigger time or some uh time shooting with some friends, and uh things uh naturally have find a way of coming out, man. And um it's there's so many different ways to heal and so many ways to start having the discussion. I think for our guys, hanging out with bros on the range is one of them, man. Have you found yourself, you know, transition is not easy, a military career is not easy. And did you find yourself being more willing to take care of yourself, focusing on your own entrepreneurial endeavors, like making sure of, like, hey, I I told you me, I have to be successful, that means I gotta take care of myself. Or did you initially struggle with that? Yes and no.
SPEAKER_01:I I definitely struggle with it um because you know, I I'm very I'm very lucky because the guys that work, you know, was for me, with me, um, they're all SF guys, so I I I'm never really, really alone. Um maybe I didn't I I probably did that on purpose, you know, because I'm scared alone by myself, you know. Um, but but also at this at the same time, it it it is scary um because the guys that that work with me or work for me, um, you know, they're they're instructors. They're not on this side of the business, right? Um they have their a lot of them have their own, a lot of them are still in. They do it as weekend work because they have fun, get to shoot free ammo. Other guys have other most other guys have other jobs because right now, as a business owner, um, I can't afford to quote unquote hire full-time employees. We're we're almost we're almost there. Um, I'm saying, hell, I barely pay, you know, if I pay myself, it's it's few and far between. I'm still in that, I'm still in that part of my business. Um, and and going back to the entrepreneurs, um, you know, we talked about the fear of entrepreneurs. There is a time where I'm not paying myself. Everything goes back to business, but I'm planning for when it is. Um, but I also am very lucky, um, especially during that retirement transition, that year, that first six months, I didn't know what to do with my hands. And I struggle, uh and I'll and I'll admit it, I I I'm a functional alcoholic. I struggle with alcohol. Um, and and I, you know, thank God for the Special Forces Foundation because they've been real supportive. Uh, we're working on helping me uh with something. Um, because you know, thank God I had I-68 during that time when I had nothing to do. Because it'd have been very easy for me to get a bottle at two o'clock in the afternoon because I have nothing to do. So um it was definitely a struggle because man, this is what I'm going to do. How am I going to do this? But at the same time, thank God I had it because it kept me mentally engaged with something. Yeah. Right. Um, and so um, you know, you know, it's uh alcohol is truth, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, alcohol is a um hard thing for guys to deal with, and I will tell you right now, um, it is not an easy thing to kick, man. So like it is a journey.
SPEAKER_01:And I still haven't kicked it. I I'll I'll tell the story. Like when I started my retirement transition, it goes the boys that know me know that I like to have a drink. And so when I when I started my retirement transition, I was like, man, and this was last April, April 24. I was like, I gotta see if I can do it. For so for 75 days, I did a whole 75 hard thing. It was great. And you know, I made it through, you know, when I was sober doing the work, it's all that stuff. I found that I I worked on a different level than I didn't know I had. I was an animal in every aspect of my life, you know, not only just you know, I 68, but family, uh, church, you know, like I was a better man. And so when that 75 hard stopped, I was like, okay, cool. I can keep I can control it. I can have a couple drinks here and there. Um, and then uh a glass of wine with a steak turned into two to three drinks, turned into back to back to my old ways, right? And and and so um I struggled with that, struggle with that, and it came to a point where I said, Hey, I'm a pretty strong guy, but I'm not strong enough to do this on my own. Um, I need an intervention. Um, you know, so then I called, you know, I obviously I do some stuff with the Special Forces Foundation. Um, you know, big I'll I'll name drop him. Big shout out to Cody Halfbok. I called him. I was struggling. Um, and he's like, I got you. And so we're working on a plan right now uh to get some get some uh get some treatment. Uh caught it, you know, right now out today's 23 days, you know, on the wagon. Um, but you know, I I caught I have some medicine that's helping me now. Um, but getting a getting a plan to where I can do this on my own, um, big shout out to Cody. Because here's the problem I'm highly functional. Yeah, yeah. Like, and so, you know, I I wasn't a I wasn't a mean drunk. I wasn't, you know, you know, I didn't fight. Like, I just drank. And and so um yeah, I was still able to function at a high, high level, even that. And so I never really thought, oh, this is this isn't a problem. I'm still able to function, I'm still able to do that, but finally I I still still working through the process, but uh yeah. So uh for the guys that are out there that are struggling with it, you know, um drinking is a big part of our culture. Um function at the highest level, you know, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I didn't understand it until I lost a friend to it. I mean, the first time I saw Daryl was at a treatment center and couldn't talk to him for like the first two weeks because he was on step down. Like if if you walk out, if you take the bottle away from a hardcore alcoholic, you'll die. And that's where he was at. And uh, I mean, for years after that he struggled with it, but he would you would be able to sit there and talk with him on the phone and you never know that he was fucking just got done downing a bottle of McCormick's. Um, and then sadly that's that's what didn't him in. That's that's the reality of it. Like, we gotta change the culture, we gotta advocate to at least explore the idea of being sober for yourself.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I had a lot of inspirations too. I I know some guys that I work with that I I really respected, you know, as an SF guy. Um, and I remember seeing, I hadn't seen him in a while, and like I was a half a bottle a day guy. I wasn't, you know, um, yeah, but this guy was a bottle a night, right? Like he was, but he was an amazing SF guy. And I saw him at I saw him at the PX. And I actually invited him in my retirement party. He goes, Well, I can't come because I'm 10 months sober. I was jaw dropped, you're sober? And I was like, man, if they if he can do this, um, and then I have some other friend, a buddy from a couple buddies from seventh group, old teammates, they got off the bottle. And it was just watching them was an inspiration to me. And I was like, this, this is this is where I I want I want to be like them. And that was really that process of me saying, hey, I need I need to do something different. Because now because now um I have huge responsibilities. I'm running a company. If I screw up, I lose 160 acres. I I lose everything. I mean so it was it was an inspiration and and a kick in the ass for me to to change it. Um even though I was operating at a a at a decently high level, I have I have different goals now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I do.
SPEAKER_00:I I can't thank you enough for being vulnerable enough to share that because more often than not, our brothers to the left and right of us within the team room are dealing with this. Alcohol addiction is a real thing, man. And it it takes our friends. It takes our friends. And then you're building something that's of service to your community, man. We can't lose you. You're too important, brother. You're too important. And I know this is not easy. I know this is a hell of a thing to go through. But brother, you're not alone. Like you you got you got all of us.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I'm I I am very lucky. I I uh um I have so much support in this. And obviously my wife and kids, um, you know, even my kids. You know, open with them with my kids. Uh but also the the SF guys that I you know that work with me. Uh, you know when I go through and they're like you need to change your environment. Well, my environment's actually pretty good because the guys that I work with, it's not that, you know, when we were 25 years old, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So they're really support they're really supportive as well. And then I got the special force evaluation. You know, Coda calls me, you know, at least, you know, once a week, once every two weeks to check in on me and all that other stuff. And so, you know, having that support mechanism, um, which I think I'll go on a limb is like all SF guys need because we're team guys. Yeah. We want our team. And so the fact that I'm not completely alone, I got guys that are, you know, made of the same cloth, you know, supporting me and got and it has my back. Even if I fail, they'll pick me up. And so it that's going through this process makes it a little bit easier uh because the you know support of you know of my teammates.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. This episode is also brought to you by Precision Wellness Group. Getting your hormones optimized shouldn't be a difficult task. And Dr. Taylor Bosley has changed the game. Head on over to PrecisionWellnessgroup.com, enroll and become a patient today. So everybody needs to remember there's a community of people that are surrounding you. No one's ever truly alone especially in this regiment man. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Sorry I know we're gonna talk about entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_00:No, bro. This is important. This is real. This is you can't you can't go into this life in transition and it and expect it not to touch every other aspect of your life. And and guys are dealing with you know divorces they're dealing with loss of family loss of identity purpose and yeah addiction's part of it too man. Like this it's the reality you being vulnerable with what you're going through gives somebody else the ability that you know whoever's listening that that might be in the same situation and lets them know that there's there's a way out. Okay I can get help I can reach out.
SPEAKER_01:Going into entrepreneurship um and I'll I'll say from my experience when you're going in entrepreneurship like you're the single point of failure. Like you know even if you even if you're if you're employing people you're the single point of failure because if something happens to you um you know I'm not there yet where I I have employees like full-time employees but if something happens to you they lose their livelihoods. And so like my my my North Star changed a little bit because you know you're in you have that security of being you know you know being on the team or at least financially you know um you're gonna you're you have that but like when you're on your own and you're trying to make impact um in your community and and and kind of going back to the entrepreneurship those guys that are looking in there you have to find out your my here's maybe my my advice find out your why um and it took me eight years to find out why why you know because before I you know as I said I I'm just teaching people how to shoot so I I'm good enough to when I go back to an ODA or in my case I went to a Jetberg team but I but through that process my why changed from just teaching be people how to shoot to now the shooting piece is the vehicle to empower people. Yeah and that's the why um you know find out what you're good good at you know uh I'm a I'm a great teacher um find out what you're good at and then use that whatever that is to push whatever your why is um because if you don't have a why if you're doing it for just money um in my opinion it will it won't be successful. Go get that contracting job. If it's about money go get that contracting job that you deserve um go get that employment that you're you know that nine to five that that that you're going you're still going to succeed at at a at the highest level just because of who you are uh but the entrepreneur route when you're doing it on your own it has to be about the why uh and and if you do it right eventually the money will come and that's kind of where I'm at right now. The money's gonna come eventually you know God is good. He's gonna take care of us um but you have to find that why first and and you know re calibrate your mindset a little bit but still use everything you've done learned throughout your whole special forces career because that's that's helped me especially in the hard times.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah yeah look if you're diving into something new becoming a business owner entrepreneur like the money it's not gonna be the the windfall you expect right off the bat but you have to give yourself the the grace and the ability to understand it's like okay like I'm not gonna have a windfall but I'm gonna be able to survive like be confident in your skill set be confident in what you're building and uh trust that the payoff will be out there.
SPEAKER_01:But if you want that that huge friggin bank account if you want that big paycheck go defense tech go contracting it's like the Q course right you start the Q course you know and and you know it's anywhere from you know 18 months to the the to two or three years depending on your MLS like it's nothing new we as we haven't done before. Like that grit for long periods of time uh to get to that goal it might it's probably gonna be a little bit longer as an entrepreneur but but you we've done it in the past. Like you know that Q course this that Q course um experience is that you had delayed gratification to get to be able to don that coveted green beret. Yeah and and it's the same thing in entrepreneurship at least that's the way I kind of look at it is you know that's to me that's the that's the two superpowers of of a of a green beret is grit. You know because they're not going to quit at anything right and because of that and then the and I didn't come up with this I heard it from a buddy of mine who has a podcast with the ability to figure it out be able to plan that to to come up with a plan and then deviate from it when needed. And I think that's as as SF guys that's our superpower um those two things right there.
SPEAKER_00:So you know stick with it. Absolutely um I mean we we have so many skill sets that we forget that we've learned how to just deal with and and solve problems that are just complex, ill-defined you can utilize all those skill sets on the outside you're not going to lose any of that when you transition into a civilian world. Like that's everything that made you a great individual in the military is still with you. Don't let fear make you feel like you're not going to be successful. That's the hardest part to like explain the guys get them to see that they're they have everything they need within them like yes transition programs, yes an MBA could be great but I'm living proof that you don't have to have an MBA to launch a business like I dog shit entrepreneur that's uh I'm patent pending that um that'll be my brand but you figure it out you Google you read it you stay up late and you go through and you figure things out what you need for filing the biggest thing that I realized too though is strike while the iron's hot. Strike while you're excited for it. Don't give up and don't sit down and let that idea you know fly off. Like when you have something that you're excited about start pulling the string start writing it out start building on something. If you put it on the back burner for too long it's never gonna mount to anything. I've met some amazing individuals and and they've shared some amazing business ideas and I'm like dude why didn't you launch that you know I really wanted to go and make some really good money and I've done that and now I'm kind of stuck with it.
SPEAKER_01:It's like fuck like all right you're making some good I was that guy I I had the I had the plan that he I I was going to work this job you know doing the JTAC thing for you know two to three years you know I had my you know it was good money and it it it was like the perfect plan. And I like I traveled one week a month ain't good money but I still had time to work around the company and and the business was like I was like hey I will do this until the business takes off on its own and then I'll just transition over.
SPEAKER_00:God shut that door hardcore and so then which I am so obviously so grateful for for because now I'm like okay this is it all in listen this right and so uh that was the that's that stress was the best thing that ever happened to me at least in the real uh aspect so it's so true dude it's it's um you know we have to look at everything through the lens of what I want my future to be don't get bogged down with you know the the short term planning goals of you know it it's easy to go through and and want that checklist for everything it's like that it's it's not you're not gonna have a checklist for this it's gonna be a lot of hopes dreams write things out be willing to explore ideas and concepts and once you have something that's that's pretty concrete start moving forward start fucking moving forward like and then when you when you have that LLC when you have it formed push away from the safety of the shore man and launch it be be willing to fail fail fast.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah going to a lot and I will say this and and I maybe this is more of a of a tactical advice um for entrepreneurs and it's something that SF guys in general are really good at with is that networking piece. Yeah yes dude especially you know locally you're gonna go all these networking events and it's happened to me like okay I you meet all these people the business cards you know okay oh well I didn't get a client and and even you know my wife has asked me like has any of these networking events have you got clients or blah blah blah and I'm like no not yet not a whole lot of not yet and I will I will I will tell you um it's just like working that embassy that embassy party right you go to those networking events or those functions or whatever and you're shaking hands kissing babies and and doing what we do best right well you can't you can't get discouraged when you know you go to a networking event on a Thursday and you don't have a client client by next Wednesday I will say this it is happening for me now. People that I met 18 months ago or two years ago or eight months ago are now calling me, emailing me hey Mark we want to do this private event. Mark we want to oh we want to we want to do this like uh you know as as a as tactical advice man you have you have to work the rooms just like you were if you were working out of the embassy or working with your you know the leaders of your entity whatever it is like you have to keep doing that as an owner of a business and and and stay you know it's a ruck march man it's one foot in front of the other and it's a long way to go but eventually you know if you're you know doing it right those relationships you build will will become you know fruitful yeah absolutely man uh people want to see you start building something don't be discouraged when you know nobody's jumping at the bit to fall in line with your idea or your business endeavor.
SPEAKER_00:Like hey look it's a cold world people want to see you do something first. They want to see you start moving and and you have to be okay with that. Don't take it personal. Don't take it personal if people don't want to jump on board right away and back you understand that financial like risks comes in all shapes and sizes people want to see you start moving they want to see you build something and once you have something you'll be surprised how many people come out of the woodwork wanting to support you wanting to figure out how they can you know partner with you collab with you but you have to build something first yeah yeah and no one's gonna be as excited no one's gonna love your business more than you do and you're like what and I've gone through this why aren't they as excited as I am this is awesome.
SPEAKER_01:What why don't they yeah I will say this but if you if you continue to have that passion about what you do like pure passion not not to put it on that face because you're at it people it'll it'll come out of your pores people will see that is one of the the biggest things that I've gotten a lot of from a lot of our students like Mark we see how passionate you are about this specific thing um and it's contagious it's contagious so uh you know just you know stay disciplined you know don't you know with you know all the tactical stuff you're doing in your business uh know your why and like not just not just the you know the quote you put on Instagram or whatever but like really know your why and for you you know the impact that you want to make uh if you have if you're if your business and your why is you want to impact people in a positive way impact your community in a positive way and you keep that as your North Star it it will be successful. It's gonna take time but you know um you know SF guys are are are they just made of crit uh right and and so this this it's a ruck march is what is what it is.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely man. But Mark what should we wrap it up man what are some things that are in the near future for I-68 and uh what do you guys got cooking?
SPEAKER_01:Well so we just finished our phase one of our um you know of our I-68 training facilities so we have you know two ranges up they're both AstroTurf down um you know we're kind of coming into the end of our quote unquote season you know because we have a winter here in Colorado um we just have our big um housing hollow points uh pistol competition fundraiser biggest one we've ever had donated uh you know close to$18,000 to uh victory service dogs yeah 26 editors um and so you know with the season winding down um you know really trying to take the momentum we've had in 2025 um into into 2026 you know 2026 we're gonna be launching new courses you know we're gonna do our home defense shotgun course shit home defense shotgun course uh really launch our youth program in 2026 so we've done our beta courses for both of those and so really coming in and uh and working uh you know bring the guys in you know to do you know pull them into the ISO prep and start doing our planning in 2026. Um big year uh big things for next year is that um working on some contracts so put some potential contracts which would be um life changing being able to uh our goal is to have phase two done by next summer which is our thousand meter uh known distance uh rifle range uh yeah now we're talking yeah oh yeah oh I I I'll tell you what that is the biggest demand we have here in Colorado is long distance shooting um and so really you know scouring the SF network to bring guys in to teach that long distance you know because you know as well I'm saying I went to Cisic 2011 um but uh really but the guys here in Colorado they're PhDs like you know they're they're they're reloading their own bullets so bringing in the guys that that was their niche to come in and teach that at at a high level so that's that's that's the big thing we're working on but it's all revenue based because um I'm self-funding this whole entire thing um and so um you know a lot of financial risk with this but um but it is what it it is what it is and it's successful so far.
SPEAKER_00:And then you know next year we have our women's only competition we'll have our fundraiser again um doing more events uh for the local community and so and just continue to train and so 2025 was an extremely tough year you know retiring building up building the ranges and now is kind of taking that breath re coming back through the planning cycle and then making you know building off what we've done in 25 2025 for 2026 you know and so and I'll say this you know um you know with retirement exposure was the name of the game for you know I-68 in 2025 so I really appreciate you having me on this to tell the story of who we are and what we're doing and that's it's huge for me and it's huge for the company uh and so this really going and and uh just continue the building yeah absolutely brothers my pleasure um I can't thank you enough for being willing to create something man um we need more entrepreneurs from our regiment we need guys are willing to build something be of service that's one of the most American things out there man being willing to say you know what I'm gonna get into industry I'm gonna build something I'm gonna be of service to the people that I live right next to give them something that they can go to and learn firearm handling, firearm safety. Like it's important. It's important that we get the green berets out there because it's how we inspire next generation man. You never know when that youth program is going to create the next great leader, the next great green beret just because Mark had a a tactical shooting training program that brought kids in there and they got exposure. So thank you for what you're doing and thank you for your time man. It's important. Big shout out to Special Forces Foundation there's been a lot to unpack but one of the biggest things I want you guys to take away is if you're a Green Beret listening to this and you're struggling with alcohol addiction too you're not alone. A lot of us have dealt with it a lot of us have been blessed to kick it but sadly a lot of our brothers have and they're not here with us. So please fight back fight back today. Be willing to reach out and get help. There are a million tools a million resources and we will get the right one for you whichever one you're comfortable with but I will tell you right now please reach out today. Don't fight this thing on your own if you have a friend that's dealing with alcohol addiction reach out man. Be willing to talk and ask them to take a knee and go get help. Don't live with that regret don't just put it off in the back burner reach out to them. If you know they're drinking too much and you know they're putting back way too much alcohol say something. Be a censor you wouldn't let them play with a loaded gun and play Russian roulette. So don't let them do the same thing with a bottle or a bottle a half at night by themselves thank you. Yeah then appreciate it and then you know the guys that are out there um you know whether you know if you if you're starting that entrepreneur journey please reach out I'll tell you all the mistakes I've made um and then it also you know just like Denny said reach out you know I'm an alcoholic um a highly functional one I know there's a lot of guys out there if you need help you know please reach out to me you know we have a great special forces foundation organization you know here in in the Colorado area around all the groups um it it's important you matter hell yeah brother thank you for being on here today and for being so vulnerable with your journey and and giving insight to this battle man uh again please if you're a Green Beret retired or active and you need support reach out to Special Forces Foundation we cannot wait to hear from you and take care of you because uh we're for the boys of the boys. Well thank you all for tuning in and we'll see you all next time. Till then take care. SecureDob Podcast is proudly sponsored by Titan's Arms. Head up to the episode description and check out Titan's Arms today
