Speaker
Eric Frohardt
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Eric Frohardt's BUD/S class started with roughly 160–190 candidates and graduated only 19 original members plus 3 rollbacks, a 22-total finish.
Frohardt endured Hell Week with what he is 99% certain was a kidney stone, misdiagnosed as IBS, and was given laxatives — compounding his suffering.
Frohardt signed a waiver to stay in the military after losing a kidney — a non-deployable waiver he never read — then completed five deployments before Navy Medicine caught up with him.
A kidney stone and congenital scar tissue in Frohardt's ureter went undiagnosed from boot camp through sniper school before finally being treated, by which point his kidney was a non-functional 'water balloon' requiring 8-hour surgery.
On Super Bowl Sunday 2008 in Iraq, Frohardt's troop engaged an al-Qaeda target set with ~15 suicide-vest-wearing fighters; 4 teammates were shot and 2 died.
Three nights after the Super Bowl Sunday firefight, a house-borne IED obliterated Frohardt's entire assault team; Frohardt survived only because he was next to a window, which blew him away from the explosion.
In Afghanistan's Helmand Province, pinned down between three Taliban compounds, an AK round cut off a chunk of Frohardt's hair — hours after he had learned over a sat phone that his wife was pregnant with their daughter Daisy.
Frohardt estimates he was IED'd three times total and deployed approximately 280–300 days per year while at DEVGRU.
After only 8 days of rock climbing experience, Frohardt's first day on El Capitan's 2,500-foot wall was only the 10th time he had ever worn a harness on real rock.
Frohardt spends the first hour every morning in prayer, Bible reading, and journaling, and believes the energy return is at least seven times what he invests.
Frohardt and several sniper school classmates contracted Valley Fever from fungal spores in Coalinga dust; Mike Ritland lost part of a lung from it, leading the SEAL Teams to discontinue training there.
The Bureau of Navy Medicine only discovered Frohardt had been deploying illegally when they were required to sign off on his Purple Heart after he was wounded in Iraq.
Frohardt's team of 10 is climbing Kilimanjaro to raise money for Global Partners in Hope, including a medical treatment facility costing approximately $180,000 that will save hundreds of mothers and babies in West Africa.
Frohardt's formula for 24 years of marriage: both spouses give 100% of themselves rather than treating it as a 50/50 transaction.
At DEVGRU, even the most talented operators typically need five or more years and multiple deployments before leading a six-man assault team.
Frohardt had never rock climbed when he was told he'd be DEVGRU's lead climber. Eight days of experience later, his team decided to climb El Capitan. Day one on the 2,500-foot wall was only the 10th time he'd worn a harness on real rock. He slept 800 feet up, spinning in the wind on a portaledge.
Three nights after two teammates died, Louis Safran beat around the bush asking Frohardt about faith. Frohardt changed the subject — he didn't have all the answers yet. Two nights later, the building blew up. Safran was killed. Frohardt was blown 30 feet clear by the window's overpressure and survived.
Frohardt was three beers deep watching G.I. Jane in a dorm room when a lightbulb went off. A friend told him he'd never make it as a SEAL. He enlisted the next day. Still hungover.
Navy doctors told Frohardt his kidney stone pain was IBS and gave him laxatives. He spent Hell Week with both conditions simultaneously — shitting himself and passing stones while in the Pacific Ocean. He still didn't quit.
All it took was one cheap action movie, three Natural Lights, and someone saying 'you'll never make it.' Frohardt stood up in a dorm room and said he was going to be a SEAL. He walked into the recruiter's office the next morning.
You can't predict who makes it through BUD/S by appearance, run times, pedigree, or prior athleticism. Frohardt's class started around 190 candidates and graduated 19. The common denominator wasn't strength — it was the ability to get back up.
The pilots said helicopters were down for maintenance on Super Bowl Sunday — they also wanted to watch the game. Then an HVT popped up. Frohardt's troop went out and walked into fifteen suicide-vest-wearing fighters. Four teammates were shot. Two died.
After losing a kidney, Frohardt signed a waiver to stay in the military — while high on morphine and without reading it. The waiver barred him from deploying. He deployed five more times. Navy Medicine only found out when they had to sign off on his Purple Heart.
Every morning Frohardt gives God the first hour. Prayer, Bible reading, journaling. He's been doing it for over ten years and credits it with more energy, sharper thinking, and none of the PTSD nightmares his teammates struggle with. One hour in — seven hours of energy out.
Your first civilian job doesn't have to be your purpose. It just has to be your next step. Too many veterans get paralyzed trying to find their calling before they've even moved. Take a base hit. Opportunity only reveals itself once you're moving toward something.
A prehistoric fungal spore living in the Coalinga dust ended multiple SEAL careers via Valley Fever. Mike Ritland lost part of a lung and was medically retired. Frohardt lost significant weight and his eyes sank into his face, but beat it. The SEAL Teams have never gone back to Coalinga.
A fighter in the doorway, three yards away, opened fire with an AK while wearing a suicide vest whose detonator had just failed. Frohardt ran his wall, moved, and shot him in the head. His hearing shut off and everything slowed down.
Getting out of the military was harder than Hell Week, losing a kidney, or surviving IEDs. Frohardt's entire self-worth was wrapped up in his Trident. With it gone, he had no job, no college degree, three kids, and no idea what came next. It took two years and a faith-based men's group to find himself.
At DEVGRU, your spot is never yours to keep. Rent is due every day. Operators get kicked out annually for safety violations, performance failures, or just because the next Green Team class is coming up. The best ones were humble enough to know they still needed to improve.
Five hours after learning via sat phone from Helmand Province that his wife was expecting a girl — they named her Daisy on the call — an AK round cut a chunk of hair from Frohardt's head. He nearly dry-heaved on the helicopter ride home.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Government 38%
- Religion & Spirituality 23%
- Society & Culture 23%
- Education 8%
- Health & Fitness 8%
Connections
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