Jocko Willink

John Gretton "Jocko" Willink Jr. (born September 8, 1971) is an American author, podcaster, and retired United States Navy SEALs officer. He is also on the board of directors for the Major League Soccer club San Diego FC.

Willink's military service includes combat actions in the Iraq War, where he commanded SEAL Team 3's Task Unit Bruiser, the unit that fought in the battle against the Iraqi insurgents in Ramadi. Willink received the Silver Star and Bronze Star Medal for his service and achieved the rank of lieutenant commander. Willink hosts a weekly podcast with Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Echo Charles, called the Jocko Podcast. He has two siblings. He played soccer in high school Following SEAL tactical training (STT) and completion of six-month probationary period, he received his trident insignia. Willink served eight years on active duty as an enlisted Navy SEAL with SEAL Team One.

Willink earned his commission via Officer Candidate School and served with SEAL Team Two and later SEAL Team Seven as a platoon commander. Willink earned a degree from University of San Diego in 2003. Willink completed multiple deployments to Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom he deployed to the Iraqi city of Ramadi in 2006 with SEAL Team Three as commander of Task Unit Bruiser, which included Leif Babin, Seth "Stoner" Stone, Marc Alan Lee, Michael Monsoor, Jonny Kim, Kevin Lacz, Ryan "Biggles" Job, JP Dinnell, Tony Eafrati, Jason Hogan and Chris Kyle.

Post-Navy career After retiring from the Navy, Willink co-founded the leadership consulting firm Echelon Front along with Leif Babin, who served with him in the SEAL Teams. The firm hosts conferences and seminars to teach leadership skills. He and Babin also co-authored the leadership manual Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win.

In addition to his work in consulting and authorship, Willink instructs jiu-jitsu at Victory MMA & Fitness in San Diego and co-owns Origin USA, a company based in Farmington, Maine, which produces lifestyle apparel, nutrition supplements, and fitness equipment, as well as being one of the only manufacturers of jiu-jitsu gis in the United States. Willink has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu career Willink started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Santos while in active service, and continued training after retirement from the military. He obtained his black belt from the well-known MMA fighter and grappler Dean Lister. Since then, Willink has been a prominent figure in the sport, has competed against big names such as Jeff Monson and has taught many grapplers. Willink promoted his own daughter to blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in September 2022.

Writing Willink has authored numerous fiction and nonfiction books. His 2015 book Extreme Ownership reached #13 in the audio nonfiction category of the New York Times best-seller list. The book describes leadership lessons using examples of real-world missions and combat encounters. In 2017, he published Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual, a collection of healthy living routines and mindsets for productivity.

He authored the children's book series the Way of the Warrior Kid, which is intended to present the life lessons Willink received from SEAL training in a way that is digestible and applicable for children. , Way of the Warrior Kid was reportedly being adapted into a feature film starring Chris Pratt and scripted by Will Staples.

Podcast After appearing on the podcasts of Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, and Sam Harris to publicize one of his books, Willink decided to start his own weekly podcast, The Jocko Podcast. On December 28, 2015, Willink launched the podcast on YouTube, with an accompanying website. , his YouTube channel has about two million subscribers. Willink films the podcast at the Victory MMA & Fitness studio in San Diego.