'Jacques Cousteau with a shotgun'

David Brown recalls being laughed at every step of the way as the 5-foot-3, 110-pound, Navy recruit signed up, started BUDS and became a Navy SEAL.

“You’re way too small, these are all big guys. You don’t stand a chance,” he was told. “If there was someone telling me I couldn’t do it, then this is the job for me. I was going to be Jacques Cousteau with a shotgun.”

Brown shares his inspiring story about becoming a SEAL, career in the federal service and more as this week’s special guest on The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast.

“For me, it was not an ‘ah-ha’ moment like it is for so many guys who join the Navy,” he says. “It was a backup plan when my parents told me they weren’t going to be able to pay for college.”

He reflects back on his childhood experience that helped him overcome the doubters and challenges with SEAL training.

“You need to go through things before you get there that bring out your personality traits that will allow you do to things that you will be asked to do.”

In Brown’s book, “And Goliath,” he describes becoming "The Littlest" Navy SEAL and advancing his career as a Special Agent in Charge and Senior Executive. “I examine whether my successful rise to the top of the federal government ladder and then near-complete collapse and recovery was due to nature or nurture.”

After serving with distinction with Underwater Demolition Team 21 in Little Creek, Va., and SEAL Team 4 until 1985, he transferred to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., where he taught Naval Aviation Water Survival while attending night school at Troy State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

After leaving the Navy, Brown became a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and continued at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division in St. Louis.

“At the EPA, we did the craziest undercover stuff … how do you do crazy undercover stuff with the EPA?”

You’ll have to listen to or watch the episode to find out.

Also, co-hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley discuss:

• The 20-year “hurt-a-versary.” On Sept 17, 2004 — 11 days after losing much of his second squad to a suicide bomber — Worley was injured while running to assist a vehicle that had been hit by an IED.

• The election with a focus on the next vice president will have military experience and what it means.

• Rocky, a once-stray rescue dog, is now a service dog throwing his paws into the 2024 race to the White House.

Check out this week’s episode, which is among more than 260 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.