Combat Story (Ep. 79): SAS Operator (Australian & New Zealand) | Tier 1 | Entrepreneur | Podcast Host | Joe Hotai
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2022
⏱️ 143 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
[Support us on Patreon and get exclusive content and insights at www.patreon.com/combatstory]
Since leaving the service, Joe overcame a childhood fear of putting himself out there and has created two podcasts (the Epich Podcast which explores people making a positive change in the world - and which he has graciously invited me to be on - and the Move Sweat Suffer Podcast which promotes a more healthy way of life).
Joe has also co-founded the Mill Gym in Australia and is the founder of Zero Alpha, which puts on ultra endurance events combining some of the experiences from his time in Special Operations, and is also a consultant. His YouTube channel is full of pragmatic workouts that remind me of Pat Mac!
Joe has an incredibly humble persona with a great sense of humor. In fact, he’s described himself as ‘imperfect, annoying, and striving to improve as a husband, father, and human being on a daily basis.” I hope you enjoy this interview of highs and lows and overcoming difficult situations from someone at the forefront of the Special Operations community, as much as I did.
Find Joe Online:
- Instagram @joehotai
- Podcast Epich Aotearoa https://www.epichpodcast.co.nz
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/joehotai1936
- Move, Sweat, Suffer YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/movesweatsuffer
- Zero Alpha https://www.zeroalpha.co.nz/
- Burpee Wear https://www.burpeewear.com/
- LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/putting-myself-yourself-out-joe-hotai/
Find Ryan Online:
- Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory
- Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combatstory/
- Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory
- Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
- Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial
- Email [email protected]
- Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:07 - Guest Introduction (Joe Hotai)
2:31 - Interview begins
2:55 - Growing up in New Zealand and family dynamics
19:30 - The impact of not having a dad as a child
26:00 - Desire to join the military and special forces specifically
31:15 - Lacking confidence to speak up and a moment in basic training when he found his confidence
39:15 - If not the military what would you be doing?
47:29 -Experience with both New Zealand and Australian SAS selection and qual course
1:08:56 - The type of operations that come down the Australian SAS vs. New Zealand SAS
1:21:36 - How having a Maori (indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand) background came up during his time in the military
1:24 - Crazy story of Blackhawk crashing while he and his team were in it
1:26:38 - The emotions and mindset on his first deployment to Iraq at 25
1:35:19 - Combat Story - Having to troubleshoot and fix a Mk-19 while actively being shot at
2:04:05 - What he is doing today with his 2 podcasts
2:14: 28 - What did you carry into combat?
2:15:23 - Would you do it again?
2:20:37 - Listener comments and shout outs
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | No matter how much life-fire training you do in the cool house or in the |
| 0:04.3 | counter-terrorism or the out-and-the-bush in the jungle phases of |
| 0:09.0 | breaking contact or ambush drills or all these sorts of things. For me anyway, I always wonder will I |
| 0:14.9 | hold up? Will I stand up and give a good, give a good account of myself when we're on the two-ray range for real? |
| 0:21.0 | And the enemy's shooting back at us. I had no doubt about my, about my friends, about my brothers that I've served them. |
| 0:28.3 | But for me, I had that question in my head about myself. Will I stand up? |
| 0:33.4 | Or will I hide away? Will I run away? Will I just say I can't do this? |
| 0:37.8 | And I'm glad that I didn't do that and I'm glad that, you know, fallen tents and purposes and with the guys that I was with, that |
| 0:44.9 | not only did they have my back, but I had their back. |
| 0:48.3 | Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fugid and I serve Warzone Tourers as an Army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer over a 15-year career. |
| 0:56.0 | I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite and combat. On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines. |
| 1:05.0 | This is Combat Story. |
| 1:07.5 | Today, we hear our first combat story from a member of our close partners in New Zealand. |
| 1:12.4 | Joe Hoteye. Joe successfully completed not only the New Zealand SAS Selection and Training course, |
| 1:19.1 | but then, likely because he enjoys pain, also went on to complete the Australian SAS Selection and Training courses. |
| 1:26.5 | Joe then served in combat with the Australian SAS and direct action operations. |
| 1:31.7 | Since leaving the service, Joe overcame a childhood fear of putting himself out there and has created two podcasts, |
| 1:38.4 | the Epic podcast, which explores people making a positive change in the world, |
| 1:42.8 | which he has graciously invited me to be on and the Move Sweat Suffer podcast, which promotes a healthy way of life. |
| 1:50.1 | Joe has also co-founded the Mill Gym in Australia and is the founder of Zero Alpha, |
| 1:55.4 | which puts on ultra endurance events, combining some of the experiences from his time in special operations, |
| 2:01.9 | and Joe is also a consultant. His YouTube channel is full of pragmatic workouts that remind me of Pat Mack. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ryan Fugit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ryan Fugit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.