Goggins was discharged from the Air Force after 4 years of service. By the time Goggins was 23, he worked as a pest controller for diners. During this period, he gained 125 pounds and became morbidly obese. Goggins explains that he was at a low point in his life: “Numb to my life, miserable in my marriage, and I’d accepted that reality. I was a would-be warrior turned cockroach sniper on the graveyard shift” (61).

He writes that he was doing well in Air Force training until “water confidence,” which required intensive skill training in the water. Goggins was frightened of water and found the tasks very mentally and physically challenging. During the weeks of his water confidence training, Goggins discovered that he had a “sickle cell trait,” which, he writes, “was believed at the time to increase the risk of sudden, exercise-related death due to cardiac arrest” (66). He was removed from his training for the medical issue. Goggins recalled that he pretended to be very upset about the issue, but on the inside, he was glad that he no longer had to face his fear of water and failure. He performed another role in the Air Force, but he did not feel proud of himself.