‘Mercenary Is a Slanderous Term’

You went to Annapolis. Did you—
I went there for a year and a half.

[Did you leave because] you didn't think the people there were actually serious enough?
I found the academy to have a lot of extra rules and regulations, and it kind of chafed me. So I left, and I went to school. I was a fireman. Did you guys find that out?

Yeah, we did.
A great time. I actually dove for the county sheriff's department doing body recoveries. To be a SEAL, and to be part of a small unit, it's even more regimented than [what] you had in Annapolis. The one time I got a safety violation … I didn't have my flare attached to my knife correctly. You have to have the right end down.

Why does that matter?
Because if it's in the dark and you're in trouble, you need to get that flare off. Those kind of small rules save lives.

[It's been] reported that you're involved with conservative religious groups like the Institute for World Politics, the Christian Freedom International.
The Institute of World Politics is a graduate school that teaches foreign-service officers and military officers. A friend of mine started it. I'm proud to be on that board, because they do great work. Christian Freedom International, I don't think I've been to a board meeting in probably a year and a half or two years, and they provide some help to folks that were persecuted in Sudan and Burma and places like that. The Council on National Policy promotes evangelical candidates. I went to some of those meetings in high school, in college, with my parents, and in the last, let's see, 15 years, I've probably been to one or two of those meetings.

Do you worry about the lack of transparency of your business?
I think we're very transparent. We have been audited many times by the Defense Contract Management Agency. We go through all those audits for the contracts we do. We invite neighbors onto the property. Members of Congress or staff, if they want to come down, we let them come aboard. We invite military officers.