We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacob Schick. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacob below.

Jacob, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

It was September 2004 in the Sunni Triangle in Iraq and I was the leader of our REACT. It was early in the morning and we had just bedded down after a standoff with the Iraqi National Guard that lasted hours. About fifteen minutes after I kicked my combat boots off, we got a react call. I woke the other 9 Marines up and got busy. As soon as I breached the tent, I had a bad feeling in my gut that went right into my throat. I knew we were about to get hit. I started doing things I wouldn’t normally do: took the bomb blanket from my Commanding Officer’s humvee because he was asleep and I knew he wouldn’t need it. I told my Marines to “button up” or put on all of the protection issued to you. I kicked the driver out of the driver’s seat and took the radio from the radio man. I hit the gas and three minutes later, we hit a triple-stacked tank mine. I was thrown through the top of the humvee and landed on my head, my right leg hurt like hell and my left leg was wrapped around itself, all of my ribs were broken, I could see daylight through my left arm and couldn’t see out of my right eye. With shrapnel, burns, and a very mangled body, I tried to find my weapon with no luck. Eventually, my guys got to me and carried me to the second humvee where Doc started working on me. I never lost consciousness or went into shock and it took the Blackhawk 42 minutes to come extract me. I took advantage of that time and got to tell each Marine how much I loved them and what they meant to me. I was flown to a field hospital in Balad where nurse Jacks woke me up to tell me they had to amputate my right leg. After a brief stint in Germany, I was flown to Bethesda where I was in and out of the operating room every 48 hours for three months. I then spent fifteen months in San Antonio at Brooks Army Medical Center. The lessons I carry with me from that day and defining moment are always follow your gut and always tell people how you feel because you never know what lies ahead.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a 3rd-generation combat Marine after my grandfather who fought on Iwo Jima and my uncle in Vietnam. When I was a young boy, my grandmother took me to her neighbor “Red’s” house. He was a combat photographer in WWII and showed me pictures from a liberated concentration camp. I remember, even at such a young age, wanting to do something to ensure this never happened again. I knew I wanted to be a Marine by the time I was eight years old. My senior year in High School, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and then 9/11/2001 happened. I shipped to boot camp in October of that year and was in Iraq less than three years later. After I got hit in September 2004, I had over 50 operations and 23 blood transfusions, When I got out of the hospital I was a government-issued drug addict and at the height of my addiction was taking fifty-five pills three times a day. Today I am six and a half years clean and sober but struggled with my own demons, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.

Ten years ago, when we were losing our brothers and sisters by their own hands at the cyclic rate, a group of fellow Marines and I got together and started doing pushups for awareness. The 22-pushup challenge went viral and our organization 22KILL was born. Since then, we’ve evolved into a full blown mental and emotional wellness organization that serves Veterans, first responders, law enforcement officers, frontline healthcare workers and their families. We provide traditional and non-traditional therapies and have created a close-knit community that works to combat depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. We transitioned to One Tribe Foundation in 2021, meaning the human tribe. We all bleed red and we are grateful to have a TR1BE full of patriots who work hard to support those who wear the uniform.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

No question, and without a doubt I would do it all over again. I believe in the resiliency of this county and am very proud of my family’s history of warfighters, dating all the way back to the Jacobites in Scotland. Freedom isn’t free and it’s something we all take for granted. Even now, there are young men and women standing at the ready to defend our freedoms and I will work until my last breath to ensure they are taken care of, remembered and supported.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I went from being one of the world’s most elite warriors, a United States Marine, to not being able to use the bathroom by myself in a second. Everything I went through physically pales in comparison to the pain I felt leaving my Marines in Iraq that day. I was headed home to a hospital bed and they were still in harm’s way.
I volunteered and knew the risks but this was a huge pivot in my life as I had always only planned on and trained for being a United States Marine. When I then became a severely-wounded Marine, I had to change my mindset that I would not let this event define me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jacobschick.com
• Other: www.1tribefoundation.org

Image Credits
I have the rights to the photos I uploaded.