Million Dollar Mistakes with Matthew "The Whiz" Buckley @TeamNeverQuitPodcast

Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

E. MATTHEW “WHIZ” BUCKLEY
F/A-18 Hornet Fighter Pilot, TOPGUN Graduate, Producer of No Fallen Heroes

In this week’s Team Never Quit Podcast, Marcus brings in a real “Top Gun” – A badass Navy fighter pilot and an incredible investment powerhouse – both the same guy – Matthew “Whiz” Buckley. You’ll have to hang on to your seat when you hear him share his real, firsthand experiences and record-setting flights in Navy fighter jets. Buckley has harnessed the principles of military strategies and applied them to investments and trading success. “Buckle up, buttercup…”

In this episode you will hear:

I was raised with the belief that the American Dream was real and I could achieve anything I wanted to be as long as I applied myself, worked hard, and cared for others.
I loved my country, the ocean and flying so I set out to become a navy fighter pilot.
Every landing aboard the ship is graded. The mission is secondary to coming back because you’ve got 5,000 people watching you.
I flew an acceptance flight in a new Hornet, and I did some unbelievable things with it, although I didn’t have too much time to enjoy it because all of a sudden the engines were gasping for air.
When you’re moving that fast, all your wrinkles go away.
At Mach 1.7 I thought, “I should be pulling out of this dive.” At that speed, I can’t eject. I’d be vaporized.
When you make a decision, the computers go “If he does that, we’re gonna disintegrate, and we don’t want to do that.”
We put our dog tags in our boots because in aviation accidents, that’s usually all that’s left.
The jet’s a tattletale. It’s all electronic. Your superiors know how hard you pushed it.
You can teach people a lot of stuff, but you can’t teach ‘em leadership.
In a debrief, there ain’t no ”we” or ”us”. There’s only “I”.
If you sat in a fighter pilot debrief, you’d think we hated each other. It not who’s right, it’s what’s right.
Save the apple polishing for the bar – we’re in a debrief.
A big leadership moment is when I was told “I could be friendly with you, but we’re not friends.”
The Navy does a great job of teaching us to compartmentalize. If Marcus gets smoked, I’ll mourn him later, and guess what? I don’t get to mourn him later, ‘cause it’s on to the next thing.
On the medicine, my dad & my sister, who was killed by a drunk driver, were both there. They looked incredible. In that moment, I healed.
Forgiveness doesn’t exist in heaven, because there’s no need for it.—
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Support the Show
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Special Thanks / Credits

Executive Producer & Artwork - Andrew Brockenbush
Audio Engineer - Joey Garza
Video Editor - John Fritzsching

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About TNQ Podcast:
Each week join Retired Navy SEAL and Lone Survivor Marcus Luttrell, Morgan Luttrell, and Producer Andrew Brockenbush as they’ll take you into the “briefing room” to chat with incredible guests who share their greatest never quit stories. This humorous, heartfelt, and entertaining podcast is changing lives and has become a beacon of hope and resilience to those who are facing the impossible. One of the best ways we can support our community is to share their stories so that we might inspire others to Never Quit.

We’re bringing you real-life stories of men and women who took life’s toughest challenges and met them head-on, radically changing their own lives and inspiring others to do the same.

Million Dollar Mistakes with Matthew The Whiz Buckley

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