Inside Canada's SWAT: An RCMP Tactical Leader & Sergeant Major | Seb Lavoie

<p>Seb Lavoie is the most decorated operator most people have never heard of. Over 20 years he went from a French-Canadian kid with no childhood memories to a soldier, a covert air marshal, an ERT tactical operator and team leader, a court-recognized tactical expert, and the Divisional Sergeant Major over 8,200 people — then pride cost him his leg, and faith rebuilt him.</p><p>Hostage rescues, the Surrey Six gang murders, an explosive breach gone catastrophically wrong, the cost on his family, rock bottom, and the conversion that changed everything. The Vanguard Wall’s first RCMP guest and first international guest.</p><p>▶️ Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wyy01D7FYT8</p><p><br></p><p>CHAPTERS</p><p>00:00:00 Introduction</p><p>00:09:00 Why He Can’t Remember His Childhood</p><p>00:14:30 Growing Up French-Only in 1970s Quebec</p><p>00:19:57 Bruce Lee on a Black-and-White TV</p><p>00:23:19 From Kung Fu and Muay Thai to BJJ</p><p>00:29:36 Becoming the Bully: Juvie and a Path of Destruction</p><p>00:33:13 The Roadside Moment That Pointed Him to Policing</p><p>00:39:38 Bouncing, Labor Disputes, and the Quebec Biker Wars</p><p>00:43:59 Weekend Infantry Basic with the Van Doos</p><p>00:50:13 Why He Left the Military for Policing</p><p>00:55:25 Inside the RCMP: Canada’s National Force</p><p>01:02:45 Depot: One Academy, Paramilitary From Day One</p><p>01:17:04 Posted to Tofino Speaking No English</p><p>01:29:12 Combatives Training and the Cop He Chose to Be</p><p>01:41:50 First Time Things Went Bad on the Street</p><p>01:48:38 The Parking-Lot Talk Before a Bar Fight, Outnumbered</p><p>02:04:54 Complacency, the 501st Stop, and Soft Shifts</p><p>02:22:16 Where He Was on 9/11 and What Changed</p><p>02:27:47 Going Covert: The Air Marshal Years</p><p>02:38:06 Chasing ERT: Canada’s SWAT</p><p>02:51:17 ERT Selection and the Training Pipeline</p><p>03:01:44 First ERT Call: A Machete and Two Hostages</p><p>03:13:47 Becoming a Breacher: Explosive Entry</p><p>03:24:39 Six Executed: The Surrey Investigation</p><p>03:49:20 Maritime Tactical Ops: Taking Down a Boat</p><p>04:03:32 Stepping Up to Element Leader</p><p>04:19:30 Leaving the Team: The Cost on the Family</p><p>04:31:11 Divisional Sergeant Major for All of BC</p><p>04:39:56 Leadership Dilemmas and Delivering Bad News</p><p>05:00:09 The Decision to Retire</p><p>05:07:35 Compartment Syndrome to a Below-the-Knee Amputation</p><p>05:17:45 Finding Faith Later in Life</p><p>05:26:26 The Moment That Changed