EXPERIENCE 244 | Marshall Spring - Founder of Combat Recovery Foundation

WEBVTT

00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:04.940
In today's episode, I sat down with Marshall Spring, founder of Combat Recovery Foundation.

00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:15.589
Marshall is a combat disabled Marine Corps explosive detection dog handler, former police officer, private security entrepreneur, and suicide prevention expert.

00:00:16.609 --> 00:00:22.160
This is an intense conversation with an insightful guy, and I know you'll enjoy my conversation with Marshall Spring.

00:00:23.390 --> 00:00:24.080
Let's have some fun.

00:00:31.896 --> 00:00:33.756
Welcome to the Loco Experience Podcast.

00:00:34.235 --> 00:00:38.945
On this show, you'll get to know business and community leaders from all around Northern Colorado and beyond.

00:00:39.636 --> 00:00:44.526
Our guests share their stories, business stories, life stories, stories of triumph and of tragedy.

00:00:45.125 --> 00:00:47.076
And through it all, you'll be inspired and entertained.

00:00:47.975 --> 00:00:51.456
These conversations are real and raw, and no topics are off limits.

00:00:51.826 --> 00:00:54.435
So pop in a breath mint and get ready to meet our latest guest.

00:00:59.601 --> 00:01:02.902
Alright, welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast.

00:01:03.142 --> 00:01:19.552
My guest today is Marshall Spring and he is the founder and CEO of Combat Recovery Foundation, which is a organization focused on suicide prevention, especially in the combat, um, the veteran space post military space.

00:01:19.581 --> 00:01:19.941
Yeah.

00:01:19.941 --> 00:01:20.272
Yeah.

00:01:20.272 --> 00:01:22.611
Thank you so much, uh, for having me on Kurt.

00:01:22.611 --> 00:01:22.671
Yeah.

00:01:22.731 --> 00:01:28.012
Uh, really love, uh, the Loco Think tank and, uh, you know, the work that you guys are doing up here.

00:01:28.012 --> 00:01:30.052
So I'm really honored to be a part of this podcast.

00:01:30.052 --> 00:01:30.591
Well, thank you.

00:01:30.712 --> 00:01:40.731
I, uh, try to bring interesting community stories to light once in a while and, and yours certainly is that, um, maybe just set the stage for listeners.

00:01:41.152 --> 00:01:41.572
Um.

00:01:42.141 --> 00:01:53.061
Tell us about Combat Recovery Foundation, what you're up to, what kind of, I know you do a lot of like retreats and events, but to with who, where all across Colorado.

00:01:53.061 --> 00:01:53.212
Yeah.

00:01:53.212 --> 00:01:53.691
Tell me about it.

00:01:53.751 --> 00:01:53.992
Yeah.

00:01:53.992 --> 00:01:54.231
Yeah.

00:01:54.231 --> 00:01:58.012
I guess we'll get started with like the, uh, a hundred thousand foot view and just kind of go from there.

00:01:58.012 --> 00:02:04.492
So, combat Recovery Foundation is focused on evidence-based effective suicide prevention for veterans.

00:02:05.121 --> 00:02:09.352
Um, I founded this organization, uh, September 11th, 2023.

00:02:09.877 --> 00:02:09.997
Okay.

00:02:10.056 --> 00:02:14.856
And we officially opened for business August 18th of 24.

00:02:14.977 --> 00:02:15.336
Oh, wow.

00:02:15.486 --> 00:02:16.981
And so as of right now, while to get the

00:02:16.981 --> 00:02:18.516
nonprofit status and all that kind of stuff, yeah.

00:02:18.516 --> 00:02:18.667
You

00:02:18.667 --> 00:02:23.106
have to get the status and, and you have to get your funding in place and your programming ready to go.

00:02:23.106 --> 00:02:25.657
And so there's a lot that needs to go into getting it set up.

00:02:26.167 --> 00:02:30.967
So, um, we've, we've officially been open for business just over a year Right.

00:02:30.967 --> 00:02:31.701
As we stand right now.

00:02:31.701 --> 00:02:31.747
Right, right.

00:02:31.747 --> 00:02:32.016
Yeah.

00:02:32.076 --> 00:02:32.407
Okay.

00:02:32.407 --> 00:02:34.116
So we don't really know exactly what we're doing.

00:02:34.116 --> 00:02:35.197
We're doing a lot of stuff.

00:02:35.257 --> 00:02:36.097
We're doing a lot of stuff.

00:02:36.097 --> 00:02:36.937
We're doing a lot of stuff.

00:02:36.937 --> 00:02:37.657
So, um,

00:02:37.657 --> 00:02:40.417
but we'll probably do a lot different stuff three years from now or five because

00:02:40.521 --> 00:02:47.407
our, our, um, still young, our approach to suicide prevention is, um, is we basically have three buckets, if you will.

00:02:47.467 --> 00:02:47.706
Okay.

00:02:48.037 --> 00:02:50.467
And, uh, the first is one-on-one peer coaching.

00:02:51.456 --> 00:02:51.546
Hmm.

00:02:51.606 --> 00:03:00.637
And, um, so I, I, the, the peer part because, um, lived experience is, is more effective than education educational experience.

00:03:00.697 --> 00:03:00.787
Sure.

00:03:00.792 --> 00:03:12.426
And so, um, putting someone across the table from someone in crisis who, who has lived through that and survived that gives them an opportunity to see what the path through that storm looks like.

00:03:12.486 --> 00:03:12.576
Mm-hmm.

00:03:12.676 --> 00:03:16.747
And, and what thriving on the other side of it can, can be for a person.

00:03:16.747 --> 00:03:18.606
And so, so that, that's why the peer part.

00:03:18.907 --> 00:03:20.796
And then are those coaches volunteers?

00:03:20.796 --> 00:03:22.326
Are they trained?

00:03:22.806 --> 00:03:35.467
So we have an in-house training certification for peer coaching, and then the coaching piece is about, um, helping individuals to, um, to thrive rather than just survive.

00:03:35.586 --> 00:03:35.856
Sure.

00:03:36.217 --> 00:03:39.396
So it's, it's about way more than suicide prevention.

00:03:39.396 --> 00:03:39.667
So you're not

00:03:39.667 --> 00:03:40.747
just pulling'em out of the.

00:03:41.497 --> 00:03:44.197
The depths of despair, you're, you're pointing'em towards something.

00:03:44.586 --> 00:03:45.007
Yeah.

00:03:45.007 --> 00:04:03.637
So, so you know, the crisis piece of it, that's, that's a component, but it's, it's about how do we ensure that this person doesn't continually end up in crisis, and how do we make sure, make sure this person is thriving, because then we know that, that, that they will do that for the people around them.

00:04:03.787 --> 00:04:03.997
Yeah.

00:04:04.056 --> 00:04:17.677
That's, that's the thing about, um, veterans and why we focus on veterans is because, um, at some point in their life, I know that person signed their line, signed on a line to, to put their life on the line in defense of a stranger.

00:04:17.916 --> 00:04:18.096
Yeah.

00:04:18.156 --> 00:04:18.456
Right.

00:04:18.697 --> 00:04:22.987
And, and for me, there's really no more compassionate thing that a person can do than that.

00:04:23.076 --> 00:04:30.757
Well, and like their rate of suicide is like five, I remember a 22 a day or something was a number.

00:04:30.757 --> 00:04:39.192
Is that, is that still true or, or worse or better, but I know the rate of suicide is much higher among veterans than it is among.

00:04:39.997 --> 00:04:40.867
Average population.

00:04:41.346 --> 00:04:41.557
Yeah.

00:04:41.557 --> 00:04:48.692
So, um, talking about the rates of suicide, um, the number 22 gets thrown around a lot.

00:04:48.692 --> 00:04:48.771
I

00:04:48.891 --> 00:04:50.916
remember it was years ago now, so I'm too, it's wrong,

00:04:51.216 --> 00:04:51.336
right?

00:04:51.336 --> 00:04:51.607
Yeah.

00:04:51.666 --> 00:04:52.507
Well, it always has been.

00:04:52.687 --> 00:04:53.286
Okay.

00:04:53.293 --> 00:04:53.492
Yeah.

00:04:53.677 --> 00:04:54.666
And we'll talk about that.

00:04:54.666 --> 00:04:58.507
And so, so the VA will tell you, uh, 17 and a half, uh, a day.

00:04:58.716 --> 00:04:58.896
Okay.

00:04:58.956 --> 00:05:00.666
And also inaccurate.

00:05:01.117 --> 00:05:12.456
Um, so the problem is that, um, when, when a, when a, when a death is investigated, it's, it's the coroner that, that determines how that person died.

00:05:12.576 --> 00:05:12.757
Yeah.

00:05:13.057 --> 00:05:17.291
And so if there is not a clear cut, um, suicide note, I think a

00:05:17.297 --> 00:05:17.437
note.

00:05:17.526 --> 00:05:18.007
Yeah.

00:05:18.012 --> 00:05:18.052
Yeah.

00:05:18.276 --> 00:05:19.987
Then it probably won't get ruled to suicide.

00:05:20.172 --> 00:05:20.252
Hmm.

00:05:20.677 --> 00:05:25.117
Um, also there can be a ton of pressure put on the coroner's office.

00:05:25.206 --> 00:05:25.326
Yep.

00:05:25.416 --> 00:05:26.887
Not to rule a famous suicide.

00:05:26.887 --> 00:05:27.971
Must've his gun.

00:05:28.482 --> 00:05:28.971
Exactly.

00:05:29.557 --> 00:05:31.476
And, and coroners are elected.

00:05:32.286 --> 00:05:33.396
Just like sheriffs.

00:05:33.516 --> 00:05:33.846
Yeah.

00:05:33.877 --> 00:05:35.047
So they care.

00:05:35.047 --> 00:05:35.406
So whatever

00:05:35.406 --> 00:05:38.826
the numbers are, it's vastly they care about their constituency under the real actual

00:05:38.826 --> 00:05:39.067
number.

00:05:39.096 --> 00:05:44.976
Another issue is there's no database that you can plug a person's name into to identify whether they were a veteran.

00:05:46.747 --> 00:05:47.887
For real, for real, for real.

00:05:48.276 --> 00:05:48.757
Oh wow.

00:05:48.817 --> 00:05:55.057
So if there's no clear cut indicators, indicators, that person served in the military, again, not gonna get ruled a, a veteran suicide.

00:05:55.057 --> 00:05:55.387
Interesting.

00:05:55.507 --> 00:05:58.326
And then suicide doesn't account for deaths of despair.

00:05:58.716 --> 00:06:07.596
So un un unchecked, you know, episodes of, of extreme depression and unhappiness and, and, you know, loss of purpose and loss of belonging goes unchecked for so long.

00:06:07.596 --> 00:06:09.156
It can result in a death or even a

00:06:09.367 --> 00:06:10.387
DUI car crash.

00:06:10.387 --> 00:06:10.896
Exactly.

00:06:10.896 --> 00:06:12.487
That would be a perfect example of that.

00:06:12.487 --> 00:06:12.547
Yeah.

00:06:12.607 --> 00:06:13.687
A perfect example of that.

00:06:13.687 --> 00:06:21.156
That's not a suicide, but it's absolutely a symptom of, of, of the same type of contributing factors that end up in suicide.

00:06:21.156 --> 00:06:26.281
So the bottom line is, number one, we do not know how many veterans kill themselves.

00:06:26.586 --> 00:06:26.706
Yeah.

00:06:26.947 --> 00:06:28.297
That's, that's the truth.

00:06:28.927 --> 00:06:29.226
Uh.

00:06:30.547 --> 00:06:41.437
We, uh, the, the math and, and, and, and what we do know indicates that, um, veterans are four to six times more likely to kill themselves than the average person.

00:06:42.007 --> 00:06:42.216
Fair.

00:06:42.757 --> 00:06:48.846
So that was, there was one that was, it kind of derailed you, but that was one pillar you started talking about was the one-on-one peer coaching.

00:06:48.966 --> 00:06:49.026
Yeah.

00:06:49.026 --> 00:06:49.956
On the three, I think, right?

00:06:49.956 --> 00:06:50.076
Yeah.

00:06:50.076 --> 00:06:50.226
So

00:06:50.226 --> 00:06:51.637
we have the one-on-one peer coaching.

00:06:51.666 --> 00:06:51.846
Okay.

00:06:52.086 --> 00:06:56.076
And then we've got education and advocacy, and that's what I'm doing right here today.

00:06:56.076 --> 00:06:56.166
Right.

00:06:56.166 --> 00:06:57.336
Just getting the word out about it.

00:06:57.336 --> 00:06:57.516
Right.

00:06:57.516 --> 00:06:57.666
Fair.

00:06:57.666 --> 00:07:00.786
Because we, you just talk to a rotary club or this or that kind of thing.

00:07:00.786 --> 00:07:00.966
Right.

00:07:00.966 --> 00:07:01.357
Well, and you

00:07:01.357 --> 00:07:02.317
just set me up for it.

00:07:02.317 --> 00:07:02.497
Right.

00:07:02.497 --> 00:07:03.937
You asked about the rate of suicide.

00:07:03.937 --> 00:07:05.257
I got to talk about it Now.

00:07:05.257 --> 00:07:08.406
That's information that your listeners have that they didn't before.

00:07:08.406 --> 00:07:08.466
No.

00:07:08.471 --> 00:07:12.966
You can write off that bottom or, or maybe they did, but you know that, that that's what, that's this is a part of what we do here.

00:07:12.997 --> 00:07:13.117
Yeah.

00:07:13.476 --> 00:07:13.507
Okay.

00:07:13.507 --> 00:07:20.857
And then, and then the last piece, and this is really where the rubber hits the road for our organization is, um, building resilient communities.

00:07:21.216 --> 00:07:25.867
And we, we get involved in community, in, in serving the community.

00:07:25.867 --> 00:07:26.947
And so what that looks like is.

00:07:27.951 --> 00:07:33.562
We, um, work in the back country and we get involved in wildfire mitigation and recovery work.

00:07:34.041 --> 00:07:35.632
Uh, we help build trails.

00:07:35.632 --> 00:07:39.021
We get involved in habitat restoration and we protect the watershed.

00:07:39.052 --> 00:07:41.302
We also do, uh, counter poaching activities.

00:07:41.362 --> 00:07:41.572
Wow.

00:07:41.752 --> 00:07:46.701
Because these are problems that we have here locally in Larimer County, wildfire poaching watershed.

00:07:46.701 --> 00:07:47.812
Like these are really, really what are cool

00:07:47.932 --> 00:07:48.322
poaching

00:07:48.711 --> 00:07:48.951
elk.

00:07:49.372 --> 00:07:51.651
Oh, we have the, we have the largest elk probably just for their

00:07:51.651 --> 00:07:52.612
horns even

00:07:52.762 --> 00:07:54.831
we have the largest elk or meat too.

00:07:55.281 --> 00:07:55.701
Yeah.

00:07:56.211 --> 00:07:56.541
Yeah.

00:07:56.541 --> 00:07:57.021
So.

00:07:57.757 --> 00:07:59.887
We have the largest elk herd in the world here.

00:08:00.637 --> 00:08:02.732
And, um, and, and, okay.

00:08:02.887 --> 00:08:10.297
And, and so because that falls within our borders, we are stewards of, of that herd.

00:08:10.387 --> 00:08:10.627
Yeah.

00:08:10.927 --> 00:08:25.956
And so in ensuring that they're not being poached is a way that I can, I can help service the community, help veterans to experience purpose and belonging by having a mission and a team to execute a mission with.

00:08:26.257 --> 00:08:26.617
Yeah.

00:08:27.576 --> 00:08:34.746
There's a, there's an old book that I've read and discussed recently and becoming more relevant, I think, but Join or Die.

00:08:34.746 --> 00:08:35.616
Are you familiar with that?

00:08:35.647 --> 00:08:36.486
No, I haven't heard of it.

00:08:36.697 --> 00:08:45.307
It's kind of the notion that in the decline of organizations like jcs and Lions Clubs and churches in general and stuff.

00:08:45.726 --> 00:08:45.756
Oh.

00:08:45.756 --> 00:08:52.687
Like there's just this real lack of community and lack of connection and what you're talking about here and, and, and, and the real outcome of that is.

00:08:53.542 --> 00:09:02.062
People maybe, maybe don't die like suicide themselves, but they, they die before like a grape turns into a raisin, you know, they shrivel up kind of.

00:09:02.241 --> 00:09:02.451
Yeah.

00:09:02.451 --> 00:09:03.652
And you're expanding those.

00:09:04.341 --> 00:09:07.792
Those, uh, opportunities for real purposeful engagement.

00:09:08.001 --> 00:09:08.572
Yeah, yeah.

00:09:08.572 --> 00:09:08.932
Absolutely.

00:09:08.932 --> 00:09:13.851
With community, really clever title, uh, for the book, by the way, now that I understand the, uh, context.

00:09:13.851 --> 00:09:20.542
So yeah, the, uh, the, it's, it's, it's the, the, we're losing those third spaces Yeah.

00:09:20.572 --> 00:09:27.562
Where, um, we used to spend so much time and, and those are, those are going away and, and many have gone away.

00:09:27.621 --> 00:09:34.522
And so that's exactly what we're doing is, is we're creating a space for people to come together, be together, and, and get them out of the isolation.

00:09:34.522 --> 00:09:34.731
Yeah.

00:09:34.736 --> 00:09:34.836
Yeah.

00:09:34.841 --> 00:09:36.892
And especially in the church of the outdoors.

00:09:37.162 --> 00:09:37.491
Yeah.

00:09:37.552 --> 00:09:37.851
Yeah.

00:09:37.851 --> 00:09:41.272
And yeah, being outdoors, just augments the, uh, impact and value of it all.

00:09:41.422 --> 00:09:41.572
Yeah.

00:09:41.662 --> 00:09:41.991
Cool.

00:09:42.351 --> 00:09:48.292
What, uh, what inspired you to create this organization?

00:09:48.292 --> 00:09:55.282
And like, were there other organizations doing what you do or was it because there wasn't that you started this or talk to me about that.

00:09:55.341 --> 00:09:56.241
Yeah, so.

00:09:56.782 --> 00:10:03.501
Um, in 2019, uh, my business partner, who was a Marine, uh, very unexpectedly shot himself.

00:10:03.682 --> 00:10:04.011
Okay.

00:10:04.131 --> 00:10:06.172
And, um, not to interrupt, but what

00:10:06.172 --> 00:10:06.892
kind of business?

00:10:07.282 --> 00:10:08.392
Oh, a security company.

00:10:08.542 --> 00:10:08.871
Okay.

00:10:09.022 --> 00:10:14.272
So I, I, I, I worked in, um, the security industry for, um, about 20 years.

00:10:14.511 --> 00:10:14.841
Okay.

00:10:14.902 --> 00:10:16.162
Um, after the Marine Corps.

00:10:16.282 --> 00:10:17.302
Oh, you're that old?

00:10:17.572 --> 00:10:17.932
I am.

00:10:18.831 --> 00:10:20.751
I thought you were like 37 or something.

00:10:20.871 --> 00:10:21.562
I'm 42.

00:10:21.652 --> 00:10:21.981
Okay.

00:10:21.981 --> 00:10:23.001
Well, just about Anyway.

00:10:23.001 --> 00:10:23.152
Yeah.

00:10:23.152 --> 00:10:26.331
So I, well, I've, for reference, I've been outta the Marine Corps for 20 years.

00:10:26.392 --> 00:10:26.542
Yeah.

00:10:26.542 --> 00:10:26.841
Fair.

00:10:26.902 --> 00:10:29.932
So, um, so.

00:10:30.697 --> 00:10:33.517
We, uh, so, uh, yeah.

00:10:33.517 --> 00:10:47.856
Um, so my business partner, you know, uh, took his life and I, I got really frustrated with, uh, the VA and, um, the, the extraordinary rate of veteran suicide.

00:10:48.157 --> 00:10:51.782
And, um, so just as a point of reference, so, so the VA is, can,

00:10:51.787 --> 00:10:53.706
can you set the stage like Yeah,

00:10:53.706 --> 00:10:54.216
absolutely.

00:10:54.216 --> 00:11:03.246
So the VA is a$470 billion, uh, healthcare organization and they are sitting on top of the highest rate of suicide in the history of our species.

00:11:03.277 --> 00:11:03.517
Yeah.

00:11:03.996 --> 00:11:05.917
Um, that, that, so.

00:11:07.341 --> 00:11:10.131
It's, they're evidentially ineffective.

00:11:10.642 --> 00:11:10.881
Yeah.

00:11:11.572 --> 00:11:14.361
Um, and, uh, and the military, I'm sure they

00:11:14.361 --> 00:11:17.961
just try to put a pill on it and whatever your problem is, in most cases,

00:11:18.052 --> 00:11:22.432
the military doesn't do a very good job of, of, of transitioning people.

00:11:22.432 --> 00:11:26.841
And, and there's a, the military and, and the VA both come under a lot of criticism for that.

00:11:26.871 --> 00:11:39.412
And, and so, you know, in, in, in working through how, how can we improve this, it kind of occurred to me that really historically it has never been the responsibility of militaries to rehabilitate war fighters.

00:11:39.471 --> 00:11:39.741
Yeah.

00:11:40.491 --> 00:11:48.892
We as communities who are sending our young people out into the world to fight wars for us, it's on us.

00:11:49.042 --> 00:11:49.312
Yeah.

00:11:49.402 --> 00:11:53.572
To bring them back home and to invest in them because they're worth it.

00:11:54.201 --> 00:11:54.532
Yeah.

00:11:54.892 --> 00:11:59.557
I mean, I, and there is to some level, at least an investment in them, a.

00:12:00.471 --> 00:12:06.351
From the government, you know, they've skill upskilled'em, they've, they've given'em in some cases of retirement or different opportunities or whatever.

00:12:06.351 --> 00:12:16.642
So they've, you know, uh, and, and, and from a federal program level, it would be hard to, for a, for a federal program to reintegrate people into a local community.

00:12:17.302 --> 00:12:17.511
Right.

00:12:17.511 --> 00:12:18.741
It almost has to be done Exactly.

00:12:18.741 --> 00:12:19.221
A local level.

00:12:19.251 --> 00:12:20.121
'cause they don't know what they're doing.

00:12:20.121 --> 00:12:21.621
They're, yeah.

00:12:21.711 --> 00:12:26.631
Um, so you saw that absence of like a, a way to feel and be integrated.

00:12:26.631 --> 00:12:28.552
Is there a timeline?

00:12:28.552 --> 00:12:36.442
Like are you reaching out to, to recently release veterans or is it like, like, it sounds like your business partner was probably out for quite a while as well.

00:12:36.591 --> 00:12:36.772
Yeah.

00:12:37.312 --> 00:12:37.491
Yeah.

00:12:37.491 --> 00:12:39.741
So, uh, we will work with any veterans.

00:12:39.922 --> 00:12:43.611
Um, and we have veterans who just, just transitioned.

00:12:43.611 --> 00:12:46.851
We have, we have actually active duty members who haven't transitioned yet.

00:12:47.631 --> 00:12:52.402
And then, um, and you know, I think our oldest participant is in his nineties.

00:12:52.731 --> 00:12:53.272
Wow.

00:12:53.902 --> 00:12:55.101
And it's about having community.

00:12:55.581 --> 00:12:56.542
Yeah, absolutely.

00:12:56.662 --> 00:12:59.841
So you were set the stage, your your business partner?

00:13:00.052 --> 00:13:00.322
Yeah.

00:13:00.501 --> 00:13:01.192
Killed himself.

00:13:01.251 --> 00:13:08.662
So that, and then, um, I, I, I went and worked for a nonprofit and Okay.

00:13:08.662 --> 00:13:14.361
I stood up their, their veteran suicide prevention, um, wing or Okay.

00:13:14.361 --> 00:13:14.511
Or

00:13:14.511 --> 00:13:14.932
effort.

00:13:15.111 --> 00:13:16.192
Is that something you can talk about?

00:13:16.432 --> 00:13:17.182
Is it organization?

00:13:17.182 --> 00:13:17.241
Yeah.

00:13:17.331 --> 00:13:17.751
Oh yeah.

00:13:17.782 --> 00:13:20.662
It was, uh, the Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County.

00:13:20.692 --> 00:13:21.466
Oh, sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:13:21.591 --> 00:13:36.922
And, um, so I, I, yeah, I worked for them for a couple of years and, um, I, in, uh, I had the opportunity to identify where all the gaps in, in the, um, in the suicide prevention for Veterans apparatus exist.

00:13:37.461 --> 00:13:38.601
And, um.

00:13:40.267 --> 00:13:45.922
Uh, found orchestrated solutions and, you know, started this nonprofit around that.

00:13:46.011 --> 00:13:46.072
Yeah.

00:13:46.131 --> 00:13:46.522
Gotcha.

00:13:46.611 --> 00:13:47.152
Interesting.

00:13:47.631 --> 00:13:57.201
Kind of a bunch of research on the front end and, uh, well, and like the, to the credit of Alliance for Suicide Prevention, they're talking about everybody, right?

00:13:57.201 --> 00:14:06.201
They're trying to serve every demographic and, you know, we had a few years ago a kind of a spate of teenager suicides in some of the schools around the region.

00:14:06.682 --> 00:14:14.062
And, you know, I'm sure at least to some extent, they were like, Hey, let's help make that not happen more, uh, as well.

00:14:14.062 --> 00:14:15.442
So Interesting.

00:14:15.471 --> 00:14:21.111
So it was kind of a, a, a weaving together of different learnings and based on kind of a passion pursuit for you.

00:14:21.292 --> 00:14:21.562
Yeah.

00:14:22.221 --> 00:14:22.701
Um.

00:14:23.572 --> 00:14:25.942
So, what's your team look like?

00:14:25.942 --> 00:14:27.922
Do you have kind of both?

00:14:27.981 --> 00:14:30.922
Uh, do you have employees, contractors, volunteers?

00:14:30.922 --> 00:14:31.761
All of the above.

00:14:31.971 --> 00:14:32.182
Yeah.

00:14:32.182 --> 00:14:34.131
So we've got an amazing team.

00:14:34.282 --> 00:14:38.091
Um, so my, uh, Elena is my, uh, chief of operations.

00:14:38.091 --> 00:14:43.282
We've got Alexander, he's our, um, filmmaker, uh, documentarian.

00:14:43.432 --> 00:14:43.491
Okay.

00:14:43.491 --> 00:14:49.642
We've got, um, uh, Mitchell James, who's a really, really talented, um, rapper.

00:14:50.241 --> 00:14:50.272
Okay.

00:14:50.272 --> 00:14:54.501
In fact, he's got this multi-country European tour coming up.

00:14:54.501 --> 00:14:56.812
He's gonna be in all kinds of capital cities all over.

00:14:56.812 --> 00:14:58.282
Just coming up in the end of the month.

00:14:58.761 --> 00:14:59.272
I'm smiling

00:14:59.272 --> 00:15:01.162
because I have a good friend named James Mitchell.

00:15:01.282 --> 00:15:01.822
Oh, okay.

00:15:01.822 --> 00:15:03.596
So he just, yeah, just switched it.

00:15:03.596 --> 00:15:06.442
Anyway, I mean, it was nothing funny that you said it was just me thinking about him.

00:15:06.532 --> 00:15:06.951
Yeah.

00:15:07.072 --> 00:15:07.552
So, well,

00:15:07.552 --> 00:15:08.542
what does James Mitchell do?

00:15:08.631 --> 00:15:12.922
Uh, you know, he's both, uh, a real estate guy, but also him and his wife.

00:15:12.922 --> 00:15:15.951
Do like couples marriage retreats kind of thing.

00:15:15.951 --> 00:15:16.162
Stuff.

00:15:16.162 --> 00:15:16.461
Super

00:15:16.461 --> 00:15:16.642
cool.

00:15:16.642 --> 00:15:17.302
Where do they do that?

00:15:17.481 --> 00:15:18.741
Uh, here, Northern Colorado.

00:15:18.802 --> 00:15:19.221
Nice.

00:15:19.432 --> 00:15:19.581
Yeah.

00:15:19.701 --> 00:15:20.032
All right.

00:15:20.062 --> 00:15:22.042
I forget what he calls, but how long, how long have you known him?

00:15:22.971 --> 00:15:24.711
Over, over 10 years.

00:15:24.741 --> 00:15:25.131
Wow.

00:15:25.251 --> 00:15:25.672
That's pretty

00:15:25.672 --> 00:15:25.971
cool.

00:15:26.662 --> 00:15:26.871
Yeah.

00:15:26.932 --> 00:15:27.261
Yeah.

00:15:27.381 --> 00:15:28.881
Anyway, continue with your team.

00:15:28.881 --> 00:15:30.081
I don't mean to derail this.

00:15:30.682 --> 00:15:30.981
Okay.

00:15:30.981 --> 00:15:32.062
Or is there more on your team?

00:15:32.451 --> 00:15:35.721
Um, so yeah, I don't, I don't, I, I think I lost track of what we're talking about,

00:15:35.841 --> 00:15:38.871
who we were talking about, who's, who contributes to the combat recovery.

00:15:38.961 --> 00:15:39.292
Okay.

00:15:39.292 --> 00:15:39.831
Sounds good.

00:15:39.981 --> 00:15:46.251
So, uh, yeah, we've got a huge team, uh, a, you know, bunch of people that, uh, that help us achieve mission every day.

00:15:46.282 --> 00:15:46.731
Dabble

00:15:46.731 --> 00:15:50.662
some, mostly couldn't do it without'em, volunteers as well.

00:15:50.692 --> 00:15:50.841
Mm-hmm.

00:15:51.081 --> 00:15:51.831
Tons of volunteers.

00:15:51.831 --> 00:15:52.101
Yeah.

00:15:52.731 --> 00:15:52.942
Okay.

00:15:53.361 --> 00:15:58.011
And what, uh, like, describe like a customer journey.

00:15:58.011 --> 00:16:09.022
You've got, you know, I know those three pillar pillars, but like if I am, oh, put me in, uh, you know, I was in Colorado Springs for a long time and definitely super high number of.

00:16:09.456 --> 00:16:17.496
Uh, post-retirement military down there in comparison, we have quite a few here with, uh, you know, Cheyenne here and stuff, and it's just a nice place to live, right.

00:16:17.947 --> 00:16:24.397
But in Colorado Springs, it was like every fourth house was a retired military, 40-year-old person kind of thing.

00:16:24.876 --> 00:16:38.496
Um, I mean that space, I, you know, I'm, I'm a realtor, part-time realtor, but I'm still struggling to really integrate well, been depressed, whatever I decide to engage with your program.

00:16:39.096 --> 00:16:40.356
What's that look like from there?

00:16:40.567 --> 00:16:40.956
Okay.

00:16:41.256 --> 00:16:41.466
Yeah.

00:16:42.192 --> 00:16:44.736
Or, or is that how, how you engage typically?

00:16:44.736 --> 00:16:47.076
Is it just a person that kinda looks you up, finds.

00:16:48.886 --> 00:16:49.527
I, I, from,

00:16:49.532 --> 00:16:50.542
from a client perspective,

00:16:50.601 --> 00:16:53.631
sorry, I'm, um, there was, there was a lot to take in there, so

00:16:53.631 --> 00:16:57.022
I don't, if I'm that person that needs your services mm-hmm.

00:16:57.261 --> 00:17:00.292
As a, I've been feeling depressed, I'm a veteran.

00:17:00.621 --> 00:17:00.892
Okay.

00:17:01.312 --> 00:17:03.711
I knock on your door or I call you up and get an appointment.

00:17:03.981 --> 00:17:06.711
Like what's the, what's the interaction like?

00:17:06.771 --> 00:17:07.132
Okay.

00:17:07.281 --> 00:17:07.491
Yeah.

00:17:07.892 --> 00:17:13.561
So, uh, when, when someone contacts us, it really, it, it has a lot to do with where they are.

00:17:13.592 --> 00:17:13.801
Yeah.

00:17:14.192 --> 00:17:17.342
And so in, in some cases, you know, um,

00:17:17.372 --> 00:17:21.332
in my case, I'm 40, I served, uh, 15 years.

00:17:21.571 --> 00:17:21.932
Okay.

00:17:21.932 --> 00:17:22.892
Did some combat.

00:17:23.372 --> 00:17:25.442
Uh, and now I'm having a hard time really integrating.

00:17:26.281 --> 00:17:26.612
Okay.

00:17:27.122 --> 00:17:27.541
I'm impressed.

00:17:27.541 --> 00:17:30.632
That was the story I set, I set up the stage, but I didn't make it clear.

00:17:31.051 --> 00:17:31.531
Okay.

00:17:32.642 --> 00:17:32.912
Alright.

00:17:34.531 --> 00:17:40.711
Sorry, I didn't mean to chase that trail into, uh, I'm just, I was remembering our days in Colorado Springs.

00:17:40.801 --> 00:17:40.951
How

00:17:40.951 --> 00:17:41.852
was Colorado Springs?

00:17:42.362 --> 00:17:48.092
Eh, you know, like seven adjacent communities to each other that didn't like each other that much.

00:17:48.182 --> 00:17:48.991
What'd you do down there?

00:17:49.321 --> 00:17:50.251
I was in banking.

00:17:50.461 --> 00:17:50.821
Okay.

00:17:50.852 --> 00:17:51.811
How long have you been doing that?

00:17:52.622 --> 00:17:56.011
Well, I did banking for 15 years total before I did whatever I do now.

00:17:56.011 --> 00:17:56.071
Is

00:17:56.176 --> 00:17:57.511
that, that what led you to the think tank?

00:17:57.781 --> 00:17:58.321
Kind of, yeah.

00:17:58.321 --> 00:17:58.682
Okay.

00:17:59.102 --> 00:18:02.582
What, what was your, what was your purpose for starting this think tank?

00:18:02.582 --> 00:18:03.872
What were you trying to accomplish with it?

00:18:04.082 --> 00:18:11.432
Um, you know, one for me, if I wanted a place where I could figure out how to become a business person Okay.

00:18:11.432 --> 00:18:13.051
After being a banker for a long time.

00:18:13.142 --> 00:18:13.412
Okay.

00:18:13.832 --> 00:18:17.011
Um, and then two, um, I noticed that.

00:18:17.642 --> 00:18:28.352
In, um, my banking career, a lot of people had kind of a peer advisory group, a peer community that would help them do the hard things that it takes to make a strong business.

00:18:28.501 --> 00:18:28.832
Okay.

00:18:29.162 --> 00:18:34.021
And, uh, whether they paid a bunch of money for it or not, that I noticed that similarity.

00:18:34.021 --> 00:18:40.082
And so I imitated that model, but made it more kind of community driven, if you will.

00:18:40.172 --> 00:18:40.471
Yeah.

00:18:40.471 --> 00:18:40.981
That's awesome.

00:18:41.071 --> 00:18:41.132
Yeah.

00:18:41.132 --> 00:18:42.932
So, uh, how long have you been doing this podcast?

00:18:43.501 --> 00:18:46.021
Podcast is coming up on the end of the fifth season.

00:18:46.741 --> 00:18:47.582
So five years.

00:18:47.672 --> 00:18:48.152
Five years.

00:18:48.156 --> 00:18:48.297
Yeah.

00:18:48.301 --> 00:18:48.511
Five

00:18:48.511 --> 00:18:48.781
years.

00:18:48.781 --> 00:18:50.461
And you've done hundreds of these episodes?

00:18:50.461 --> 00:18:51.811
Uh, like 240.

00:18:51.932 --> 00:18:52.561
That's a lot.

00:18:52.892 --> 00:18:53.942
So that's pretty cool.

00:18:53.942 --> 00:18:55.382
So what is, what is your goal?

00:18:55.382 --> 00:18:56.491
Where are you trying to take this?

00:18:56.491 --> 00:18:57.451
Where are you going with this?

00:18:57.692 --> 00:19:03.662
Um, so Loco, think Tank Uhhuh, um, stands for local Community Think Tank.

00:19:03.692 --> 00:19:03.991
Okay.

00:19:04.471 --> 00:19:13.741
And so my, my theory is, is that there really should be loco think tanks in whatever Lincoln, Nebraska, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, and.

00:19:14.132 --> 00:19:27.511
Uh, Steamboat Springs, um, wherever there's kind of a give back minded business veteran that wants to be engaged in their community and help provide some structure and leadership to other people growing their businesses.

00:19:27.541 --> 00:19:27.632
Mm-hmm.

00:19:28.382 --> 00:19:37.622
And whether it's correct or not, I think the Loco Experience Podcast could be a digital leader in that space.

00:19:37.711 --> 00:20:00.541
I, I don't quite understand how quite to do it, but maybe I can attract facilitators in other marketplaces or, you know, even other, like, people that open regions can put some of the facilitators stories on my channel, you know, interview those awesome business veterans that want to add back to their community because it's really a, a volunteer ish, you know, I pay them, but not too much.

00:20:00.541 --> 00:20:07.112
They better have their, their finances in order what we call our local facilitators, which would be like a, the chair of the, of the meeting.

00:20:08.041 --> 00:20:10.321
Um, and I just love.

00:20:11.356 --> 00:20:20.656
Meeting people and hearing their stories, kind of, people have always shared their business journey with me as part of my banking career, and so I think it's an inspiring thing.

00:20:20.656 --> 00:20:35.207
I'd like to inspire more people to start something instead of just, you know, it's, it's easier in some ways to just go get a job at a big corporation, but, you know, that's not really a lifestyle that most people really want either.

00:20:35.957 --> 00:20:36.076
Okay.

00:20:36.076 --> 00:20:40.217
So if we could have more local, small businesses, I think the world will be a better place.

00:20:40.426 --> 00:20:40.936
I hear you.

00:20:41.176 --> 00:20:44.507
So are you, are you celebrating any, uh, big successes recently?

00:20:44.507 --> 00:20:46.997
Have you had any, anybody you got any reach, any benchmarks or anything?

00:20:47.356 --> 00:20:47.896
Mm.

00:20:48.467 --> 00:20:49.846
You turning this cables on me here?

00:20:49.876 --> 00:20:50.086
Yes.

00:20:50.086 --> 00:20:50.926
Becoming the interviewer?

00:20:50.987 --> 00:20:51.166
Yes.

00:20:52.817 --> 00:21:10.126
Um, you know, our, uh, our next level three chapter has, uh, three strong, uh, candidates that would bring us up to seven, which is, uh, we've been kind of bopping off the bottom in that chapter and that.

00:21:10.412 --> 00:21:15.571
Transition from, from four members to seven would be pretty momentum building.

00:21:15.781 --> 00:21:16.231
Yeah.

00:21:16.321 --> 00:21:16.741
For it.

00:21:16.862 --> 00:21:17.251
Yeah.

00:21:17.342 --> 00:21:22.172
So what do you think, what do you, what do you think is, uh, your biggest challenges are in this space?

00:21:23.011 --> 00:21:23.672
Hmm.

00:21:26.491 --> 00:21:29.041
Everybody's always selling everybody something All the time.

00:21:29.041 --> 00:21:29.642
All the time.

00:21:29.642 --> 00:21:30.182
That's tough.

00:21:30.362 --> 00:21:41.402
You know, and especially if you're the, the CEO of a, of a multimillion dollar business especially, or even just of a$1 million business, like everybody's trying to sell you something all the time.

00:21:41.791 --> 00:21:45.632
So it sounds like there's a lot of, lot of, lot of noise, lot of noise, and it's hard to break through.

00:21:45.692 --> 00:21:46.112
Correct.

00:21:46.142 --> 00:21:47.701
What do you think your differentiators are?

00:21:49.807 --> 00:21:56.432
Uh, you know, there isn't really an experience like loco there.

00:21:56.432 --> 00:21:57.721
There are other experiences.

00:21:57.751 --> 00:22:02.582
They're pure advisory, but that experience is, um.

00:22:04.172 --> 00:22:04.862
When crafted.

00:22:04.951 --> 00:22:05.372
Right.

00:22:05.372 --> 00:22:11.041
And, and curated in intentionally with the right kind of people is really powerful.

00:22:11.521 --> 00:22:26.612
And my discernment is probably one of one of the biggest differentiators in terms of finding facilitators that are cut from the right cloth and can deliver the goods well as well as fellow members that aren't annoying.

00:22:26.882 --> 00:22:27.001
Hmm.

00:22:27.571 --> 00:22:48.241
Um, so, and that comes from my 15 years of banking, you know, kind of trying to keep the, keep the upwardly mobile kind, uh, open people in the groups and, and keep out the, uh, dumpster fires a little bit and, and just people that won't really vibe or put'em in the right spot.

00:22:49.172 --> 00:22:55.501
So what do you think is one, one thing that if, if you had, would just hit the gas on, on this whole project?

00:22:55.682 --> 00:22:56.102
Hmm.

00:22:56.612 --> 00:22:57.961
On the loco think tank growing?

00:22:57.991 --> 00:23:01.082
Yeah, that's an interesting question.

00:23:02.432 --> 00:23:04.652
I don't think there is like a magic bullet.

00:23:06.031 --> 00:23:17.852
You know, I think loco grows one relationship at a time, one, um, community at a time, ultimately one member at a time.

00:23:18.602 --> 00:23:27.721
Um, and, and probably the best thing that we could do to enhance growth is to reduce, uh, uh, departure rate.

00:23:28.622 --> 00:23:38.221
You know, increase our, our, our, our rate of acceptance, but also add so much value to our members' lives that they can't even think about not continuing on.

00:23:38.432 --> 00:23:40.801
What are your departing members, um, expressing?

00:23:44.672 --> 00:23:49.382
Um, sorry, I haven't had somebody, uh, turn the tables on me so much.

00:23:49.442 --> 00:23:54.902
Um, what would be the biggest things?

00:23:55.862 --> 00:23:57.481
I mean, a lot of times they say no time.

00:23:58.892 --> 00:24:00.567
Uh, a lot of times it do.

00:24:00.571 --> 00:24:01.711
Do you think they're telling you the truth?

00:24:01.711 --> 00:24:02.221
No.

00:24:02.221 --> 00:24:05.791
I mean, everybody can make time for the things that they want, they really value.

00:24:05.791 --> 00:24:06.092
Right.

00:24:06.092 --> 00:24:07.892
So, so what they're telling you is they don't want it.

00:24:07.892 --> 00:24:08.192
Right.

00:24:08.281 --> 00:24:08.971
Right, right.

00:24:08.971 --> 00:24:25.622
And a lot, and, and the departing ones, if I'm honest, a lot of'em signed up for, but don't really want the authentic, uh, somebody telling me what they think about my, me and my business kind of experience that it requires.

00:24:26.461 --> 00:24:29.701
Um, that's some others, you know, I don't know.

00:24:30.182 --> 00:24:32.882
Um, I would have to, uh, go into it.

00:24:32.882 --> 00:24:37.471
But you're still, you're trying to deflect from, uh, my question.

00:24:37.832 --> 00:24:39.932
I am, are we tying it back?

00:24:39.991 --> 00:24:40.592
I am.

00:24:40.682 --> 00:24:43.412
I am following the path that you led me down.

00:24:43.801 --> 00:24:44.132
Okay.

00:24:45.241 --> 00:24:48.271
Um, do you remember where we jumped off?

00:24:48.372 --> 00:24:49.392
Oh, the customer journey.

00:24:51.497 --> 00:24:52.511
Journey, yes.

00:24:53.291 --> 00:24:57.192
So, um, I'm going to set the stage here.

00:24:58.001 --> 00:25:03.852
So I'm just gonna imagine a person that might connect with your organization, um, and paint that picture.

00:25:03.971 --> 00:25:05.412
I'm, whatever.

00:25:05.412 --> 00:25:08.471
I was a 12 year veteran, had some combat time.

00:25:09.672 --> 00:25:13.271
I'm out, I'm a real estate agent.

00:25:13.271 --> 00:25:13.961
I'm doing okay.

00:25:14.231 --> 00:25:17.801
I'm married, I got a couple kids, but I've been depressed.

00:25:17.862 --> 00:25:23.981
I've been struggling a little bit, have some trauma stuff, dreams, whatever.

00:25:24.372 --> 00:25:25.932
And I decide to, to give your.

00:25:26.307 --> 00:25:27.567
Your organization a call.

00:25:27.717 --> 00:25:28.106
Got it.

00:25:28.287 --> 00:25:28.707
That's me.

00:25:28.711 --> 00:25:34.586
Now, that's not me, but that's the, that's the imaginary person now who's,'cause I imagine every journey is a little bit different.

00:25:34.707 --> 00:25:35.007
Hmm.

00:25:35.636 --> 00:25:35.817
No.

00:25:35.817 --> 00:25:36.987
Yeah, yeah.

00:25:36.987 --> 00:25:37.497
Certainly.

00:25:37.497 --> 00:25:38.606
So set that stage for me.

00:25:38.606 --> 00:25:38.876
That's,

00:25:38.876 --> 00:25:39.686
that's who I am.00:25:39.987 --> 00:25:40.557


I'm Bob.00:25:42.237 --> 00:25:42.537


All right.00:25:43.166 --> 00:25:47.906


Well now I know why we had the conversation that we had, because that's what I would do.00:25:48.416 --> 00:26:02.067


So we start by identifying goals, and then we identify obstacles, and then we identify, um, mechanisms to overcome those obstacles so the individual can achieve their goals and become the best possible version of themselves.00:26:02.067 --> 00:26:03.656


Funny, I didn't actually lose you after all.00:26:04.076 --> 00:26:08.007


It turns out, it turns out I was more on topic than I was aware of.00:26:08.336 --> 00:26:08.457


Yeah.00:26:09.267 --> 00:26:10.497


Um, okay.00:26:10.946 --> 00:26:15.146


So, so it's really custom based on that person.00:26:15.146 --> 00:26:21.507


And in that picture I painted, I've, you know, been having a hard time connecting, been depressed.00:26:22.406 --> 00:26:31.317


Don't really have much going on outside of my job, which I don't really find nearly as compelling as my explosives ordinance officer job at when I was in the Army.00:26:31.946 --> 00:26:34.106


Um, and like, what did00:26:34.106 --> 00:26:36.507


you like about your explosive ordinance job when you were in the army?00:26:36.567 --> 00:26:37.467


It was exciting.00:26:37.977 --> 00:26:38.426


Okay.00:26:38.517 --> 00:26:38.846


Yeah.00:26:39.477 --> 00:26:41.576


And, um, what else did you like about it?00:26:43.047 --> 00:26:49.076


You know, I developed a level of trust for my team that was really, um, incredible.00:26:49.166 --> 00:26:49.467


Okay.00:26:49.826 --> 00:26:50.426


Anything else?00:26:51.326 --> 00:26:51.896


Um,00:26:52.227 --> 00:26:54.717


you know, I knew people relied on me.00:26:55.257 --> 00:26:55.557


Okay.00:26:55.916 --> 00:26:56.076


What else?00:26:56.092 --> 00:26:57.836


I feel like sometimes they don't anymore.00:26:58.797 --> 00:27:05.457


I, you know, I think just the, uh, the, the adrenaline of it.00:27:05.547 --> 00:27:06.596


I don't really get that anymore.00:27:06.717 --> 00:27:06.987


Okay.00:27:07.076 --> 00:27:07.676


In my life.00:27:08.007 --> 00:27:08.396


What else?00:27:10.106 --> 00:27:10.376


I don't know.00:27:10.527 --> 00:27:10.797


Okay.00:27:11.067 --> 00:27:14.771


So it sounds like you told me that, um, you enjoyed having, um, purpose.00:27:15.777 --> 00:27:17.517


And, and making an impact on the world.00:27:18.297 --> 00:27:23.757


Uh, you told me that you, um, you miss being with your friends and you enjoyed the comradery, so you liked having a team.00:27:24.027 --> 00:27:24.386


Yeah, for sure.00:27:24.386 --> 00:27:27.116


So, um, so belonging, can we call that belonging?00:27:27.116 --> 00:27:27.176


Yeah.00:27:27.176 --> 00:27:28.047


Does that resonate with you?00:27:28.106 --> 00:27:28.287


Yeah.00:27:28.497 --> 00:27:28.797


Okay.00:27:29.487 --> 00:27:31.767


And, um, oh, the adrenaline.00:27:31.946 --> 00:27:34.076


So you like doing things that are dangerous.00:27:34.707 --> 00:27:35.247


Turns out.00:27:35.277 --> 00:27:35.576


Yeah.00:27:35.636 --> 00:27:35.967


Okay.00:27:36.386 --> 00:27:46.346


Well, um, what, uh, what, what can you do in your day to day where you will experience, um, purpose, belonging, and adventure?00:27:47.426 --> 00:27:47.606


Hmm.00:27:49.227 --> 00:27:55.287


You know, as you know, I've been, you know, at the real estate office for a few years, but I don't really go to the office that much.00:27:55.317 --> 00:27:56.787


'cause there isn't that much to do there.00:27:56.787 --> 00:28:00.807


I should just be out, you know, finding clients or showing houses or whatever.00:28:00.807 --> 00:28:04.616


But, um, so not a lot there.00:28:04.767 --> 00:28:04.886


Mm-hmm.00:28:05.126 --> 00:28:10.047


And, uh, so that's maybe, probably the first thing is.00:28:10.991 --> 00:28:19.692


I haven't really found a new purpose, you know, between my military retirement and selling two or three houses a year, I have enough income.00:28:19.692 --> 00:28:22.271


You know, my wife works, kids are mostly grown now.00:28:23.561 --> 00:28:23.652


Okay.00:28:23.652 --> 00:28:24.461


Kind off in their own.00:28:24.461 --> 00:28:25.721


So what is my purpose?00:28:26.412 --> 00:28:26.771


All right.00:28:26.771 --> 00:28:31.211


So we've definitely identified that that, that finding purposes is, is a priority for you.00:28:31.541 --> 00:28:34.602


Experiencing belonging is a priority and doing adventurous stuff.00:28:35.051 --> 00:28:35.382


Yeah.00:28:35.531 --> 00:28:35.801


Okay.00:28:36.162 --> 00:28:44.652


So I used to ride motorcycle when I was in high school, but once I crashed that first time, mom took the keys away and I didn't, haven't ridden since.00:28:44.741 --> 00:28:44.951


Okay.00:28:45.672 --> 00:28:56.352


So, um, are you aware of any organizations that provide, uh, purpose, belonging and um, uh, adventurous activities to veterans?00:28:57.071 --> 00:28:57.701


Um.00:28:58.332 --> 00:29:01.241


Well, I thought maybe you guys, based on the website, we do.00:29:01.902 --> 00:29:02.201


We do.00:29:02.201 --> 00:29:03.311


Is that something you would like to be00:29:03.311 --> 00:29:03.731


involved in?00:29:03.731 --> 00:29:03.971


Sounds00:29:03.971 --> 00:29:04.241


good.00:29:04.511 --> 00:29:06.432


I kind of set you up as an ideal client there.00:29:06.432 --> 00:29:06.612


Huh.00:29:07.301 --> 00:29:10.692


So that would be kind of how one of those conversations can go00:29:11.442 --> 00:29:15.582


and probably like purpose, belonging, and community.00:29:15.852 --> 00:29:19.781


Uh, and maybe adventure are like three.00:29:19.781 --> 00:29:23.682


You're out of the top five for almost every man that was a veteran.00:29:24.432 --> 00:29:24.672


Uh, yeah.00:29:24.672 --> 00:29:25.392


In some respects.00:29:25.422 --> 00:29:25.721


Yeah.00:29:25.872 --> 00:29:26.051


Right.00:29:26.051 --> 00:29:27.551


There's a, if someone joined the military, you00:29:27.551 --> 00:29:30.491


can probably guarantee that, that all those things resonate with them.00:29:30.491 --> 00:29:30.672


Yeah.00:29:30.731 --> 00:29:31.031


Yeah.00:29:31.721 --> 00:29:40.541


Um, so what's your imagination for where combat recovery goes, uh, you know, in, in terms of its journey?00:29:40.541 --> 00:29:45.192


Are you, are you serving Northern Colorado clients only now and like.00:29:45.777 --> 00:29:46.737


Is that the plan?00:29:46.737 --> 00:29:48.656


You're, you're a community based organization?00:29:49.136 --> 00:29:53.126


So, um, we serve anyone anywhere.00:29:53.186 --> 00:29:53.487


Okay.00:29:53.517 --> 00:29:56.126


But, uh, we tend to bring people here Sure.00:29:56.186 --> 00:29:57.866


So they can get involved in what we're doing here.00:29:58.977 --> 00:30:21.596


And then ultimately my goal is I, we've, we've, we send, we send our young people off to war and then, um, they get hurt and then we, uh, we medicate them, hand'em a video game controller, uh, barely enough money to survive and, and, you know, say, just sequester yourself for the next 70 years and stay outta the way.00:30:21.717 --> 00:30:22.017


Yeah.00:30:22.977 --> 00:30:26.727


And really at the end of the day, that's a huge wasted resource.00:30:27.146 --> 00:30:40.106


So what we are trying to identify here is that if you activate your veteran population on a problem that you have locally, they will solve that problem for you and be an asset to your community.00:30:40.166 --> 00:30:41.967


Is that really what a lot of veterans are doing Is.00:30:42.027 --> 00:30:44.396


Just playing video games in the basement kind of thing.00:30:44.396 --> 00:30:44.517


Yeah.00:30:44.846 --> 00:30:45.176


Really?00:30:45.297 --> 00:30:45.567


Yeah.00:30:45.626 --> 00:30:47.336


Just medicated out their gords.00:30:47.517 --> 00:30:47.846


Wow.00:30:47.967 --> 00:30:48.207


Yep.00:30:48.567 --> 00:30:50.307


I mean, not, not all of them.00:30:50.517 --> 00:30:50.606


Sure.00:30:50.612 --> 00:30:51.297


By, by any stretch.00:30:51.297 --> 00:30:57.446


But even if it's 10%, but a lot over 20 percent's, there's, there's a lot, there's a lot of dudes just wasting away Yeah.00:30:57.446 --> 00:30:59.096


Not, not being utilized.00:30:59.336 --> 00:30:59.396


Wow.00:30:59.396 --> 00:31:00.477


Drinking themselves to death.00:31:00.537 --> 00:31:00.807


Yeah.00:31:00.866 --> 00:31:01.737


Or pilling themselves.00:31:01.737 --> 00:31:08.096


So get, let's give them a mission and let's, let's utilize their desire to be impactful.00:31:08.217 --> 00:31:08.396


Hmm.00:31:08.696 --> 00:31:09.116


Interesting.00:31:09.656 --> 00:31:11.636


So, uh, to continue on, so you're.00:31:12.317 --> 00:31:13.457


You're open to growth.00:31:13.757 --> 00:31:29.057


Uh, so the goal is to prove that concept so that other organizations, municipalities, local governments can, um, learn from us, subscribe to your program almost, and, and, and create their own solutions for their, for their veterans.00:31:29.146 --> 00:31:29.326


Okay.00:31:29.416 --> 00:31:34.787


So we will, we will go and we will help them set this up, um, whatever, whatever it looks like for them.00:31:34.787 --> 00:31:39.017


But I, I don't, I'm not trying to prescribe solutions for people in Florida.00:31:39.346 --> 00:31:40.067


Right, right.00:31:40.517 --> 00:31:42.376


I'm, I'm prescribing solutions for people here.00:31:42.376 --> 00:31:43.757


There's no help to protect in Florida.00:31:43.906 --> 00:31:44.416


Exactly.00:31:45.076 --> 00:31:53.446


And then you do some alligator hunting, and then if you, uh, want to like take what we've done and go apply it to your own.00:31:53.747 --> 00:32:00.557


You know, problems, your own space, then let's use veterans to protect manatees or, uh, affect beach erosion.00:32:00.797 --> 00:32:00.886


Yeah.00:32:00.886 --> 00:32:08.596


Or, um, oh, uh, they have, they have, uh, invasive, uh, you know, pythons, pythons and, and lionfish in Florida.00:32:08.596 --> 00:32:08.747


Right.00:32:08.957 --> 00:32:11.957


It feels like python hunting would be a very fun, it's kind of a no00:32:11.987 --> 00:32:12.767


brainer, I think.00:32:12.767 --> 00:32:13.126


Yeah.00:32:13.186 --> 00:32:19.487


So there's a lot of, um, problems that veterans can solve for people.00:32:19.696 --> 00:32:28.936


So we are, we are creating the model by which other people can ask their veteran populations for help.00:32:29.836 --> 00:32:33.346


And how, how about your funding model, if I may?00:32:33.436 --> 00:32:33.797


Oh, yeah.00:32:33.797 --> 00:32:34.817


That's a great question.00:32:34.817 --> 00:32:34.876


Yeah.00:32:34.876 --> 00:32:35.176


Thank you.00:32:35.176 --> 00:32:50.027


So when I, um, worked at the Alliance part of, um, what I struggled with was, um, there were approximately 12 employees and one person prevented suicide.00:32:50.757 --> 00:32:51.356


Okay.00:32:51.416 --> 00:33:03.386


Uh, everybody else did, uh, wrote grants, did fundraisers, um, did all the backend grant compliance work, and most of them were afraid to talk to suicidal people.00:33:03.717 --> 00:33:03.957


Mm.00:33:04.616 --> 00:33:10.436


Um, I didn't think that that was really advantageous for the population that we were trying to serve.00:33:10.856 --> 00:33:20.096


So, um, one big difference is we don't take government grants because they come with a ton of red tape and, and paperwork.00:33:20.096 --> 00:33:20.307


Yeah.00:33:20.311 --> 00:33:20.382


Yeah.00:33:20.576 --> 00:33:22.826


And they'll straight up require you to hire people.00:33:22.856 --> 00:33:29.576


So that's part of why you're a private grant rather than a We are a 5 0 1 C3, like any other 5 0 1 c.00:33:29.576 --> 00:33:30.267


Okay.00:33:30.267 --> 00:33:31.376


There's no difference there.00:33:31.376 --> 00:33:31.586


Okay.00:33:31.797 --> 00:33:36.207


Uh, it's just like I said, we don't, uh, we don't, we don't take the time.00:33:36.821 --> 00:33:39.102


To pursue grants from the government.00:33:39.162 --> 00:33:39.372


Yeah.00:33:39.551 --> 00:33:42.912


And we don't take the time to be in compliance with the grants that Sure.00:33:42.912 --> 00:33:43.692


You know, we don't want.00:33:43.692 --> 00:33:43.751


Yeah.00:33:43.872 --> 00:33:50.652


So that, that frees up a lot of, um, time and effort for people to focus on the mission.00:33:50.892 --> 00:33:51.102


Okay.00:33:51.402 --> 00:33:59.501


So, um, the way we, um, fund ourselves primarily is we create brand collaborations with other, uh, businesses.00:33:59.801 --> 00:34:00.011


Okay.00:34:00.071 --> 00:34:11.681


And so the, the business creates a product for us and um, and then we drive sales in their direction, and then they donate a portion of those sales to our organization.00:34:11.681 --> 00:34:12.041


Is that right?00:34:12.161 --> 00:34:15.461


So the idea is I'm not asking for money off your bottom line.00:34:15.911 --> 00:34:15.972


Yeah.00:34:16.001 --> 00:34:19.391


I'm asking to add to your top line and just take my fair share.00:34:19.916 --> 00:34:20.786


And that's just business.00:34:20.887 --> 00:34:24.907


So if you might give, gimme an example of one of those kind of product elements, if you will.00:34:24.967 --> 00:34:25.237


Yeah.00:34:25.237 --> 00:34:25.686


Happy to.00:34:25.686 --> 00:34:30.456


So, um, one of our collaborations is with a local coffee, uh, roaster named Wander Coffee.00:34:30.516 --> 00:34:30.786


Okay.00:34:31.146 --> 00:34:35.797


And so they roast a, uh, a coffee flavor for us called Rising Phoenix Roast.00:34:35.827 --> 00:34:36.126


Okay.00:34:36.277 --> 00:34:43.297


And then when you purchase that coffee, when you buy it off the shelf and it's on store shelves, um, 10% of that, uh, goes to the non-profit.00:34:43.387 --> 00:34:43.717


Okay.00:34:43.867 --> 00:34:44.047


Yeah.00:34:44.047 --> 00:34:44.407


Interesting.00:34:44.407 --> 00:34:49.896


So we've got, uh, coffee, we've got chocolate, hot sauce, um, spices and rubs.00:34:50.317 --> 00:34:50.407


Oh.00:34:50.407 --> 00:34:55.177


And then you can kind of put those on your website to drive like traffic to their product as well.00:34:55.867 --> 00:34:56.257


Yeah.00:34:56.257 --> 00:35:02.436


So, or on your website or within your social media channels, like you mentioned kind of driving business to them as well is getting.00:35:02.556 --> 00:35:03.666


A money stream back.00:35:03.757 --> 00:35:15.876


So the, uh, the idea is that we do, uh, we do a brand collaboration video with them, put it out on the social media, and then we encourage, um, everyone in our network to, um, support that business.00:35:15.876 --> 00:35:15.936


Yeah.00:35:15.936 --> 00:35:25.297


And then I, I, I mention them whenever I can in podcasts on the radio, and if I'm on the news or whatever interviews I'm doing, I'll, I'll, I'll talk about our collaborations Interesting.00:35:25.297 --> 00:35:27.967


And so that those businesses get, um, recognition.00:35:27.967 --> 00:35:32.077


And so we have Wander Coffee, we've got Ranch and Rifle Spice.00:35:32.556 --> 00:35:32.646


Okay.00:35:32.677 --> 00:35:35.887


Um, we are working with, uh, nuanced Chocolate.00:35:35.981 --> 00:35:36.322


Oh, sure.00:35:36.327 --> 00:35:36.697


Um, yep.00:35:36.697 --> 00:35:37.717


Brand new collaboration.00:35:37.717 --> 00:35:39.097


I've got a meeting with them next week.00:35:39.126 --> 00:35:40.387


Really excited about that.00:35:40.387 --> 00:35:41.257


I love chocolate.00:35:41.856 --> 00:35:45.666


Um, and then, uh, we've partnered with, uh, sweetheart Winery Oh.00:35:45.666 --> 00:35:49.746


To create a completely, um, branded line of cis.00:35:50.197 --> 00:35:51.456


Called Patriot Press.00:35:51.577 --> 00:35:52.056


Oh, wow.00:35:52.146 --> 00:36:00.157


And then, so, so if you, if you get that on tap or you, you know, get it in the store, um, again, 10% of the proceeds benefit the nonprofit.00:36:00.157 --> 00:36:00.757


Interesting.00:36:00.757 --> 00:36:00.817


Yeah.00:36:00.817 --> 00:36:01.146


Is that00:36:01.146 --> 00:36:02.737


their whole line of ciders then?00:36:02.797 --> 00:36:05.737


Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's a complete cider line.00:36:05.766 --> 00:36:06.217


Yeah.00:36:06.217 --> 00:36:06.226


Yeah.00:36:06.226 --> 00:36:08.137


That's, that's themed toward the military.00:36:08.286 --> 00:36:08.677


That's cool.00:36:08.706 --> 00:36:11.257


And, um, and that's, that's a great collaboration.00:36:11.257 --> 00:36:14.436


And then we also have, um, that's pretty smart branding too, because00:36:15.007 --> 00:36:19.387


cider, cider, but, you know, patriot press, that sounds pretty cool.00:36:19.387 --> 00:36:21.036


And you press those apples to get that cider.00:36:21.157 --> 00:36:22.027


Pretty good branding.00:36:22.086 --> 00:36:27.246


And then we also partner with Colorado Colorful Creations, which is our hot sauce.00:36:27.306 --> 00:36:27.817


Uh, friends.00:36:27.847 --> 00:36:28.657


Oh yeah.00:36:28.661 --> 00:36:28.711


Yeah.00:36:28.717 --> 00:36:31.416


I actually, I think I.00:36:32.181 --> 00:36:35.811


Connected with that person on LinkedIn recently or something.00:36:35.811 --> 00:36:36.922


They do a bunch of different stuff.00:36:36.922 --> 00:36:39.472


They've got a hot sauce company and this company and that company.00:36:39.476 --> 00:36:39.717


Yeah.00:36:39.802 --> 00:36:39.981


Yeah.00:36:39.981 --> 00:36:41.601


He's got a handyman company.00:36:41.606 --> 00:36:41.797


Yes.00:36:41.856 --> 00:36:45.742


Um, yeah, Derek night camp, he's a very, very talented guy.00:36:45.742 --> 00:36:46.762


He is always doing something.00:36:46.762 --> 00:36:47.271


Yeah.00:36:47.277 --> 00:36:47.356


Yeah.00:36:47.362 --> 00:36:47.601


Yeah.00:36:47.601 --> 00:36:48.112


Interesting.00:36:48.202 --> 00:36:48.442


Yeah.00:36:48.561 --> 00:37:00.262


Um, so I guess that continuing that funding model is, is kind of the, is that's your primary resource or do you get private foundation grants or do you have user fees?00:37:00.291 --> 00:37:02.121


Do do your veterans No.00:37:02.121 --> 00:37:03.202


Pay to play?00:37:03.262 --> 00:37:04.282


No, not at all.00:37:04.371 --> 00:37:09.621


No, we, no, we don't charge, uh, our, our participants, everything we do is free to the user.00:37:09.742 --> 00:37:10.972


And can you get any like.00:37:11.407 --> 00:37:17.286


Revenues for like fire prevention and maintenance and things like that from the state when you do those kind of stuff.00:37:17.317 --> 00:37:20.496


We are partnered with the watershed and we're helping them out with some stuff.00:37:20.496 --> 00:37:20.737


Okay.00:37:20.827 --> 00:37:23.916


And, um, yeah, there will be some, uh, funds coming away from that.00:37:23.916 --> 00:37:24.157


Okay.00:37:24.217 --> 00:37:24.516


Okay.00:37:24.516 --> 00:37:29.376


So it's like kind of, it's volunteering, but here's a little spiff for all the time and trouble A little bit.00:37:29.376 --> 00:37:29.856


Kinda like00:37:29.856 --> 00:37:30.577


we,00:37:30.637 --> 00:37:34.896


um, so, okay.00:37:35.016 --> 00:37:49.447


Um, and we don't need to know the specifics of it, but, but I mean, it seems clear that you're adding, if you bring a bunch of veterans out to do a bunch of post-fire remediation, like somebody should pay you a little bit or at least buy a lunch, you know, give you a image.00:37:50.077 --> 00:37:50.376


Sure.00:37:51.186 --> 00:37:53.976


You know, uh, you're adding a lot of value to the community is what I'm saying.00:37:53.976 --> 00:37:55.867


Even if you're python hunting Right.00:37:55.927 --> 00:37:56.677


In the Everglades.00:37:56.797 --> 00:37:57.067


Yeah.00:37:57.427 --> 00:38:00.637


So, so it's a pretty scalable funding model.00:38:01.086 --> 00:38:05.556


Um, overall, if you can kind of find all those.00:38:06.067 --> 00:38:08.047


Partnerships to, to be a part of it.00:38:08.197 --> 00:38:08.407


Yeah.00:38:08.527 --> 00:38:10.927


And I guess that helps to grow the awareness of the organization.00:38:10.927 --> 00:38:12.036


How do people find you?00:38:12.817 --> 00:38:20.347


Well, uh, we are set up with over 200, um, veteran serving organizations, local governments, and um, businesses.00:38:20.556 --> 00:38:20.916


Okay.00:38:21.097 --> 00:38:22.836


Um, the Actis funnels for us.00:38:22.927 --> 00:38:23.166


Yep.00:38:23.496 --> 00:38:32.887


And, um, um, we're partnered with, uh, police departments, sheriff's departments, hospitals, EMS, all that.00:38:32.947 --> 00:38:35.556


Um, the cos responder program, we work with them.00:38:36.726 --> 00:38:38.706


Um, and then is that00:38:38.706 --> 00:38:41.047


how you meet'em sometimes is they're in crisis?00:38:41.166 --> 00:38:41.467


Yes.00:38:41.496 --> 00:38:42.277


In some capacity.00:38:42.367 --> 00:38:43.146


Yeah, absolutely.00:38:43.327 --> 00:38:43.597


Yeah.00:38:44.016 --> 00:38:47.286


Whether it's alcohol crisis or mental health crisis or whatever.00:38:47.976 --> 00:38:48.246


Yep.00:38:48.336 --> 00:38:49.867


Um, okay, gotcha.00:38:50.257 --> 00:38:52.867


And so sometimes either probably court referral too.00:38:52.927 --> 00:38:52.987


Yeah.00:38:53.496 --> 00:38:57.306


As part of a, well, we, we actually work directly with the courts.00:38:57.336 --> 00:38:57.396


Yeah.00:38:57.427 --> 00:39:02.737


Um, we, uh, we're, we're part of the, uh, problem solving court here in Leer County, the Veterans Court.00:39:02.916 --> 00:39:03.277


Okay.00:39:03.396 --> 00:39:05.797


And so we advocated to get that started here.00:39:06.081 --> 00:39:06.202


Interesting.00:39:06.206 --> 00:39:08.887


And then, um, that took, um, like six years.00:39:09.456 --> 00:39:09.726


Okay.00:39:09.757 --> 00:39:11.467


And now it's finally up and running.00:39:11.706 --> 00:39:24.961


And so, um, we, we, we go to court, we have a whole team of people that go in there, and we go into the, uh, the office hours before court with the judge and the prosecutor and the, um.00:39:27.202 --> 00:39:38.121


Um, their probation officers and all, all the people that are involved in the, in the, in the justice piece, they're all in that room and they talk about each of the, um, individuals and, and, and what their plan is.00:39:38.121 --> 00:39:41.181


And then we go into open court and we stand with them in front of the judge.00:39:41.512 --> 00:39:51.206


And then, um, and then we, we help them to achieve their goals and to navigate that court process so that they have a more, uh, uh, yeah.00:39:51.211 --> 00:39:56.661


The idea is to decrease the likelihood of recidivism, to decrease the likelihood that they keep bouncing off the system.00:39:56.661 --> 00:39:57.802


And it's, it's very effective.00:39:57.802 --> 00:40:01.972


Well, you need to have a system navigator kind of, are you familiar with the Matthews House?00:40:02.001 --> 00:40:02.512


Yes, I am.00:40:02.692 --> 00:40:02.992


Yeah.00:40:02.992 --> 00:40:04.851


I, I was on the board with them.00:40:04.851 --> 00:40:13.972


And you've got a lot of similar themes that kind of evidence-based and, um, you know, having someone to walk alongside you for a season kind of themes.00:40:13.972 --> 00:40:14.061


Mm-hmm.00:40:14.302 --> 00:40:15.621


And maybe it's a, a longer season.00:40:15.831 --> 00:40:16.012


Mm-hmm.00:40:16.251 --> 00:40:18.291


Um, and even my wife does volunteering for casa.00:40:18.442 --> 00:40:18.532


Mm-hmm.00:40:18.862 --> 00:40:21.411


And having somebody that understands the system and can help.00:40:22.237 --> 00:40:23.137


People navigate.00:40:23.137 --> 00:40:23.416


Mm-hmm.00:40:23.501 --> 00:40:26.541


You know, even if your intentions are good, sometimes that thing will suck you in.00:40:27.681 --> 00:40:28.461


Yeah, absolutely.00:40:28.942 --> 00:40:35.782


Um, I feel like it's probably a good time to zoom back all the way to Little Marshall.00:40:36.322 --> 00:40:36.592


Okay.00:40:36.681 --> 00:40:39.802


Like, uh, 5-year-old Marshall.00:40:39.802 --> 00:40:41.632


What was your, what was your setting?00:40:41.842 --> 00:40:42.681


Where were you at?00:40:42.681 --> 00:40:43.731


Are you Colorado native?00:40:44.391 --> 00:40:47.001


So, I was born in Colorado, and I was raised in Oregon.00:40:47.061 --> 00:40:47.452


Oregon?00:40:47.456 --> 00:40:47.657


Yeah.00:40:47.661 --> 00:40:47.842


Okay.00:40:48.052 --> 00:40:49.041


Uh, rural Oregon.00:40:49.041 --> 00:40:51.501


Urban Oregon, um, rural Oregon.00:40:51.652 --> 00:40:51.891


Okay.00:40:51.981 --> 00:40:52.161


Yeah.00:40:52.311 --> 00:40:52.702


What part?00:40:53.001 --> 00:40:53.512


Ashland.00:40:53.931 --> 00:40:54.922


Ashland Not familiar.00:40:54.922 --> 00:40:58.822


Yeah, it's on I five, just uh, just 10 minutes over the California border.00:40:59.032 --> 00:40:59.331


Okay.00:40:59.331 --> 00:41:00.621


Pa past the border into Oregon.00:41:00.652 --> 00:41:01.012


Sure.00:41:01.041 --> 00:41:01.251


Yeah,00:41:01.911 --> 00:41:02.302


sure.00:41:02.302 --> 00:41:06.592


So that would be, I guess almost straight east of Portland, but quite a ways.00:41:07.581 --> 00:41:07.972


Yeah.00:41:07.972 --> 00:41:12.592


So, um, Portland is, um, on the north end.00:41:12.681 --> 00:41:14.362


Oh wait, yeah, that's north side.00:41:14.391 --> 00:41:14.692


Okay.00:41:14.692 --> 00:41:14.902


Yeah.00:41:14.902 --> 00:41:18.952


So there's nothing, so Bend is down there kind of closer or whatever.00:41:18.981 --> 00:41:22.851


So Bend is, um, in like central Eastern Oregon.00:41:22.882 --> 00:41:23.152


Okay.00:41:23.152 --> 00:41:25.431


And so Portland is in the north Yeah.00:41:25.431 --> 00:41:25.552


Way00:41:25.552 --> 00:41:26.302


Northeast corner.00:41:26.362 --> 00:41:26.541


Yep.00:41:27.981 --> 00:41:30.291


And then nothing else in the south really too much.00:41:31.371 --> 00:41:35.422


So, uh, Portland is, uh, in the north on I five.00:41:35.452 --> 00:41:35.692


Yeah.00:41:35.931 --> 00:41:39.981


And then if you travel straight down I five to the southernmost point in the state.00:41:40.041 --> 00:41:40.132


Yeah.00:41:40.132 --> 00:41:41.121


That's where my town is.00:41:41.152 --> 00:41:41.211


Yeah.00:41:41.211 --> 00:41:41.661


Ashland.00:41:41.902 --> 00:41:45.081


And there isn't much as far as Urbana around that at all.00:41:45.081 --> 00:41:48.711


It's kind of Northern Colorado, Southern Oregon, foresty stuff.00:41:48.831 --> 00:41:48.981


Yeah.00:41:49.402 --> 00:41:49.762


Fair enough.00:41:49.851 --> 00:41:50.121


Okay.00:41:50.572 --> 00:41:57.802


And what was the, the circumstances you got brothers, sisters, um, military family?00:41:57.981 --> 00:41:59.632


No, not, not a military family.00:41:59.632 --> 00:42:00.411


And I was an only00:42:00.411 --> 00:42:00.711


child.00:42:00.771 --> 00:42:01.311


Only child.00:42:01.342 --> 00:42:01.461


Yeah.00:42:01.492 --> 00:42:01.672


Okay.00:42:02.211 --> 00:42:11.121


And, uh, what were you, uh, up to as a young man in rural Oregon as a hunting, fishing, bikes all over kind of thing?00:42:11.211 --> 00:42:14.152


Yeah, I, I did a lot of cycling, um, okay.00:42:14.152 --> 00:42:20.601


Lot of, lot of bicycling, biked all over, um, camping, um, just spending as much time outside as possible.00:42:20.722 --> 00:42:20.961


Okay.00:42:21.052 --> 00:42:21.231


Yep.00:42:21.561 --> 00:42:27.382


And then, uh, when was the first inclination toward a, a, a military engagement?00:42:27.922 --> 00:42:28.521


That September 11th.00:42:28.521 --> 00:42:28.791


Interesting.00:42:28.972 --> 00:42:29.271


Really?00:42:29.362 --> 00:42:29.661


Okay.00:42:29.931 --> 00:42:30.831


And how old were you then?00:42:31.012 --> 00:42:31.402


18.00:42:31.851 --> 00:42:33.501


Oh, so that was right there.00:42:33.507 --> 00:42:35.152


I turned, I turned 18, August 31st.00:42:35.271 --> 00:42:35.842


Oh, wow.00:42:35.931 --> 00:42:36.472


Interesting.00:42:36.862 --> 00:42:37.251


Okay.00:42:37.402 --> 00:42:38.541


And so you signed right up?00:42:38.811 --> 00:42:39.081


Yes.00:42:39.637 --> 00:42:41.706


Um, with Army Marine Corps.00:42:41.706 --> 00:42:42.306


Force Marine Corps.00:42:42.306 --> 00:42:42.606


Oh yeah.00:42:42.666 --> 00:42:43.416


You said that before.00:42:43.777 --> 00:42:46.297


Um, and, uh, what did that look like for you?00:42:46.297 --> 00:42:47.527


Like, describe the scene.00:42:47.527 --> 00:42:49.206


You're just outta high school, I guess.00:42:49.896 --> 00:42:51.396


Yeah, so I graduated high school in June.00:42:51.456 --> 00:42:51.697


Yep.00:42:51.726 --> 00:43:01.206


And then, um, August 31st I turned 18, and then September 11th, September 11th, and then I joined the Marine Corps, uh, just about a week or two after that.00:43:01.237 --> 00:43:01.536


Sure.00:43:01.956 --> 00:43:08.137


Um, and then I went to bootcamp, then I went to, um, they call it Marine Combat Training.00:43:08.197 --> 00:43:10.056


And where's bootcamp for MCRD?00:43:10.056 --> 00:43:10.686


San Diego.00:43:10.867 --> 00:43:11.166


Okay.00:43:11.436 --> 00:43:11.646


Yep.00:43:11.976 --> 00:43:13.266


And then, um.00:43:14.782 --> 00:43:15.771


After bootcamp?00:43:15.891 --> 00:43:21.681


Uh, after, after combat training, I went to, uh, military police school to become an mp.00:43:21.802 --> 00:43:22.402


Oh, interesting.00:43:22.492 --> 00:43:22.552


Okay.00:43:22.552 --> 00:43:26.121


And then after that I went to canine school to become a canine handler.00:43:26.422 --> 00:43:28.731


And how did, like, how did that come about?00:43:28.731 --> 00:43:39.172


Were you, like, do they sort you, do they ask you which of these jobs you want, like, based on testing or assessments that they think, Hey, this guy should be a mp00:43:39.652 --> 00:43:50.121


So they, when you sign up for the military, um, they, at least when I did it, uh, they ask you to give your top three preferences for jobs.00:43:50.211 --> 00:43:50.572


Okay.00:43:51.052 --> 00:43:57.561


And so, um, I, I did that and I don't remember what my three choices were, but I know one of them was mp.00:43:57.621 --> 00:43:57.952


Okay.00:43:57.956 --> 00:43:57.967


'cause00:43:57.972 --> 00:43:58.672


that's where I ended up.00:43:58.672 --> 00:43:59.152


Yeah.00:43:59.152 --> 00:43:59.161


Yeah.00:43:59.211 --> 00:43:59.452


Yep.00:43:59.751 --> 00:44:00.112


Gotcha.00:44:00.532 --> 00:44:07.342


And, um, describe that, that seems like an interesting like role.00:44:07.612 --> 00:44:09.862


Um,'cause you know, you know, in.00:44:11.166 --> 00:44:13.626


Fort Collins are everywhere in Ashland.00:44:14.047 --> 00:44:17.887


Uh, the, the police are a little bit like the other, right?00:44:17.887 --> 00:44:18.637


Like there's, so it00:44:18.637 --> 00:44:21.097


was, I did it because I wanted to be a canine handler.00:44:21.217 --> 00:44:21.786


Oh, interesting.00:44:21.847 --> 00:44:22.177


Okay.00:44:22.507 --> 00:44:22.777


Yeah.00:44:22.777 --> 00:44:22.786


Yeah.00:44:23.527 --> 00:44:40.777


So, um, that was, what was that like though, being kind of, I don't wanna say the bad guys or whatever, but like, are you, is there any active, like, unless there's fighting and stuff, or what does it look like being a military police person, especially the canine handler?00:44:40.777 --> 00:44:44.407


Like, what, what is there to investigate what is there to do?00:44:45.427 --> 00:44:47.077


So, more than, I think perhaps00:44:47.106 --> 00:44:49.987


what we get involved in is, is called force protection.00:44:50.347 --> 00:44:50.706


Okay.00:44:50.766 --> 00:44:52.327


So we protect the war fighters.00:44:52.942 --> 00:44:53.902


Oh, okay.00:44:54.081 --> 00:44:54.262


Yeah.00:44:54.831 --> 00:44:57.172


So like from the backside and stuff or like that?00:44:57.172 --> 00:44:57.681


Or what do you mean?00:44:57.862 --> 00:45:01.371


So if you have, like, let's say you have an infantry unit Sure.00:45:01.702 --> 00:45:06.052


And they need to go on a combat patrol through Ramadi.00:45:06.322 --> 00:45:06.501


Yep.00:45:06.532 --> 00:45:07.072


Okay.00:45:07.072 --> 00:45:07.942


'cause that's where I was stationed.00:45:08.032 --> 00:45:08.302


Okay.00:45:08.751 --> 00:45:14.572


So, um, they would, uh, uh, I, I would go with them.00:45:14.871 --> 00:45:15.112


Okay.00:45:15.112 --> 00:45:18.052


And walk in front of them to sweep for explosives.00:45:18.652 --> 00:45:28.552


Oh, I, so when I hear military police, I'm kind of under more of the understanding of like that enforced justice within the ranks almost of the military.00:45:28.552 --> 00:45:30.322


But that's not really what we're talking about here.00:45:30.382 --> 00:45:30.501


Well,00:45:30.501 --> 00:45:32.452


that, that's a component of military police.00:45:32.452 --> 00:45:36.742


But even really, if you think about it, that that in itself is a force protection role.00:45:36.771 --> 00:45:37.072


Sure.00:45:37.402 --> 00:45:49.431


So, so really at the end of the day, military police serve as a, a, a one of the many components that ensure that our war fighters are safe, healthy.00:45:49.851 --> 00:45:52.311


And ready to do what they need to do.00:45:52.311 --> 00:45:52.581


Okay.00:45:53.121 --> 00:45:57.532


So in your case, this canine was not a drug sniffer, but more of a bomb sniffer.00:45:57.802 --> 00:45:58.702


He was a bomb dog.00:45:58.762 --> 00:45:59.032


Yep.00:45:59.032 --> 00:46:02.871


And so you're running around, uh, seeing if, if, what's your dog's name?00:46:03.141 --> 00:46:04.342


His, his name was Rex.00:46:04.431 --> 00:46:11.032


So seeing if Rex smells anything suspicious and then like going into buildings, finding IEDs in some cases.00:46:11.032 --> 00:46:11.121


Mm-hmm.00:46:11.362 --> 00:46:13.342


Or hidden along the side of a road or whatever.00:46:13.342 --> 00:46:13.431


Mm-hmm.00:46:13.672 --> 00:46:14.121


Exactly.00:46:14.181 --> 00:46:14.512


Dang.00:46:14.661 --> 00:46:14.961


Yeah.00:46:15.231 --> 00:46:21.052


Um, um, when was this, like how long after you signed up did you find yourself over there?00:46:21.411 --> 00:46:23.541


I was in Iraq for oh four and oh five.00:46:23.661 --> 00:46:24.021


Okay.00:46:24.322 --> 00:46:25.972


So almost three years.00:46:25.972 --> 00:46:28.552


Uh, two or three years after you first signed up?00:46:28.581 --> 00:46:28.762


Mm-hmm.00:46:29.001 --> 00:46:29.601


A couple years of training.00:46:29.606 --> 00:46:29.706


Mm-hmm.00:46:29.786 --> 00:46:31.072


And then, and then here I go.00:46:31.101 --> 00:46:37.311


'cause that was about the, when, when did the Iraq one invasion kind of thing happen?00:46:38.242 --> 00:46:39.382


Was it a year later?00:46:40.177 --> 00:46:42.996


After 2011, I'm, I'm trying to remember my timeline.00:46:43.056 --> 00:46:43.686


I was, I don't know.00:46:43.686 --> 00:46:44.257


I was in bootcamp.00:46:44.467 --> 00:46:44.677


Fair.00:46:45.007 --> 00:46:45.726


It wouldn't have mattered.00:46:46.086 --> 00:46:47.646


Uh, but they didn't go right to war.00:46:47.646 --> 00:46:51.306


It took a little while, right before they kind of went, I think they invaded 2003.00:46:51.577 --> 00:46:51.847


Yeah.00:46:51.847 --> 00:46:52.177


Okay.00:46:52.177 --> 00:46:52.927


That's what I was thinking.00:46:52.927 --> 00:46:55.536


So you were there a year after, so it was pretty hot.00:46:56.137 --> 00:46:56.677


Yes.00:46:57.637 --> 00:46:57.666


Yeah, very hot.00:46:58.597 --> 00:46:58.657


Yeah.00:46:58.657 --> 00:47:01.896


Historically it was the most violent time of the conflict.00:47:02.257 --> 00:47:02.976


Okay, gotcha.00:47:03.456 --> 00:47:12.726


Um, and can you describe like a, like the scene, the like, um, the base I assume is outside of edi.00:47:12.996 --> 00:47:13.507


EDI was.00:47:14.016 --> 00:47:17.452


Was that where like a, a lot of the bad guys were at that time.00:47:17.512 --> 00:47:20.061


They had kind of taken Baghdad, but EDI was the hotspot.00:47:20.242 --> 00:47:23.692


Okay, so Ramadi uh, Ramadi was pretty busy.00:47:23.902 --> 00:47:24.262


Yeah.00:47:24.442 --> 00:47:27.231


Um, we had, uh, several bases there.00:47:27.322 --> 00:47:29.061


Um, we call'em forward operating bases.00:47:29.061 --> 00:47:33.351


So Camp Blue Diamond was there, that, that was built out in Uday Hussein's Palace.00:47:33.856 --> 00:47:37.251


And that was the headquarters for Marine Corps operations for the country.00:47:37.282 --> 00:47:43.251


And then right across the Euphrates from that, um, was uh, hurricane Point.00:47:43.282 --> 00:47:51.501


And then across the street from Hurricane Point was Camp Anaconda, I think.00:47:51.561 --> 00:47:53.632


And then I know that there was another fob.00:47:53.902 --> 00:47:56.422


Um, in another part of the city also.00:47:56.751 --> 00:47:58.521


And those were like secure spots, but00:47:58.521 --> 00:47:59.152


within,00:47:59.452 --> 00:48:00.621


yeah, pretty secure.00:48:00.681 --> 00:48:07.641


Uh, we would get mortared, um, on base, and then we would also, at, at 1.1 of our snip sniper teams got compromised.00:48:08.302 --> 00:48:10.342


And I mean, by compromised, I mean killed.00:48:10.402 --> 00:48:10.731


Yeah.00:48:10.791 --> 00:48:19.012


And then, um, they, they, uh, uh, sniper rifles, oh, uh, radios and night vision.00:48:19.161 --> 00:48:19.431


Oh.00:48:19.431 --> 00:48:21.742


All got taken by the enemy.00:48:21.802 --> 00:48:25.461


And then, so at that point, the enemy started sniping us on base at night.00:48:25.672 --> 00:48:25.882


Oh.00:48:26.061 --> 00:48:26.242


Yep.00:48:26.632 --> 00:48:27.291


That's exciting.00:48:27.831 --> 00:48:28.342


I'm sure.00:48:28.911 --> 00:48:38.722


Um, so your job is like you're going out on patrols, like block by block building by building, kind of clearing out the scene insurgency.00:48:38.842 --> 00:48:39.141


Yeah.00:48:39.231 --> 00:48:39.411


Yep.00:48:39.891 --> 00:48:40.161


Wow.00:48:40.192 --> 00:48:41.032


How long did that go on?00:48:43.282 --> 00:48:49.132


Uh, well, I was there, um, for just, just under a year.00:48:49.251 --> 00:48:49.552


Okay.00:48:49.612 --> 00:48:49.851


Yeah.00:48:50.181 --> 00:48:51.291


That was your combat tour?00:48:51.351 --> 00:48:51.561


Yep.00:48:51.862 --> 00:48:52.342


And then.00:48:53.197 --> 00:48:55.896


I think I read on your profile that you were combat disabled.00:48:55.896 --> 00:48:56.407


Is that right?00:48:56.407 --> 00:48:57.487


Did you get blown up or?00:48:57.516 --> 00:48:57.606


I00:48:57.606 --> 00:48:57.876


did.00:48:57.876 --> 00:48:58.447


Yeah.00:48:58.507 --> 00:48:58.936


Yeah, yeah.00:48:59.467 --> 00:49:00.306


Can you describe that?00:49:00.427 --> 00:49:01.117


Sure, sure.00:49:01.177 --> 00:49:08.617


Uh, we were traveling, um, southbound, uh, I think it was south, uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure, uh, between Ramadi and Fallujah.00:49:08.737 --> 00:49:09.097


Okay.00:49:09.186 --> 00:49:09.427


Yep.00:49:09.487 --> 00:49:19.657


And, um, we're going over a bridge and, uh, an IED was detonated on the vehicle I was in, um, couple of Marines, myself and my dog were all injured.00:49:20.166 --> 00:49:26.856


And then we were engaged with, uh, small arms fire, and I think, I think there may have been an RPG involved.00:49:26.916 --> 00:49:29.137


I don't, uh, I don't know.00:49:30.007 --> 00:49:32.916


Um, so yeah, and then we do what did you get?00:49:32.916 --> 00:49:34.146


Like rescued or whatever?00:49:34.206 --> 00:49:34.626


No,00:49:34.626 --> 00:49:34.896


no,00:49:34.896 --> 00:49:35.166


no.00:49:35.166 --> 00:49:36.456


We, you fought them off.00:49:36.487 --> 00:49:37.447


We did what Marines do.00:49:37.476 --> 00:49:37.927


Yeah.00:49:37.987 --> 00:49:38.257


Yeah.00:49:38.257 --> 00:49:38.266


Yeah.00:49:38.766 --> 00:49:39.036


Wow.00:49:39.217 --> 00:49:39.427


Yeah.00:49:39.757 --> 00:49:40.387


Um.00:49:42.231 --> 00:49:45.922


And then hightail it back to base, I guess, and patch you back up.00:49:45.952 --> 00:49:46.282


No, we just00:49:46.282 --> 00:49:47.032


went back on mission.00:49:48.172 --> 00:49:48.202


Okay.00:49:48.922 --> 00:49:53.152


Um, and was that the end of your military career or did you continue for a while?00:49:53.152 --> 00:49:54.007


No, that was just the first time.00:49:54.007 --> 00:49:55.492


No, that wasn't even the end of my deployment.00:49:55.612 --> 00:49:56.032


Okay.00:49:56.092 --> 00:49:56.362


Yeah.00:49:56.692 --> 00:50:03.922


So, uh, what does that look like when it, when it comes time to be career ending, if you will?00:50:04.072 --> 00:50:06.501


'cause you were did about how many four years of active?00:50:06.532 --> 00:50:07.222


I did four years.00:50:07.222 --> 00:50:07.552


Yeah.00:50:07.641 --> 00:50:08.302


So, yeah.00:50:08.512 --> 00:50:13.942


And then you, you came outta that into what kind of a, because this is what we're talking about a little bit, right?00:50:13.942 --> 00:50:19.041


Like what your preparedness, how did, how did you get prepared to reenter society after that?00:50:19.041 --> 00:50:19.431


Mayhem.00:50:19.641 --> 00:50:20.001


Yeah.00:50:20.001 --> 00:50:24.231


Well, there's not a lot, uh, in place that prepares people for that.00:50:24.231 --> 00:50:26.302


And that's kind of part of what, why you're here.00:50:26.302 --> 00:50:26.507


We're trying to,00:50:26.507 --> 00:50:26.907


you're here.00:50:26.911 --> 00:50:27.231


Yeah.00:50:27.291 --> 00:50:27.831


Change here.00:50:28.072 --> 00:50:29.242


So what was that like for you?00:50:29.242 --> 00:50:30.382


Like, can you describe, yeah.00:50:30.382 --> 00:50:31.371


Where did you land?00:50:31.371 --> 00:50:34.132


Where had, you know, did, did you, were you married?00:50:34.132 --> 00:50:35.152


Did you have a family?00:50:35.541 --> 00:50:35.992


No.00:50:36.291 --> 00:50:38.871


Um, I, I went to, uh.00:50:39.277 --> 00:50:45.246


Uh, Knoxville, Tennessee, and worked for the National Nuclear Security Administration as a canine handler for them for a little bit.00:50:45.367 --> 00:50:45.757


Okay.00:50:45.817 --> 00:50:46.117


Yeah.00:50:46.597 --> 00:50:48.786


Um, and how was that?00:50:49.476 --> 00:50:50.226


Pretty boring,00:50:51.097 --> 00:50:52.657


sounds like comparatively.00:50:52.657 --> 00:50:53.047


Yeah.00:50:53.106 --> 00:50:54.336


A little bit of lack of purpose.00:50:54.396 --> 00:50:54.606


Yeah.00:50:54.606 --> 00:50:55.237


Lack of community.00:50:55.237 --> 00:50:56.077


Didn't know anybody.00:50:56.197 --> 00:50:56.677


Exactly.00:50:57.007 --> 00:50:58.056


Not much adventure.00:50:58.056 --> 00:50:58.356


Yep.00:50:58.987 --> 00:51:00.487


Um, what's, what's00:51:00.487 --> 00:51:01.356


next for you then?00:51:01.746 --> 00:51:08.436


Uh, then I, uh, went and, uh, moved to Boulder and I worked in a bicycle shop and became a ski instructor.00:51:08.586 --> 00:51:09.277


Interesting.00:51:09.306 --> 00:51:09.547


Yeah.00:51:09.876 --> 00:51:12.757


Kind of we're gonna depart this past chapter00:51:12.757 --> 00:51:13.626


and do something all00:51:13.626 --> 00:51:13.987


new.00:51:14.016 --> 00:51:15.516


I wanted to do something more relaxing.00:51:15.547 --> 00:51:15.786


Yeah.00:51:15.786 --> 00:51:16.086


Yeah.00:51:16.686 --> 00:51:17.407


Which it was.00:51:17.407 --> 00:51:17.467


Yeah.00:51:17.947 --> 00:51:20.496


Uh, I've had some community Yeah.00:51:20.556 --> 00:51:21.817


Uh, had some purpose.00:51:22.056 --> 00:51:22.266


Yeah.00:51:22.327 --> 00:51:27.036


You know, comparatively, I suppose, you know, gotta fix this chain, straighten that wheel.00:51:27.157 --> 00:51:30.367


That was actually, that was the problem, was the lack of purpose in the bike shop.00:51:30.396 --> 00:51:31.896


That that's why I didn't stay there.00:51:31.956 --> 00:51:32.766


Yeah, fair enough.00:51:33.246 --> 00:51:33.817


Um.00:51:33.876 --> 00:51:37.842


Then did you move into the kind of private security space from there or, yeah.00:51:37.842 --> 00:51:38.556


Or not right away.00:51:38.646 --> 00:51:38.856


Yeah.00:51:39.666 --> 00:51:45.126


Um, and that was kind of a decently long career in that space before, before that tragedy in, in 19.00:51:46.206 --> 00:51:46.536


Yes.00:51:46.536 --> 00:51:46.927


Correct.00:51:46.987 --> 00:51:47.436


Yeah, I did.00:51:47.527 --> 00:51:47.617


Yeah.00:51:48.336 --> 00:51:52.956


Um, are there other, so when did combat recovery start?00:51:53.137 --> 00:51:55.043


You said 20 22 3 23.00:51:55.047 --> 00:51:55.507


23.00:51:55.507 --> 00:51:55.597


Yep.00:51:56.797 --> 00:51:59.257


And, and then you worked for that Alliance of Suicide Prevention.00:51:59.286 --> 00:52:06.967


Is there things I'm missing in your chapter here that need to be understood to, understood kind of your drive in this mission?00:52:07.146 --> 00:52:09.757


That's, that's pretty much the overview of how we got here.00:52:09.907 --> 00:52:10.146


Yeah.00:52:10.237 --> 00:52:10.597


Fair enough.00:52:11.137 --> 00:53:07.827


Um, well, I feel like we should call a short break what I wanted to delve into just a little bit, um, because I'm sure.00:53:09.282 --> 00:53:20.623


It was, uh, you know, it sparked this whole thing, but your business partner, um, his suicide in, in 2019, what was, if you might share, what was the circumstance?00:53:20.623 --> 00:53:23.742


Was he married, family leave behind?00:53:23.742 --> 00:53:24.762


Had he been struggling?00:53:24.762 --> 00:53:26.922


Did you know, was it a surprise to00:53:26.922 --> 00:53:27.612


you?00:53:28.242 --> 00:53:28.873


Gimme some of that.00:53:28.932 --> 00:53:38.952


So I've known a lot of people to have killed themselves over the years, and his suicide bothered me more probably than most any.00:53:39.643 --> 00:53:42.463


And I think, um, there was a couple of reasons for that.00:53:42.643 --> 00:53:45.913


One is that, um, no one saw it coming.00:53:46.123 --> 00:53:46.242


Yeah.00:53:46.242 --> 00:53:50.143


It was a complete shock and I have no idea why he killed himself.00:53:50.202 --> 00:53:52.213


And still, and I don't know if anybody does.00:53:52.273 --> 00:53:52.572


Yeah.00:53:52.722 --> 00:53:56.802


I haven't spoken to anybody that has been able to illuminate me on that.00:53:56.983 --> 00:53:57.103


Hmm.00:53:57.853 --> 00:54:06.373


Um, but then another piece was at his funeral, his stepdaughter, uh, wrote him a letter.00:54:07.152 --> 00:54:10.123


And the, the person officiating the funeral.00:54:10.123 --> 00:54:14.983


He, he read that letter aloud to the, you know, people in attendance.00:54:14.983 --> 00:54:15.043


Yeah.00:54:15.043 --> 00:54:15.103


Yeah.00:54:16.092 --> 00:54:20.233


And it, it was, it was gut wrenching.00:54:20.922 --> 00:54:22.273


Like she loved the snot out of him.00:54:22.362 --> 00:54:25.422


She loved him and she talked about how his death impacted her.00:54:26.172 --> 00:54:26.322


Yeah.00:54:26.322 --> 00:54:31.722


And, and how she doesn't understand why, but he must have been in so much pain, you know, just Right.00:54:31.722 --> 00:54:33.958


She forgave him even despite not understanding it at all.00:54:34.003 --> 00:54:34.992


Gut wrenching how he could be there.00:54:34.992 --> 00:54:35.262


Right.00:54:35.472 --> 00:54:35.713


Yeah.00:54:35.952 --> 00:54:48.463


So I knew that if by some stroke of magic, I could take that letter and give it to him before he made that choice, he wouldn't have.00:54:49.452 --> 00:54:59.922


And there was something about that, that I felt like I was armed or blessed or Ibu with.00:55:01.047 --> 00:55:03.478


A piece of knowledge, almost like a revelation.00:55:03.657 --> 00:55:04.197


Yes.00:55:04.737 --> 00:55:10.677


And that, that I had the opportunity to leverage that to impact others.00:55:11.878 --> 00:55:16.257


So I'm not sure what the initial question was.00:55:16.257 --> 00:55:18.748


Oh, you were asking more details around his Yeah.00:55:18.898 --> 00:55:20.202


But it was a mystery it sounds like.00:55:20.242 --> 00:55:21.507


But that, but that it was a mystery.00:55:21.512 --> 00:55:21.882


But he left.00:55:22.168 --> 00:55:23.938


But that's why it bothered me so much.00:55:23.967 --> 00:55:24.088


Yeah.00:55:24.117 --> 00:55:30.478


And, and that's, that's why, that's why his death inspired me to work in suicide prevention.00:55:30.628 --> 00:55:30.717


Mm-hmm.00:55:30.958 --> 00:55:39.807


And really, initially it was only my intent to do this for a couple of years, and then I was gonna go back to being an entrepreneur and just start another business.00:55:40.557 --> 00:55:50.938


And, but I discovered very quickly that everything I love about entrepreneurship, I can do through suicide prevention without all the stuff that I don't like.00:55:51.688 --> 00:55:52.407


So.00:55:52.902 --> 00:56:02.652


It's, it's basically at the end of the day, I, I, I get to spend all day, every day having fascinating conversations and solving problems.00:56:02.713 --> 00:56:02.952


Yeah.00:56:03.163 --> 00:56:04.603


And those are my two favorite things to do.00:56:04.902 --> 00:56:04.992


Hmm.00:56:05.563 --> 00:56:06.882


What was your security firm?00:56:07.152 --> 00:56:07.663


Um.00:56:08.023 --> 00:56:09.072


Precision security.00:56:09.163 --> 00:56:09.643


Oh, sure.00:56:09.733 --> 00:56:10.003


Yeah.00:56:10.422 --> 00:56:13.003


And then I had, uh, Grizz Biz was another one.00:56:13.003 --> 00:56:13.063


Yeah.00:56:13.242 --> 00:56:15.882


And, uh, Greene was So, precision00:56:15.882 --> 00:56:18.103


was pretty strong business at the time.00:56:18.103 --> 00:56:18.313


Right?00:56:18.342 --> 00:56:19.092


Well, still, yeah.00:56:19.092 --> 00:56:20.623


They're they're going very strong now.00:56:20.623 --> 00:56:20.682


Yeah.00:56:20.713 --> 00:56:22.063


They're, they're all over.00:56:22.632 --> 00:56:24.672


Um, so a and I started that company together.00:56:25.063 --> 00:56:25.092


Okay.00:56:25.092 --> 00:56:25.182


Yeah.00:56:25.182 --> 00:56:26.742


And a couple of other guys were involved.00:56:26.922 --> 00:56:28.693


Um, and then, um.00:56:29.342 --> 00:56:34.083


I had, I had the first licensed marijuana security company in Colorado.00:56:34.112 --> 00:56:34.713


Oh, that seems smart.00:56:34.713 --> 00:56:35.882


And that was called Green Safe.00:56:35.943 --> 00:56:36.273


Yeah.00:56:36.632 --> 00:56:43.893


Um, also there was a time when, um, uh, marijuana companies couldn't use the banking system.00:56:43.893 --> 00:56:44.103


Right.00:56:44.103 --> 00:56:48.782


And so, um, there was a bank up here in Fort Collins that would Yeah.00:56:48.782 --> 00:56:50.163


The one down there off college.00:56:50.193 --> 00:56:51.092


Yeah, exactly.00:56:51.092 --> 00:56:51.483


Or off,00:56:51.483 --> 00:56:53.612


uh, uh, kind of boardwalk and harmony.00:56:53.793 --> 00:56:54.452


Exactly.00:56:54.512 --> 00:56:54.572


Yeah.00:56:54.572 --> 00:56:57.092


And so I used to, uh,00:56:58.172 --> 00:56:59.702


set up shell accounts or something.00:56:59.733 --> 00:57:00.663


No, no.00:57:00.663 --> 00:57:01.652


Nothing illegal.00:57:01.652 --> 00:57:04.623


I used to, um, I used to run their money for them.00:57:04.682 --> 00:57:05.012


Mm.00:57:05.253 --> 00:57:14.492


I would go all over Denver, collect hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then run it up here to Fort Collins and deposit it for them.00:57:14.552 --> 00:57:15.123


Interesting.00:57:15.152 --> 00:57:15.333


Yep.00:57:16.023 --> 00:57:16.623


Um.00:57:17.063 --> 00:57:23.543


Probably, probably nice little, you know, doing things that other people are scared to do is a decent way to make a buck sometimes.00:57:23.603 --> 00:57:24.112


Well, that's00:57:24.202 --> 00:57:25.402


what the security industry's about.00:57:25.672 --> 00:57:25.913


Yeah.00:57:25.913 --> 00:57:26.632


To a certain extent.00:57:26.813 --> 00:57:28.253


Well, there's different levels, right?00:57:28.733 --> 00:57:38.963


Like it's different providing security at a mic waka show with a bunch of stoned hippies than it is carrying a half a million dollars in your semi armored truck.00:57:39.472 --> 00:57:40.373


Yeah, fair enough.00:57:40.373 --> 00:57:43.612


And spoiler alert, it was in my soft skin Subaru.00:57:44.422 --> 00:57:44.842


Right,00:57:46.163 --> 00:57:47.842


fair, fair enough there too.00:57:48.353 --> 00:57:51.922


Um, okay, well thanks for, for sharing on that.00:57:51.922 --> 00:58:04.913


And so you have really had, what, when you started the security company, was it just a couple of dudes and a, and a and a truck or like, what was that entrepreneurial journey like, if you don't mind me asking?00:58:05.003 --> 00:58:08.902


Yeah, so I started by working for Pinkerton.00:58:09.282 --> 00:58:10.393


Oh yeah, you've heard of them?00:58:10.422 --> 00:58:10.842


I have.00:58:11.172 --> 00:58:14.382


So for anyone who hasn't, um, I know.00:58:14.532 --> 00:58:16.302


And so did is it will,00:58:16.362 --> 00:58:17.503


that runs precision now.00:58:17.563 --> 00:58:18.672


Will Wilford Yeah.00:58:18.702 --> 00:58:18.882


Yeah.00:58:18.943 --> 00:58:19.152


Yep.00:58:19.152 --> 00:58:20.052


I know Will a little bit.00:58:20.112 --> 00:58:20.233


Yeah.00:58:20.233 --> 00:58:20.802


Will's a great guy.00:58:20.862 --> 00:58:21.163


Yeah.00:58:21.222 --> 00:58:21.432


Yep.00:58:21.583 --> 00:58:21.913


Gotcha.00:58:22.753 --> 00:58:35.563


So, uh, Pinkerton, uh, has been around since, uh, the late 18 hundreds and, um, is basically, it's named after a man, and he was the father of modern detective work.00:58:35.623 --> 00:58:36.043


Interesting.00:58:36.583 --> 00:58:42.612


Um, in fact, the first detective bureau in the United States was the NYPD.00:58:43.483 --> 00:58:43.902


Okay.00:58:44.023 --> 00:58:46.873


And NYPD has a very, very distinctive badge.00:58:46.873 --> 00:58:48.222


It's called a sun flare.00:58:48.373 --> 00:58:48.793


Okay.00:58:48.882 --> 00:58:54.313


And then, um, and then you have this, the, the state seal in the middle and then, and then a little rectangle on the bottom.00:58:54.492 --> 00:58:54.853


Okay.00:58:55.182 --> 00:58:59.893


So that is a, a, a dead copy of a Pinkerton badge.00:59:00.043 --> 00:59:00.552


Interesting.00:59:00.672 --> 00:59:00.972


Yeah.00:59:01.063 --> 00:59:02.682


A nod to, to the Pinkerton.00:59:02.802 --> 00:59:03.103


Yeah.00:59:03.492 --> 00:59:03.583


Cool.00:59:03.583 --> 00:59:08.833


So, because Pinkerton stood up NYPD Detective Bureau after he stood up Scotland Yard.00:59:08.862 --> 00:59:08.983


Huh.00:59:09.733 --> 00:59:10.182


Wild.00:59:10.273 --> 00:59:10.452


Yeah.00:59:10.543 --> 00:59:10.932


Okay.00:59:11.472 --> 00:59:16.242


Um, and so that's where you learned your stripes, really learn the craft, if you will, the trade craft.00:59:16.422 --> 00:59:19.813


That's, uh, where, well, I'd say the Marine Corps, right?00:59:19.813 --> 00:59:20.172


Yeah.00:59:20.532 --> 00:59:23.773


Uh, taught me the craft, uh, Pinkerton is where I applied it.00:59:23.922 --> 00:59:24.523


Yes, yes.00:59:24.523 --> 00:59:24.853


Fair.00:59:25.063 --> 00:59:25.362


Yeah.00:59:25.422 --> 00:59:31.932


That was the, uh, legal state side application of some of those skills, or at least, uh, understandings.00:59:31.963 --> 00:59:35.893


So that's how I got my start in the security industry, was providing services to them.00:59:36.043 --> 00:59:36.402


Gotcha.00:59:36.523 --> 00:59:36.702


Yep.00:59:37.003 --> 00:59:44.592


And then, uh, and when you, did you launch then, the precision security, was that a, were you a founder of that or part early partner?00:59:44.773 --> 00:59:45.077


Yeah, I was.00:59:45.237 --> 00:59:50.652


I was, uh, one of, uh, four guys I think at the time that were involved.00:59:50.713 --> 00:59:50.952


Yeah.00:59:51.043 --> 00:59:51.463


Um.00:59:52.608 --> 00:59:54.318


Then, uh, yeah, we stood that up.00:59:54.318 --> 01:00:06.858


Really the story is, um, so I was, I was doing contracts with Pinkerton and then, um, I met this guy and he was running a bouncing company, so he was doing bar security, right.01:00:07.307 --> 01:00:10.907


So I would have huge gaps in between my Pinkerton contracts.01:00:10.938 --> 01:00:13.307


So I would go work bar security from him.01:00:13.307 --> 01:00:13.757


Gotcha.01:00:13.878 --> 01:00:16.637


And then if I had a contract where I needed more guys Right.01:00:16.637 --> 01:00:18.347


I would use him and his best guys.01:00:18.353 --> 01:00:18.797


Right, right.01:00:18.978 --> 01:00:27.588


But what would end up happening is, is we would come together and I would work for him for like a month and he'd write me a check for like.01:00:27.943 --> 01:00:29.083


A couple grand or something.01:00:29.083 --> 01:00:29.293


Right.01:00:29.443 --> 01:00:33.177


He'd worked for me for like one, one operation, well, one week.01:00:33.177 --> 01:00:38.833


And I, I'd write him like one day, like one day, and I'd write him a check for several grand.01:00:39.552 --> 01:00:45.373


So we, we really quickly found out, figured out that, that the, the money was in the higher end security.01:00:45.402 --> 01:00:45.702


Right.01:00:46.032 --> 01:00:48.523


And, and, and we needed to go after those contracts.01:00:48.552 --> 01:00:54.913


And so that's when we started Precision Security was because we wanted a more reputable name Yeah.01:00:55.273 --> 01:00:58.182


Than what he was using, which was Big Al's security.01:00:58.242 --> 01:00:58.393


Oh01:00:58.393 --> 01:00:58.813


sure.01:00:58.873 --> 01:00:59.233


Right.01:00:59.237 --> 01:00:59.458


Yeah.01:00:59.458 --> 01:00:59.617


Yeah.01:00:59.623 --> 01:01:03.253


And so, so we wanted something that could go after those bigger contracts.01:01:03.342 --> 01:01:04.422


So thats how Precision.01:01:04.483 --> 01:01:05.083


Oh, that's cool.01:01:05.112 --> 01:01:08.657


Uh, got named and became about, and former military guys and stuff like that.01:01:08.657 --> 01:01:09.012


Yeah, absolutely.01:01:09.018 --> 01:01:09.097


Yeah.01:01:09.103 --> 01:01:09.222


Yeah.01:01:09.222 --> 01:01:09.402


Cool.01:01:09.402 --> 01:01:09.853


Absolutely.01:01:10.273 --> 01:01:10.632


I dig it.01:01:10.813 --> 01:01:10.992


Yeah.01:01:11.143 --> 01:01:11.773


Um.01:01:12.072 --> 01:01:17.202


We have a fun game that I love, games our contestants play.01:01:17.262 --> 01:01:18.043


It's not really a contest.01:01:18.043 --> 01:01:18.612


What do I win?01:01:18.972 --> 01:01:20.682


Um, fun.01:01:21.072 --> 01:01:21.972


Unlimited fun.01:01:22.543 --> 01:01:27.132


So you're gonna pick three of these ping pong balls outta here, and they're all each attached to questions.01:01:27.137 --> 01:01:27.947


Totally randomized questions.01:01:27.947 --> 01:01:29.202


Oh, this does sound like unlimited fun.01:01:29.202 --> 01:01:29.682


All right, let's do it.01:01:29.922 --> 01:01:30.463


Grab three.01:01:34.242 --> 01:01:34.483


All right.01:01:34.483 --> 01:01:35.083


13.01:01:36.132 --> 01:01:36.882


13.01:01:38.922 --> 01:01:43.362


What is a book, movie or podcast that's had a significant impact on you?01:01:45.523 --> 01:01:47.893


Oh, uh, rethinking Suicide.01:01:48.163 --> 01:01:48.402


Hmm.01:01:48.943 --> 01:01:49.512


Uh.01:01:51.628 --> 01:01:51.958


Okay.01:01:52.077 --> 01:01:52.257


By01:01:52.257 --> 01:01:52.858


some author.01:01:53.487 --> 01:01:54.478


You can find it with the Google.01:01:54.568 --> 01:01:54.838


Yeah.01:01:54.838 --> 01:01:55.557


Sorry guys.01:01:55.617 --> 01:01:55.978


Sorry.01:01:55.978 --> 01:01:57.027


Don't have it off the top of my head.01:01:57.027 --> 01:01:58.347


Rethinking Suicide.01:01:58.588 --> 01:02:01.288


Also a Tribe by Sebastian Younger.01:02:01.617 --> 01:02:02.007


Okay.01:02:02.157 --> 01:02:13.737


Um, those two books together are, are a lot of the ethos and backbone in Combat Recovery Foundation.01:02:13.797 --> 01:02:13.827


Okay.01:02:13.827 --> 01:02:23.307


And it's where evidence-based and effective comes from because both of those books are lay out in really, really evidential detail.01:02:23.487 --> 01:02:23.637


Yeah.01:02:23.668 --> 01:02:34.018


How the suicide prevention apparatus that currently exists does not work and is not built to work.01:02:34.083 --> 01:02:34.202


Hmm.01:02:34.557 --> 01:02:37.347


And that it is absolutely.01:02:38.338 --> 01:02:42.057


Evidential that we need to adjust our approach.01:02:42.117 --> 01:02:44.068


It's counterproductive almost.01:02:44.157 --> 01:02:44.818


Exactly.01:02:45.478 --> 01:02:49.407


Well, is it as effective as the homelessness prevention stuff in California?01:02:49.467 --> 01:02:51.478


I would definitely compare the two01:02:52.612 --> 01:02:53.097


I I.01:02:53.577 --> 01:02:54.177


You,01:02:54.597 --> 01:02:55.677


I mean, it sets up a thing.01:02:55.708 --> 01:02:56.757


You, you, that's the thing.01:02:56.757 --> 01:03:01.168


A few hundred bureaucrats making$250,000 a year, it's gonna be hard to fix it.01:03:01.168 --> 01:03:01.498


The pro01:03:01.827 --> 01:03:02.847


it's your, your spot on.01:03:02.847 --> 01:03:06.148


The problem is you've created an industry around a problem.01:03:06.148 --> 01:03:09.568


An industry always likes to grow.01:03:09.592 --> 01:03:09.813


Yep,01:03:11.518 --> 01:03:11.788


yep.01:03:11.878 --> 01:03:13.108


Um, yeah.01:03:13.288 --> 01:03:13.527


Yep.01:03:13.797 --> 01:03:16.318


It's a, it's a struggle of economics in some ways.01:03:16.407 --> 01:03:16.557


Yep.01:03:16.858 --> 01:03:17.728


Let's do number two.01:03:19.168 --> 01:03:19.527


I like it.01:03:19.768 --> 01:03:20.248


19.01:03:20.487 --> 01:03:21.148


19.01:03:25.498 --> 01:03:26.518


What's your go-to?01:03:26.518 --> 01:03:33.867


Excuse when you want to get out of plans with someone if you have that?01:03:38.382 --> 01:03:40.902


You are gonna tip your hand for future excuses.01:03:40.963 --> 01:03:41.143


So01:03:41.143 --> 01:03:41.652


here's the thing.01:03:42.853 --> 01:03:45.762


Alright, so this is gonna be a long answer.01:03:45.943 --> 01:03:46.152


Okay?01:03:46.302 --> 01:03:46.543


Okay.01:03:46.663 --> 01:03:47.023


I'm ready.01:03:47.833 --> 01:04:00.163


So the most effective, scary movies don't show the monster because you are way better at scaring yourself.01:04:00.193 --> 01:04:00.623


Yeah, yeah.01:04:00.702 --> 01:04:01.242


Than they are.01:04:01.722 --> 01:04:05.952


So they just, they just put the information out there and let you make your own monster.01:04:07.152 --> 01:04:10.572


So you're like, something comes up or something's come up.01:04:10.782 --> 01:04:12.282


So I, I gotta catch up to you later.01:04:12.313 --> 01:04:18.342


I just say no, and then I let them create the excuse for me.01:04:20.503 --> 01:04:21.253


Just no.01:04:21.257 --> 01:04:21.527


Yeah.01:04:22.228 --> 01:04:24.358


Not even, not even something's come up.01:04:24.867 --> 01:04:25.288


Uh,01:04:25.347 --> 01:04:28.708


I am a, I'm a huge fan of single syllable answers.01:04:29.398 --> 01:04:29.818


Okay.01:04:30.117 --> 01:04:35.097


And, um, yeah, uh, brevity is the soul of wit.01:04:36.148 --> 01:04:37.018


What's your last number?01:04:40.887 --> 01:04:44.938


61, 16 or, uh, sorry.01:04:44.967 --> 01:04:45.538


91?01:04:45.927 --> 01:04:46.588


No, it's 16.01:04:50.007 --> 01:04:51.327


Eh, that one's boring.01:04:51.507 --> 01:04:51.867


All right.01:04:51.927 --> 01:04:52.407


Pick, pick.01:04:52.648 --> 01:04:53.307


Oh, wait.01:04:53.338 --> 01:04:53.967


Quick question.01:04:54.057 --> 01:04:54.418


Sure.01:04:55.617 --> 01:04:57.177


What's your favorite question on that list?01:04:58.077 --> 01:04:58.557


Hmm.01:05:01.498 --> 01:05:11.307


Um, you know, I don't know if I know for sure my favorite, but the one that I thought about just there was, um, what would you estimate your burp to fart ratio to be?01:05:12.057 --> 01:05:12.237


Yeah.01:05:12.237 --> 01:05:12.838


I'm not gonna answer that.01:05:13.273 --> 01:05:13.552


Okay.01:05:15.612 --> 01:05:20.277


Um, I'm gonna just find this one.01:05:23.637 --> 01:05:24.628


Oh, this is a fun one.01:05:25.648 --> 01:05:27.748


Yeah, this is, I, I like this question a lot actually.01:05:27.838 --> 01:05:29.277


Uh, what's your death row meal?01:05:30.418 --> 01:05:34.557


Like your, your last meal, you get anything you want with a great chef.01:05:34.677 --> 01:05:37.557


Uh, as many courses as you desire.01:05:38.757 --> 01:05:42.407


Um, but you're getting killed in two hours or three hours, depending on how long it takes you to finish.01:05:42.422 --> 01:05:42.717


I get01:05:42.717 --> 01:05:43.737


as many horses as I want.01:05:44.217 --> 01:05:44.668


Yeah.01:05:44.757 --> 01:05:45.597


Alright, we'll strap in.01:05:45.628 --> 01:05:46.887


I want the 86 courses.01:05:46.887 --> 01:05:50.697


We're gonna, we're gonna do, we're gonna do a, a seared scallop over gra Mm.01:05:50.788 --> 01:05:53.637


And then we're gonna move into, um, just one01:05:53.637 --> 01:05:53.938


because01:05:53.938 --> 01:05:54.898


we don't wanna waste space.01:05:54.927 --> 01:05:55.137


Yes.01:05:55.137 --> 01:05:55.467


The ammo bo.01:05:55.737 --> 01:05:55.947


Right.01:05:56.277 --> 01:05:59.398


And then, and then probably go to a steak tartar.01:05:59.788 --> 01:06:04.378


Uh, I prefer that over carpaccio and then probably a, um.01:06:04.483 --> 01:06:05.983


An arugula salad.01:06:06.163 --> 01:06:06.432


Mm-hmm.01:06:06.672 --> 01:06:07.992


Then I'm gonna go to, with a01:06:07.992 --> 01:06:09.523


little balsamic or something like that.01:06:09.523 --> 01:06:09.583


Yeah.01:06:09.583 --> 01:06:10.003


Probably some01:06:10.003 --> 01:06:12.913


vol, balsamic, little freeze just for the look.01:06:12.972 --> 01:06:13.333


Right.01:06:13.393 --> 01:06:20.293


And then I think like some, um, some, uh, roasted beets, but like, but like chopped, like brunoise, super small.01:06:20.293 --> 01:06:20.413


Okay.01:06:20.472 --> 01:06:20.742


Right.01:06:20.742 --> 01:06:22.063


And sprinkled out over the top.01:06:22.123 --> 01:06:25.302


And then, oh, probably, uh, candied pecans.01:06:25.693 --> 01:06:25.722


Ooh.01:06:26.532 --> 01:06:34.032


And then, um, we're gonna go into a, uh, a reverse seared, um, ribeye.01:06:34.483 --> 01:06:35.413


Okay.01:06:35.418 --> 01:06:41.143


Fingerling, potatoes, broccoli, and, uh, broccoli.01:06:41.382 --> 01:06:42.313


Asparagus, chimichurri.01:06:42.463 --> 01:06:42.913


Yeah.01:06:43.483 --> 01:06:43.813


Yeah.01:06:43.842 --> 01:06:45.253


Does asparagus make you pee funny?01:06:45.612 --> 01:06:46.753


It makes everyone pee funny.01:06:46.782 --> 01:06:48.432


No, but there's pee smell funny.01:06:48.702 --> 01:06:52.572


No, it doesn't like 20, 20% of people, it does not make their pee smell funny.01:06:52.632 --> 01:06:53.472


Oh yeah.01:06:53.563 --> 01:06:54.163


Fascinating.01:06:54.163 --> 01:06:54.492


Yeah.01:06:54.972 --> 01:06:55.422


Broccoli.01:06:55.693 --> 01:06:55.963


Um,01:06:55.992 --> 01:06:58.572


and then is that why you don't like asparagus though?01:06:58.632 --> 01:06:59.202


No, I just01:06:59.322 --> 01:07:00.072


like broccoli.01:07:00.072 --> 01:07:00.672


Just, alright,01:07:01.123 --> 01:07:01.422


then01:07:01.722 --> 01:07:02.233


we'll move on.01:07:02.322 --> 01:07:03.793


Um, oh, creme brulee.01:07:03.822 --> 01:07:04.092


No, no.01:07:04.092 --> 01:07:04.842


Not creme brulee.01:07:04.902 --> 01:07:05.563


Uh, tiramisu.01:07:06.193 --> 01:07:07.213


You could have both if you wanted.01:07:07.543 --> 01:07:12.222


Probably gonna go with both And then, and then I guess I'll, I'll, I'll just have some cheesecake too,'cause why not?01:07:12.253 --> 01:07:16.393


Well, and maybe like a nice, um, nice bright coffee.01:07:16.452 --> 01:07:17.413


You know what they say, right?01:07:17.413 --> 01:07:17.623


Yeah.01:07:17.682 --> 01:07:20.472


You'd never wanna go to the electric chair in an empty stomach.01:07:20.472 --> 01:07:21.402


No, no.01:07:22.032 --> 01:07:23.083


Not on a full stomach01:07:23.083 --> 01:07:23.322


either.01:07:23.322 --> 01:07:23.833


Probably.01:07:23.833 --> 01:07:24.072


But01:07:24.612 --> 01:07:26.143


that's, that's someone else's problem.01:07:26.172 --> 01:07:34.813


So, um, preferred method of, um, execution if, if you had to choose.01:07:34.842 --> 01:07:37.003


Fucking fascinating answer or question.01:07:37.032 --> 01:07:37.182


Yeah.01:07:37.242 --> 01:07:38.172


Fascinating question.01:07:38.382 --> 01:07:38.623


Okay.01:07:39.253 --> 01:07:39.762


Preferred.01:07:40.617 --> 01:07:43.288


Method of execution would be firing squad.01:07:43.918 --> 01:07:44.307


Okay.01:07:44.367 --> 01:07:45.177


Live by the gun.01:07:45.177 --> 01:07:45.898


Die by the gun.01:07:45.958 --> 01:07:47.007


I kinda like that.01:07:47.458 --> 01:07:53.038


Um, and like the cool thing about a firing squad is like, not everybody has a bullet, right?01:07:53.818 --> 01:07:54.987


Like only three or four of'em.01:07:55.018 --> 01:07:55.257


Yeah.01:07:55.438 --> 01:07:56.128


That's the cool thing.01:07:56.128 --> 01:07:56.277


So01:07:56.277 --> 01:08:02.307


you could well, but if you're, that, if you're the executioner and you chop somebody's head off, like you damn well know you chopped their head off.01:08:02.338 --> 01:08:02.938


Right.01:08:03.057 --> 01:08:08.068


But if you're a 21 gun firing squad and only three people actually have live bullets, you're like,01:08:08.277 --> 01:08:08.608


eh,01:08:09.987 --> 01:08:11.277


you know, six outta seven chance.01:08:11.277 --> 01:08:11.938


It wasn't me.01:08:11.967 --> 01:08:12.507


Totally.01:08:13.527 --> 01:08:13.547


You know?01:08:13.547 --> 01:08:13.693


Yeah.01:08:13.693 --> 01:08:14.788


So you don't have to feel bad.01:08:14.818 --> 01:08:14.907


Yeah.01:08:15.177 --> 01:08:15.387


Let, let's, let's01:08:15.387 --> 01:08:16.917


get that plausible deniability in there.01:08:16.917 --> 01:08:17.368


Although01:08:17.608 --> 01:08:20.637


if you're the guy that shot him, you would know it.01:08:20.967 --> 01:08:21.358


Okay.01:08:21.358 --> 01:08:21.658


Right.01:08:21.722 --> 01:08:24.807


Also, like you could tell when you're, the, yours is the bullet that hits the thing.01:08:24.837 --> 01:08:24.927


I01:08:24.927 --> 01:08:31.377


just, I really feel like that should be a question on the application to become an executioner.01:08:32.158 --> 01:08:34.797


Is, is, do you need.01:08:35.847 --> 01:08:45.747


To have plausible deniability around the fact that you executed a person because Im, or do you find in it, maybe if you find joy in maybe different career field, maybe different career field,01:08:46.648 --> 01:08:48.747


but do you really want people to find joy in it01:08:49.137 --> 01:08:50.097


to be on your team?01:08:50.158 --> 01:08:56.037


I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm thinking maybe we just need to go somewhere in the middle, kind of the more emotional kind of people.01:08:56.037 --> 01:08:59.297


Like, like, not like I'm enjoying it, but also not like it just doing my job.01:08:59.297 --> 01:09:00.028


It's gonna destroy my world.01:09:00.057 --> 01:09:00.177


Yeah.01:09:00.177 --> 01:09:02.278


Maybe we find people who could just, I01:09:03.028 --> 01:09:03.537


Wow.01:09:03.717 --> 01:09:05.728


Who have ethical, like, weird conversation.01:09:05.847 --> 01:09:06.087


Yeah.01:09:06.087 --> 01:09:10.318


Um, so you're wearing a wedding ring.01:09:10.408 --> 01:09:11.488


You, you married guy?01:09:11.608 --> 01:09:13.797


Yes, I have found a woman to tolerate me.01:09:13.887 --> 01:09:14.337


When,01:09:14.337 --> 01:09:15.207


when did you find her?01:09:15.278 --> 01:09:16.028


Uh, 2012.01:09:16.358 --> 01:09:16.807


Okay.01:09:16.898 --> 01:09:17.137


Yeah.01:09:17.228 --> 01:09:19.177


And she is tolerated you for all this time.01:09:19.182 --> 01:09:19.462


Yeah.01:09:19.478 --> 01:09:19.717


Yeah.01:09:19.717 --> 01:09:20.978


She is a rock.01:09:21.007 --> 01:09:24.127


She is absolutely an amazing woman.01:09:24.217 --> 01:09:30.427


And, um, I, I, I couldn't do what I do without her being supportive of that.01:09:30.518 --> 01:09:30.698


Hmm.01:09:31.028 --> 01:09:36.068


Um, I walked away from a super, super lucrative career to do this.01:09:36.068 --> 01:09:36.398


Yeah.01:09:36.398 --> 01:09:37.297


And, um, this isn't01:09:37.297 --> 01:09:38.287


super, super lucrative.01:09:38.318 --> 01:09:38.528


No,01:09:38.677 --> 01:09:39.097


not yet.01:09:39.097 --> 01:09:39.457


Anyway.01:09:39.518 --> 01:09:41.198


It's, it, it, it, it can't be.01:09:41.257 --> 01:09:42.127


Does she work too?01:09:42.127 --> 01:09:43.387


I guess by, by definition it can't be.01:09:43.387 --> 01:09:44.108


Yeah, she works.01:09:44.603 --> 01:09:47.872


Um, so you're keeping the, keeping the lights on and stuff like that?01:09:47.962 --> 01:09:51.863


Yeah, no, I, I mean, I mean, we're, we're set up to be, to function.01:09:51.893 --> 01:09:52.552


You're live and lean.01:09:52.552 --> 01:09:59.393


But the point is that, that I, I walked away from a lot of money to do this, and she is in support of that.01:09:59.393 --> 01:09:59.512


Yeah.01:09:59.512 --> 01:10:02.212


And that is really nice.01:10:02.273 --> 01:10:02.903


Yeah, for01:10:02.903 --> 01:10:03.262


sure.01:10:03.592 --> 01:10:12.533


Um, I had a similar experience, you know, I was a$80,000,$85,000 plus bonus banker, you know, 12 years ago.01:10:13.403 --> 01:10:17.813


And, uh, you know, that's still a little higher than my salary today.01:10:17.872 --> 01:10:20.422


Um, and gosh, I'm having a lot more fun.01:10:20.932 --> 01:10:21.533


That's the idea.01:10:21.773 --> 01:10:24.292


Um, and does this person have a name?01:10:24.653 --> 01:10:24.863


Yeah.01:10:24.863 --> 01:10:25.313


Corey.01:10:25.627 --> 01:10:26.182


Hey Corey.01:10:26.813 --> 01:10:27.172


Hi Corey.01:10:27.262 --> 01:10:28.972


And, uh, what's your favorite thing about01:10:28.972 --> 01:10:29.332


her?01:10:30.832 --> 01:10:37.432


Her, um, mellowness and, uh, she doesn't blame shift.01:10:38.182 --> 01:10:41.273


Um, she, she accepts responsibility.01:10:41.483 --> 01:10:41.693


Yeah.01:10:41.903 --> 01:10:42.893


For what she does.01:10:44.603 --> 01:10:59.842


She can, you can have a conversation with her about a thing that might not be completely comfortable without her freaking out, losing her mind, thinking that she's under attack, deflecting, bringing all this like trauma drama to the table.01:10:59.962 --> 01:11:00.082


Yeah.01:11:00.082 --> 01:11:01.972


We, we can just be like, Hey, that bothered me.01:11:01.972 --> 01:11:02.993


And she could be like, oh, okay.01:11:02.993 --> 01:11:03.863


What bothered you about it?01:11:03.863 --> 01:11:06.443


And I'd be like this, I'd be like, oh, well I'll make this adjustment.01:11:06.443 --> 01:11:06.983


I'd be like, thanks.01:11:07.193 --> 01:11:07.342


Okay.01:11:07.342 --> 01:11:08.153


How can I adjust?01:11:08.153 --> 01:11:10.582


And so it's, it's a really collaborative relationship.01:11:10.582 --> 01:11:11.932


It feels like we're on one team.01:11:12.143 --> 01:11:12.353


Yeah.01:11:12.637 --> 01:11:15.502


And, and, and I've been in a lot of relationships where that's not the case.01:11:15.502 --> 01:11:15.983


We, uh,01:11:15.983 --> 01:11:17.813


my wife and I call ourselves Team bear.01:11:18.082 --> 01:11:18.443


Yeah.01:11:18.533 --> 01:11:21.893


You know, just to cement that notion that we are on the same team.01:11:21.922 --> 01:11:22.523


I love that.01:11:22.882 --> 01:11:23.603


I love that team.01:11:23.603 --> 01:11:25.372


Spring doesn't have quite the same.01:11:25.953 --> 01:11:27.332


Ring to it, but it's pretty cool.01:11:27.393 --> 01:11:28.113


Yeah, it works.01:11:28.203 --> 01:11:28.863


It's dream springing.01:11:28.953 --> 01:11:31.143


It's um, yeah, it could be dream springing team.01:11:31.143 --> 01:11:31.712


Dream spring.01:11:31.893 --> 01:11:32.222


Totally.01:11:32.252 --> 01:11:32.733


We'll go with that.01:11:32.733 --> 01:11:33.243


Spring dream.01:11:33.393 --> 01:11:33.603


Yep.01:11:34.743 --> 01:11:40.472


Um, do you, uh, know why she has stuck around with you since 2012?01:11:40.472 --> 01:11:42.422


Do you have theories or does she tell you Sometimes01:11:42.573 --> 01:11:49.832


I think that she's a glutton for punishment, discomfort, likes adventure and mystery.01:11:50.103 --> 01:11:50.372


Yeah.01:11:50.703 --> 01:11:50.912


Yeah.01:11:50.917 --> 01:11:51.887


She, she just, she just01:11:51.887 --> 01:11:53.552


hates it when, like, two days are the same.01:11:54.153 --> 01:12:00.722


So as we speak right now, um, we're gonna flash into the current events segment as we speak.01:12:00.722 --> 01:12:05.252


We're in like day 12 or 14 of the US government shutdown.01:12:05.943 --> 01:12:09.872


Um, I dunno if you noticed, I, I mean, does it affect you?01:12:10.023 --> 01:12:10.233


No.01:12:10.592 --> 01:12:13.052


It doesn't affect your retirement pay or anything like that?01:12:13.052 --> 01:12:16.023


Or do you get pay after four years in military or you don't get Nothing really.01:12:16.028 --> 01:12:16.563


It, it doesn't affect01:12:16.563 --> 01:12:16.682


me01:12:16.893 --> 01:12:18.813


$187 a month or something like that.01:12:18.813 --> 01:12:18.972


Like the,01:12:19.113 --> 01:12:20.432


the government shutdown doesn't affect me.01:12:21.122 --> 01:12:21.993


Well, it, that's the thing.01:12:21.993 --> 01:12:24.603


It doesn't really seem to affect most people unless it really affects you.01:12:25.207 --> 01:12:25.988


Yeah, I don't, right.01:12:26.108 --> 01:12:32.108


I don't, I I, I am perfectly happy with the government being a shutdown as much as possible for as long as possible.01:12:32.233 --> 01:12:36.427


The go, the government's purpose is to create problems and not solve them.01:12:37.148 --> 01:12:41.137


And so as long as they're not operational, they're not causing problems.01:12:41.198 --> 01:12:41.828


Fair.01:12:42.368 --> 01:12:42.608


Okay.01:12:42.967 --> 01:12:43.268


Alright.01:12:43.268 --> 01:12:44.467


We're gonna get along just fine.01:12:45.818 --> 01:12:50.377


Um, talk to me about, uh, like war.01:12:51.127 --> 01:12:51.457


Okay.01:12:51.547 --> 01:12:59.528


Um, Trump was apparently narrowly edged out by, uh, a lady we never heard about from Venezuela for the Nobel Peace Prize recently.01:12:59.677 --> 01:13:02.347


You think that was, uh, uh, appropriate?01:13:03.337 --> 01:13:04.328


I don't, didn't, didn't know.01:13:04.328 --> 01:13:05.438


Notice it, have any information on that.01:13:05.443 --> 01:13:06.007


He was lobbying.01:13:06.007 --> 01:13:07.478


You can't really lobby for it and get it.01:13:07.478 --> 01:13:08.707


That's also a truth too.01:13:09.127 --> 01:13:09.488


No.01:13:09.488 --> 01:13:13.868


Um, but what do you think about like, right now, the hot news, right?01:13:13.868 --> 01:13:14.137


A week.01:13:14.318 --> 01:13:16.957


A week, not even a week old is the Israel.01:13:17.677 --> 01:13:19.507


Palestine ceasefire thing.01:13:19.537 --> 01:13:19.627


Mm-hmm.01:13:19.898 --> 01:13:21.997


Any, any reflections on that?01:13:21.997 --> 01:13:26.858


Should the US military be involved in peacekeeping in the future over there?01:13:28.177 --> 01:13:33.728


'cause it doesn't seem like either of those guys can keep their heads on straight, uh, when left together.01:13:33.922 --> 01:13:34.212


Yeah.01:13:36.863 --> 01:13:37.868


I'll ask you anything.01:13:38.018 --> 01:13:39.247


This is a hard show.01:13:40.177 --> 01:13:43.957


We've got a very powerful military.01:13:45.007 --> 01:13:47.228


We have the first and second largest armies.01:13:47.228 --> 01:13:49.957


We have the first, second, and third largest air forces.01:13:49.957 --> 01:13:52.087


We have the first, second, and third largest navys.01:13:52.717 --> 01:13:55.807


Would you say first, second, and third, like we've got multiple army divisions.01:13:55.807 --> 01:13:57.457


That would all be the biggest ones, or remember?01:13:57.457 --> 01:13:57.518


No.01:13:57.698 --> 01:14:00.188


So the largest navy in the world is owned by the army.01:14:00.787 --> 01:14:03.278


The largest air force in the world is owned by the Navy.01:14:03.757 --> 01:14:04.207


Gotcha.01:14:04.358 --> 01:14:13.837


The, uh, largest, uh, the second largest navy in the world is the United States Navy.01:14:14.768 --> 01:14:17.287


The third largest navy in the world is the United States Marine Corps.01:14:17.573 --> 01:14:17.693


Hmm.01:14:17.948 --> 01:14:21.247


The second largest Air force in the world is the US Air Force.01:14:21.247 --> 01:14:24.488


The third largest Air force in the world is the U US Marine Corps or the US Army.01:14:24.488 --> 01:14:26.078


And the fourth is US Marine Corps.01:14:26.497 --> 01:14:29.587


The first largest army is the Army, and the second largest army is the Marine Corps.01:14:29.978 --> 01:14:33.037


The, the, in terms of people or in terms of like Yeah.01:14:33.097 --> 01:14:34.537


People, weapons and stuff.01:14:34.717 --> 01:14:36.578


Especially so, so let me, lemme break this up.01:14:36.637 --> 01:14:39.938


The Army has more boats than the US Navy.01:14:40.328 --> 01:14:40.627


Wow.01:14:40.778 --> 01:14:49.478


The US Navy has more boats than the US Marine Corps, and the US Marine Corps has more boats than any other military in the world.01:14:49.537 --> 01:14:49.957


Oh shit.01:14:50.557 --> 01:14:58.148


The, and I, I could be, I could be a little bit off on this, but I'm pretty sure the Army has more aircraft than the Air Force.01:14:58.747 --> 01:14:59.047


Really?01:14:59.047 --> 01:15:00.488


Aircraft has a second amount.01:15:00.997 --> 01:15:01.818


Most aircraft Oh.01:15:01.818 --> 01:15:01.858


Because they've got, got01:15:02.618 --> 01:15:02.807


so many helicopters,01:15:02.807 --> 01:15:08.262


especially, and, and the Navy has the third amount, most aircraft and the Marine Corps has the fourth amount most aircraft Wow.01:15:08.262 --> 01:15:09.247


In the world.01:15:09.278 --> 01:15:12.547


And then after that, we look at foreign nations and their.01:15:12.938 --> 01:15:14.408


Military sizes fair.01:15:14.408 --> 01:15:14.707


Right?01:15:15.068 --> 01:15:27.307


So we, we have more people in, we have the same number of people in the, in the US Army than, uh, lemme back up.01:15:28.177 --> 01:15:31.597


We have more people in the US military than there are in Australia.01:15:32.408 --> 01:15:35.408


So should we like so downsize our military.01:15:35.408 --> 01:15:37.837


So the point, do we need that much excess capacity?01:15:37.837 --> 01:15:50.978


The point that I'm making is that the, the US military possesses massive unmatched capacity to achieve mission.01:15:51.757 --> 01:15:51.997


Okay.01:15:53.618 --> 01:15:59.738


What missions we achieve and how we go about achieving it, and whether or not we should Yeah.01:15:59.917 --> 01:16:01.358


Is the question totally.01:16:02.377 --> 01:16:12.068


But the bottom line is if there is an unsolvable problem on this planet, the US military is the most equipped group to address that.01:16:13.627 --> 01:16:13.837


Okay.01:16:14.528 --> 01:16:14.858


Alright.01:16:16.417 --> 01:16:31.268


Um, so that, that problem seems the most unsolvable, like the Russia, Ukraine thing seems a little more solvable with conventional means in some ways because the, I don't know, maybe not.01:16:31.688 --> 01:16:33.188


'cause the Ukrainians are pretty crazy.01:16:33.307 --> 01:16:35.047


Uh, they were, everybody's crazy.01:16:35.078 --> 01:16:35.467


Right?01:16:35.587 --> 01:16:37.837


Except for me and you and I'm not so sure about you.01:16:40.507 --> 01:16:41.108


What's the question?01:16:41.497 --> 01:16:42.337


There isn't a question.01:16:42.337 --> 01:16:43.148


It was a joke.01:16:43.207 --> 01:16:43.417


Okay.01:16:43.898 --> 01:16:45.127


You like that one though, kind of, right?01:16:45.938 --> 01:16:48.997


Um, what would you like to ask me?01:16:58.268 --> 01:17:00.518


What do you want this podcast to turn into?01:17:01.448 --> 01:17:01.747


Hmm.01:17:03.847 --> 01:17:07.747


You know, um, a, uh, a, a cash.01:17:08.363 --> 01:17:09.773


Machine would be perfect.01:17:10.042 --> 01:17:10.912


Um, so you wanna01:17:10.912 --> 01:17:11.422


monetize,01:17:11.693 --> 01:17:13.493


eh, no, I mean, yeah.01:17:13.552 --> 01:17:13.733


Yeah.01:17:13.823 --> 01:17:14.212


It'd be nice01:17:14.212 --> 01:17:14.752


to monetize it.01:17:14.813 --> 01:17:16.432


What's your shortest path to monetization?01:17:17.507 --> 01:17:18.983


I, I don't want to do this again.01:17:19.462 --> 01:17:19.672


Oh.01:17:19.733 --> 01:17:20.573


Um, alright.01:17:20.632 --> 01:17:21.502


I won't ask you a question, sir.01:17:21.502 --> 01:17:24.832


Yeah, I, that it just doesn't seem like the right format for it.01:17:25.313 --> 01:17:25.717


Um, you,01:17:25.733 --> 01:17:27.622


you did ask me to ask you questions.01:17:27.622 --> 01:17:32.783


The short, the shortest path to monetization would be, I suppose, sponsorships and, and more listenerships.01:17:33.443 --> 01:17:41.393


Um, but it also might include like, not doing a long form because then you get a lot more listenerships and have a lot more higher chance.01:17:41.393 --> 01:17:44.962


And I don't wanna not do a long form, so, you know, I kinda wanna do what I wanna do.01:17:45.443 --> 01:17:47.662


Uh, so that's also true.01:17:48.592 --> 01:17:50.122


But Joe Rogan did it, so Dammit.01:17:50.182 --> 01:17:50.783


I can do it.01:17:51.533 --> 01:17:51.802


Okay.01:17:52.703 --> 01:17:57.863


Um, what I think I wanna do is move on to our closing segment.01:17:58.012 --> 01:17:58.283


Okay.01:17:58.643 --> 01:17:59.693


The Loco experience.01:17:59.932 --> 01:18:00.172


Okay.01:18:00.832 --> 01:18:06.472


It's the craziest experience that you're willing to describe to our listeners.01:18:07.568 --> 01:18:08.648


Um, might be a moment.01:18:08.887 --> 01:18:12.908


You already talked about getting blown up a little bit and continuing on with your day.01:18:13.448 --> 01:19:06.353


Um, but in this journey or past chapters, uh, when I say, what's that craziest experience of your lifetime that you're willing to share?01:19:06.953 --> 01:19:08.002


What, what did you think about?01:19:09.172 --> 01:19:12.353


Well, it would be, it would take a while for me to quantify that.01:19:12.353 --> 01:19:15.412


So I will tell you about my most recent crazy experience.01:19:15.472 --> 01:19:15.773


Okay.01:19:16.342 --> 01:19:19.792


Um, yesterday I, uh, got back from Australia.01:19:20.422 --> 01:19:20.722


Okay.01:19:20.783 --> 01:19:35.573


Um, and, uh, I was down there to, uh, create an international coalition of veteran suicide prevention organizations that can come together annually in, uh, what we're gonna call, what they call.01:19:35.662 --> 01:19:44.212


And, you know, now that we're building the group, uh, the Veterans Games and, uh, so it's, oh, it's a lot of obstacle courses and stuff.01:19:44.243 --> 01:19:46.073


Kind of like adventure races or something.01:19:46.073 --> 01:19:46.432


Exactly.01:19:46.432 --> 01:19:48.863


Except that you go through it, uh, in a team of eight.01:19:49.252 --> 01:19:49.733


Okay.01:19:49.882 --> 01:19:59.092


And you do, um, uh, you know, challenges and obstacles and, and, and have to work as a team to get through the evolution together.01:19:59.097 --> 01:19:59.518


That's cool.01:19:59.518 --> 01:20:07.643


And so, uh, yeah, so we're creating, um, an international coalition of, of, of people to focus on.01:20:07.943 --> 01:20:13.703


The idea is that our governments bring us together in dark corners of the world to kill people.01:20:14.363 --> 01:20:19.677


Well, what happens when we come together and, um, you know, focus on in sunny spots?01:20:20.148 --> 01:20:21.078


Yeah, yeah.01:20:21.297 --> 01:20:21.877


In, uh, yeah.01:20:21.953 --> 01:20:30.893


On the Gold Coast of Australia and focus on building community purpose, belonging, eliminating isolation, and serving our communities.01:20:30.953 --> 01:20:31.222


Yeah,01:20:34.283 --> 01:20:35.122


I'm excited about that.01:20:35.453 --> 01:20:35.813


Me too.01:20:35.903 --> 01:20:37.643


And, uh, I wish you very much.01:20:37.643 --> 01:20:39.953


Well, I think that sounds extraordinary.01:20:41.932 --> 01:20:48.773


Like, I don't know quite how to ask this question, but it, it feels like you're, your perception of.01:20:49.537 --> 01:20:53.707


War and our government's use of force and stuff has shifted over time.01:20:53.707 --> 01:20:57.127


Like how would you have them use it?01:20:57.518 --> 01:21:02.978


I mean, you mentioned it's the strongest, most powerful military, but should it be used, should it be shrunk?01:21:04.328 --> 01:21:09.578


Do we need to have that to keep China from being the bad guys of the world and whatever?01:21:11.467 --> 01:21:13.807


I know it's a very reflective question, but you've had,01:21:16.358 --> 01:21:21.488


we over utilize our military and we do not.01:21:21.938 --> 01:21:28.358


Um, when we utilize it, we do not give our war fighters a clear, uh, defined, uh, mission.01:21:28.568 --> 01:21:28.747


Hmm.01:21:29.108 --> 01:21:33.278


Uh, a goal set, uh, or an end state.01:21:33.847 --> 01:21:34.028


Mm-hmm.01:21:34.627 --> 01:21:41.677


And so that the result of that is, is protracted decades long engagements.01:21:41.677 --> 01:21:42.847


Some of the Afghanistan thing is.01:21:43.478 --> 01:21:44.917


The most obvious example, right?01:21:44.978 --> 01:21:45.188


Yep.01:21:45.547 --> 01:21:50.228


So, so here, do you know when the last time the United States declared war was,01:21:50.978 --> 01:21:54.007


um, was it World War II or Korea?01:21:54.007 --> 01:21:54.278


Yes.01:21:54.337 --> 01:21:54.728


World War ii.01:21:54.997 --> 01:21:55.448


Yeah.01:21:55.537 --> 01:21:55.747


Yeah.01:21:56.377 --> 01:21:56.917


So, which is01:21:56.917 --> 01:21:57.608


pathetic.01:21:57.818 --> 01:22:00.127


Everything since then hasn't been a war.01:22:00.158 --> 01:22:00.518


Yeah.01:22:01.118 --> 01:22:07.778


Um, which is dumb and you're not, you're not supposed to be able to deploy the military right.01:22:07.898 --> 01:22:09.787


Outside of a declaration of war.01:22:09.787 --> 01:22:11.738


But we've seemed to figure out how to do that.01:22:11.797 --> 01:22:12.007


Right.01:22:12.457 --> 01:22:14.768


But this is what I think is really interesting.01:22:15.247 --> 01:22:18.247


A lot of people like to point the finger at politicians.01:22:19.207 --> 01:22:19.717


Here's the deal.01:22:20.768 --> 01:22:28.568


Uh, state of Virginia just had a ballot initiative where, um, you can't deploy the Virginia National Guard.01:22:29.243 --> 01:22:30.863


Without a DEC Declaration of War.01:22:31.403 --> 01:22:31.432


Mm.01:22:31.523 --> 01:22:35.783


You can send Army, Navy, Marine Corps, air Force, and every other National Guard in the state.01:22:35.783 --> 01:22:43.132


You just can't send the Virginia National Guard without a formal declaration of war just to draw a line in the sand somewhere.01:22:43.162 --> 01:22:43.552


Yeah.01:22:43.703 --> 01:22:45.412


That, that's great.01:22:45.412 --> 01:22:46.523


Bill did not pass.01:22:46.912 --> 01:22:48.863


Oh, the people voted that down.01:22:49.042 --> 01:22:49.462


Interesting.01:22:50.122 --> 01:22:51.382


So here's the, and it was probably01:22:51.382 --> 01:22:52.403


used in part to be like,01:22:52.523 --> 01:22:53.842


so here's the takeaway from that.01:22:54.023 --> 01:22:55.103


Here's the takeaway from that.01:22:55.132 --> 01:22:55.403


Yeah.01:22:55.643 --> 01:23:10.103


There is no shortage on the part of the American population of, of, of their willingness, their hunger, their desire to send our young people into combat.01:23:11.542 --> 01:23:16.162


So we have got to get better about rehabilitating them when they come home.01:23:17.063 --> 01:23:17.302


Hmm Hmm.01:23:18.323 --> 01:23:20.662


cause you think that that war fighting is just gonna in you,01:23:20.962 --> 01:23:21.832


well, evidently,01:23:21.893 --> 01:23:22.313


right.01:23:23.302 --> 01:23:24.023


Um.01:23:25.148 --> 01:23:27.818


Yeah, it's an interesting, you're, you're a hundred percent right.01:23:27.847 --> 01:23:31.148


Like, if we're gonna keep doing that, at least we gotta do this.01:23:31.207 --> 01:23:31.387


Yep.01:23:32.347 --> 01:23:37.057


Um, I, I, I tell people all the time, the very best thing you can do for combat veterans is stop making us.01:23:37.507 --> 01:23:37.957


Yeah.01:23:38.018 --> 01:23:39.728


But that is not happening.01:23:39.757 --> 01:23:39.908


I mean,01:23:39.908 --> 01:23:41.557


is that part of your mission almost?01:23:41.557 --> 01:23:42.637


Is to advocate for that?01:23:42.667 --> 01:23:43.207


Yeah, absolutely.01:23:43.268 --> 01:23:43.568


Okay.01:23:43.988 --> 01:23:50.528


I wondered, it feels like it's within your conversation, if not within your, uh, mission statement.01:23:50.677 --> 01:23:52.658


So Marshall, it's been fun.01:23:53.078 --> 01:23:53.347


Cheers.01:23:53.497 --> 01:23:54.037


I'm thankful.01:23:54.097 --> 01:23:54.247


Thanks01:23:54.247 --> 01:23:54.457


for having01:23:54.457 --> 01:23:54.518


me.