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Speaker 1: Lute forms. If it doesn't work, you're just not using enough.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to soft web Radio Special Operations, Military Nails

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Speaker 1: on straight talk with the guys in the community.

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Speaker 2: Hey, what's going on? Welcome back to another episode of

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Speaker 2: soft Rep Radio. I am your host, rad and today

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Speaker 2: I have a very special guest. But first before I

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Speaker 2: introduce him, I need to remind you to go check

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Speaker 2: out our book club. Okay, soft reap dot com Forward

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Speaker 2: slash book hyphen club are similar. Look up the book

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Speaker 2: club for softwap dot com. You like to read, you

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Speaker 2: like to get those books, We'll send them out to you.

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Speaker 2: We got thousands of books in our library. And I

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Speaker 2: also got to say, you know, I am wearing a

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Speaker 2: soft rep shirt and so you can get the merch

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Speaker 2: at soft rep dot com. Support us so we can

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Speaker 2: keep bringing on guests like former Lieutenant Colonel Jim Lorraine,

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Speaker 2: United States Air Force combat nurse who served twenty two

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Speaker 2: years deployed about nine times. Jim, Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Reed, good to talk to you.

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Speaker 2: I'm glad that you guys would like to be on here.

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Speaker 2: We're going to talk to you about caregiving and what

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Speaker 2: it's like to be a caregiver in today's veterans system VA.

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Speaker 2: I've recently had the former deputy commander of the VA

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Speaker 2: on and we talked about the long hallways and caregivers

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Speaker 2: who are getting older because the younger veterans don't dare

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Speaker 2: go into the hospital. Who can navigate the hallways at

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Speaker 2: a younger age. And now you have caregivers you could

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Speaker 2: correct me, like, you know, watching my mom take care

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Speaker 2: of my dad, right, he was the Green Beret. He

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Speaker 2: was the marathon runner. My mom was the mom and

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Speaker 2: took care of us. She turned into that green Beret

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Speaker 2: marathon runner, pushing him and wheeling him and escorting him

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Speaker 2: and the whole nine yards. And I know this episode

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Speaker 2: is going to be talking about caregiving, and I know

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Speaker 2: you're a caregiver again, welcome to the show. So what

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Speaker 2: do you think?

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Speaker 3: No? I agree? Who is the deputy.

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Speaker 2: Oh geez, major general? Excuse me? Awesome guy, dude, surfer dude.

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Speaker 2: Let me think he's going to be teaching surfing for

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Speaker 2: recreational therapy because he had and I and we agreed

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Speaker 2: that no matter you're rating, you should be able to

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Speaker 2: get like a you know, recreational therapy prescription versus like

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Speaker 2: here's a bunch of pills, first Pharmaceuticals, if you will.

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Speaker 2: And oh, man, you're calling me on the spot. I'll

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Speaker 2: find his name in just a minute. No, it was

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Speaker 2: just just talk to him the other day. Oh geez,

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Speaker 2: I'll find it. But again, no problem. Again, this episode

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Speaker 2: is about caregivers. And you know, prior to you becoming

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Speaker 2: this quote unquote caregiver, you were in high school, right,

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Speaker 2: was a nice school.

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Speaker 3: Graduated you know, I fortunately made it out of high school.

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Speaker 3: My mother, I graduated at a time where unemployment rates

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Speaker 3: were through the roof. My family are all nurses. She said,

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Speaker 3: you're going to be a nurse. You can always get

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Speaker 3: a job. That's what you need to go to school for.

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Speaker 3: So I did. I graduated from Syracuse University as a nurse,

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Speaker 3: and then had always wanted to go into the military.

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Speaker 3: Joined the reserves two years into my college in a

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Speaker 3: medical unit, and then graduated with my nursing degree and

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Speaker 3: then went active duty and then was you know, all

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Speaker 3: my my sites were set on being a flight nurse,

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Speaker 3: and so I did four years in Keisler Air Force

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Speaker 3: Base on a BILEXI in a medical center, and then

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Speaker 3: went into air medical evacuation flew all over Europe, all

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Speaker 3: over Africa, the Middle East, flying air medical evacuation. Ended

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Speaker 3: up in desert shield Storm for that period of time

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Speaker 3: and then up and provide comfort, and then left that

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Speaker 3: unit and then went to another aero medical unit at

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Speaker 3: Pope Air Force Base. And at Pope we went to

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Speaker 3: I spent some time I'm in Haiti. I spent some

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Speaker 3: time in South America, South and Central America mostly, and

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Speaker 3: then ended up in Mogadishu and then Mogadishu. Spent a

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Speaker 3: lot of time there.

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Speaker 2: Well here was that roughly in Mogadishu.

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Speaker 3: Mog was was the winner of in December of ninety two,

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Speaker 3: and then I left in ninety three. And then from

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Speaker 3: that experience and from that time there special operations needed

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Speaker 3: people that knew long range aeromedical evacuation and were comfortable

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Speaker 3: with it, which I was. I went so I got

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Speaker 3: assigned to as an augmentee to Jaysak. I went on

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Speaker 3: from there and and I did tours at Air Mobility

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Speaker 3: Command running the air medical evacuation program. And then I

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Speaker 3: had a great gig at the Pentagon at the Joint Staff.

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Speaker 3: I was a fellow to the chairman. And then I

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Speaker 3: went right back into SOCOM. So in two thousand and

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Speaker 3: September of two thousand, I ended up at United States

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Speaker 3: Special Operations Command down in Tampa, and I'll never forget.

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Speaker 3: General Schumacher was the commander, and he got everyone everybody

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Speaker 3: was new, said hey, this is an opportunity to take

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Speaker 3: a knee, stay with you know, do things with your family.

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Speaker 3: Catch a breath, because once you get done with this tour,

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Speaker 3: you're going to go back into the back into being

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Speaker 3: active in the Special Operations community. Anyways, long story short,

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Speaker 3: that ended on September eleventh, two thousand and one, as

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Speaker 3: we were sitting in the Operations Center watching the planes

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Speaker 3: hit the towers and hit the Pentagon. That afternoon we

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Speaker 3: I went from SOCOM, I went over to SAKCENT and

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Speaker 3: started the planning for what would be operation and during Freedom,

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Speaker 3: I retired out of SOCOM. I did during all those times,

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Speaker 3: I did tours and augmentee tours into Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Speaker 3: You know, talking about Afghanistan, I have to just divert

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Speaker 3: When I was at it's solid and classified now, but

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Speaker 3: back then it was classified. What a lot of people

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Speaker 3: don't know is you know, you know the movie Charlie

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Speaker 3: Wilson d wore.

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Speaker 2: Sure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So there was a humanitarian side of it, and

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Speaker 3: the humanitarian side was in this by the way, rad

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Speaker 3: will connect back to nine to eleven. The humanitarian side

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Speaker 3: was that the Americans were bringing out the wounded mujaden

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Speaker 3: and their kids. At the time in the late eighties

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Speaker 3: or late eighties after eighty seven, the Russians were using

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Speaker 3: booby traps that would they look like toys and candy

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Speaker 3: and things, and the kids were picking them up, and

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Speaker 3: they were losing their hands, and they were losing their eyesight.

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Speaker 2: And small little wounds that just caused massive, you know,

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Speaker 2: just gross against Geneva convention style objects, right, like being

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Speaker 2: the children. Yeah right, let's just be clear. Yeah, no,

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Speaker 2: it it.

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Speaker 3: Was targeted towards kids. Yes, And so these kids, what

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Speaker 3: we would do is we'd evacuate them out of Afghanistan

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Speaker 3: and bring them back to Europe and they'd go to

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Speaker 3: some European hospitals, but most of them would go back

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Speaker 3: to the United States and go to great hospitals like

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Speaker 3: Walter Reid and Bethesda and out to Fort sam to

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Speaker 3: Brooke Army Medical Center and.

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Speaker 2: Then all that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So anyways, what happened was so they

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Speaker 3: would spend months in the United States and then they

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Speaker 3: would go back we you know, they had to all

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Speaker 3: had to go back to back to Afghanistan. They went back.

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Speaker 3: Things all changed. But now so now flash ahead. So

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Speaker 3: that was in let's say, uh late eighties. Now flash

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Speaker 3: I had to two thousand and one, and the same kids.

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Speaker 3: Now these kids were adults, right, and they'd all been

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Speaker 3: treated for their wounds and their injuries in US hospitals

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Speaker 3: and the United States had taken care of them. And

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Speaker 3: I think that was the North that was predominantly the

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Speaker 3: Northern Alliance that helped us. Obviously, you know, big humanitarian

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Speaker 3: it's not about you know, we're not going to kill

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Speaker 3: our way out of a war, but I mean, if

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Speaker 3: we can help people, then later on we can help.

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Speaker 3: But so anyways, the long story short is I end

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Speaker 3: up doing multiple deployments while I was at SOCOM, and

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Speaker 3: I retired in two thousand and five. Is the deputy

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Speaker 3: surgeon at the United States Special Operations Command, so I

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Speaker 3: you know, typical in that day and age. So it

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Speaker 3: was five We were honestly thinking that the war was

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Speaker 3: winding down for Special Operations, but the problem was we

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Speaker 3: had so many wounded ill are injured, and the commander

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Speaker 3: at SOCOM, General Doug Brown, wanted to make sure that

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Speaker 3: we as SOCOM, had kept our promise to those who

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Speaker 3: were wounded, ill are injured in their families. So he

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Speaker 3: founded a program called the US SOCOM Care Coalition. And

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Speaker 3: what the Care Coalition did was we built a relationship

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Speaker 3: with everybody who all sawt who were wounded, ill or

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Speaker 3: injured in their families, and then we made sure that

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Speaker 3: they were connected to resources that improved their quality of life.

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Speaker 3: And the commitment was for life. So I ran that

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Speaker 3: from two thousand and five until I left in twenty eleven.

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Speaker 3: Had huge success with it. But I left in eleven

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Speaker 3: because my wife, who was active duty at the time,

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Speaker 3: and she was the lead for the unit, the SOCOM

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Speaker 3: Special Operations Command Clinic, and she's a nurse practitioner by trade,

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Speaker 3: and I was working in the Pentagon. I was working

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Speaker 3: for Admiral Mullen, and I got a phone call that said, hey,

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Speaker 3: you know your wife, we found her down. We're not

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Speaker 3: sure what's up. She's gonna we think she's going to

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Speaker 3: be okay. I got back from the Pentagon that night

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Speaker 3: to find out the diagnosis was adult lot on set epilepsy.

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Speaker 3: And I say that because my wife is a badass. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: my wife. My wife. She graduated from high school, went

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Speaker 3: to a year of college and said I'm going to enlist.

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Speaker 3: And when she went to enlist, this was in nineteen

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Speaker 3: seventy seven, seventy six, she enlisted, she was came in

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Speaker 3: as a private. Then she went on to when she

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Speaker 3: was in basic training, they said, does anybody want to

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Speaker 3: go to jump school? And she said, yeah, I'll go

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Speaker 3: to jump school. And she got it. Anyway, she got

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Speaker 3: reassigned as an intel analyst. She went to fortwid Chuka

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Speaker 3: and then her first assignment. You'll appreciate this with your

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Speaker 3: dad's background. Her first assignment was she was one of

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Speaker 3: the first women to go to steven Special Forces Group

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Speaker 3: at Fort Bragg and she worked there as an intel analyst,

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Speaker 3: doing a ton of work and jumping. So she did that.

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Speaker 3: She got married, at her kids and then so I'll

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Speaker 3: give you the story of my wife. My wife as

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Speaker 3: the kids gets out of school or says hey, I

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Speaker 3: want to go back and get become a nurse. She

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Speaker 3: gets her associate degree or bachelor's degree and her master's

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Speaker 3: degree and she's a nurse practitioner. But that's not enough,

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Speaker 3: and so she joined the reserves Rander clinic during the

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Speaker 3: weekday and then did the reserve time on the weekend,

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Speaker 3: did multiple multiple deployments. We knew each other in desert

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Speaker 3: shield storm, sure, and then we anyways, we got married

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Speaker 3: later on.

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Speaker 2: You guys know each other's schedules and kind of like

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Speaker 2: you know, mindsets and you know, yeah, you probably told

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Speaker 2: her the story about how your mom said, you know,

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Speaker 2: if you'd be a nurse, you could do anything.

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Speaker 3: Oh she knew, Yeah, my mom told her that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and here you are. I look at all the

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Speaker 2: jobs you've done by listened to you.

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Speaker 3: Great opportunity exactly. Well, I would never have had the opportunity.

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Speaker 3: But I also, you know, this goes around to becoming

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Speaker 3: a caregiver. I had a unique opportunity to be a

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Speaker 3: caregiver because as a nurse, I'm a caregiver. To begin with.

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Speaker 3: My specialty is critical care. But it wasn't taking care

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Speaker 3: of your family wasn't the same. So rad what I'm

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Speaker 3: telling you is I went through my whole career taking

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Speaker 3: care of people and the medical side of things. So

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Speaker 3: I've always been a caregiver. But when it's your family,

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Speaker 3: it's different. And so I had been a medical nurse,

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Speaker 3: I've been the deputy surgeon, and then I ran this

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Speaker 3: program that advocated for, you know, five to six thousand

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Speaker 3: of the most severely wounded ill or injured that were

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Speaker 3: Special Operations Command. And then when it becomes your family,

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Speaker 3: I had no clue where to go or what to do.

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Speaker 3: I was almost frozen. My wife was had to go

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Speaker 3: through a medical board and had to go through the

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Speaker 3: administrative process that everybody in medicine that has a medical

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Speaker 3: problem in the military goes through. And she would say,

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Speaker 3: why can't you help me more? And I said, I don't.

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Speaker 3: I'm not sure what I need to do. And I

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Speaker 3: would connect her to other people and she said, why

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Speaker 3: isn't it that you can't do it? And I could

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Speaker 3: do some things, they just didn't have the authority to

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Speaker 3: do the other some of the other stuff. She found

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Speaker 3: her way through it. It wasn't easy. It was really

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Speaker 3: you know. One of the things that we find with

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Speaker 3: especially military is that when you if you don't leave

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Speaker 3: on your own terms, it's not it doesn't work out.

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Speaker 3: And she was being forced out of the military, not

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Speaker 3: on her own terms. She was forced out of the

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Speaker 3: military because of a medical condition that we think and

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Speaker 3: the physicians think is tied back to her airborne status

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Speaker 3: and to a number of head injuries that she had

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Speaker 3: while while on airborne.

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Speaker 2: Status, traumatic brain injuries tvies.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that wasn't a thing back then. It wasn't a

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Speaker 3: thing in the seventies obviously, and in the late early eighties.

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Speaker 3: But she went through it and she got So what

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Speaker 3: happened was she was medically retired well before her career

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Speaker 3: was expected. Did that to end. She lost the ability

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Speaker 3: to drive. Even while she was going through the process.

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Speaker 3: She didn't want to give up her clinic, so she

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Speaker 3: would ride her bike one way six miles to the

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Speaker 3: bus stop, take a bus an hour and a half

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Speaker 3: into Tampa, into McDill Air Force Base, run the clinic,

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Speaker 3: get back on the bus in the evening, and had

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Speaker 3: head home and then ride her bike six miles. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I mean, but I mean she did that. However, it

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Speaker 3: took a toll on her and it kept getting worse

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Speaker 3: and worse where she had to stop. So we moved home,

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Speaker 3: we moved to near her parents, and she developed an

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Speaker 3: aggressive form of breast cancer. So when you think about

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Speaker 3: chemotherapy and the anti epileptic drugs and all the contraindications

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Speaker 3: that go with it. It's just it was more than so.

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Speaker 3: I left my job at SOCOM when she developed epilepsia.

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Speaker 3: I left my job working for Admiral Mullen as the

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Speaker 3: chairman and focused on SOCOM when I let When she

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Speaker 3: developed triple negative breast cancer, I left and came home,

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Speaker 3: came to take care of her. You know, one of

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Speaker 3: the things that as America's Warrior Partnership, we do these study.

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Speaker 3: We do annual surveys every year about veterans and what

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Speaker 3: we find is the veterans who have lack of transportation

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Speaker 3: have the lowest level of hope. So what that means

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Speaker 3: is we measure hope. And what we also do is

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Speaker 3: we ask what are you seeking? And the majority of

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Speaker 3: veterans who are hopeless are seeking transportation. Now, when you

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Speaker 3: look at my wife, she lost the ability to drive,

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Speaker 3: and she didn't have the ability to drive herself around

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Speaker 3: and have mobility. She was down. She was really she

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Speaker 3: was like, this is crazy. I don't want to do this.

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Speaker 3: I can't go anywhere. I have no independence. She's done

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Speaker 3: really well, but you know, I know I'm here to

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Speaker 3: talk about being a caregiver. Yeah, but compared to other people,

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Speaker 3: other people that I've taken care of at the care Coalition,

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Speaker 3: who are truly caregivers. I have a friend who is

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Speaker 3: a young wife. She her husband, they were newly married.

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Speaker 3: Her husband was in the first sorry third Ranger Battalion.

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Speaker 3: His helicopter crashed and he's been had a terrible head injury.

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Speaker 3: But he's been in a like a persistent calma since then.

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Speaker 3: That was an four. He's still alive. She takes care

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Speaker 3: of him every day. She has given up everything to

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Speaker 3: take care of him. Oh and so I know her

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Speaker 3: closely because I advocate for her when it comes to

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Speaker 3: VA services and that she keeps getting jerked around. It

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Speaker 3: was funny. She called me and said, I'm Jim. The

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Speaker 3: v A just told me that I don't I'm not

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Speaker 3: getting my caregiver stipend. I'm the poster child on the

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Speaker 3: cover of their caregiver magazine. Right, this is crazy?

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Speaker 2: Right? Yeah, no, one hundred percent. I have a friend

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Speaker 2: double amputy and his wife just got that allocated to her.

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Speaker 2: That's like, is that going to go back pay from

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Speaker 2: when you guys first started? You know, I'm like, holy,

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Speaker 2: that happened to him in two thousand and eight, and

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Speaker 2: here we are twenty twenty three. But to go with

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Speaker 2: the epilepsy, I'll tell you that my father had the

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Speaker 2: same thing your wife had happened. He was taking a

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Speaker 2: shower and then my mom just heard something going commotion

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Speaker 2: in the bathroom and he was white ghost. She didn't

303
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Speaker 2: know what to do. She called nine one one. He

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Speaker 2: had had a grand mall just right there. But they

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Speaker 2: attributed to his jumping out of an airplane and being

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Speaker 2: dropped at night on the side of a mountain that

307
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Speaker 2: was at altitude. But they were above the mountain on

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Speaker 2: an angle, and so they didn't know that the ground

309
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Speaker 2: was closer, So they dropped all these guys on an angle.

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Speaker 2: Broken pelvis's feet, femur head injury. He hit his head

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Speaker 2: real hard. But he kept going till the nineties, till

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Speaker 2: that happened. And then again mom took over that same

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Speaker 2: role that you've taken on to help your wife. What's

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Speaker 2: your wife's name again, it's Becky, Becky. Let's give her

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Speaker 2: a shout out. What's up, Becky? Thanks for your proud

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Speaker 2: service and your mountain biking to the clinic. Okay, okay,

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Speaker 2: pet's good for you can't get enough and airborne all

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Speaker 2: the way to you as well. Okay, So today they

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Speaker 2: do track TBIs and they do have documents about, you know,

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Speaker 2: sitting inside of a small vehicle with night vision just

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Speaker 2: burning into your eyes for long periods of time and

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Speaker 2: then what does that do to you over a ninety

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Speaker 2: day mission of doing that every single night? You know,

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Speaker 2: And so the VA is very redundant. And to go

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Speaker 2: back to the VA real quick. It was doctor Richard Stone.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, so he was commander of the

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Speaker 2: whole VA. I was really happy to see the healthcare of.

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Speaker 3: The healthcare Healthcare Administration director.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. And I asked him the same kinds

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Speaker 2: of questions like but this one I didn't ask him.

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Speaker 2: It's like, why is it always a rejection? And then

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Speaker 2: it's accepted. It's like, oh, you're forty percent rated. Okay,

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Speaker 2: well you know I should be one hundred percent rated

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Speaker 2: or eighty percent rated, and so it's just forty. And

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Speaker 2: then you submit again and they're like, okay, we'll make

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Speaker 2: you sixty, and then again, and they finally put you

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Speaker 2: out one hundred because you hit sixty it's like, why

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Speaker 2: is this back and forth? Do you think always?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not sure, you know, I think the VA

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Speaker 3: has to be have their checks and balances and whatnot.

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Speaker 3: But I mean when you look at the amount of

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Speaker 3: funds and that the amount of funds that a caregiver

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Speaker 3: is going to save the government, which your mom kept

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Speaker 3: your dad from having to go to long term care

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Speaker 3: for probably having to have other medical issues that would

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Speaker 3: have had to be addressed. But I mean, when you

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Speaker 3: look at the offset, you know, caregivers are saving the

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Speaker 3: federal government a ton of money. So it's if you

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Speaker 3: look at it from a monetary side, it doesn't make

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Speaker 3: any sense. When you look at it from what's right,

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Speaker 3: what's the right thing to do, it makes sense. You've

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Speaker 3: got to do the right thing. And you know, and

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Speaker 3: I'll just talk briefly about the caregiver. It shouldn't be

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Speaker 3: that your husband or your wife were it was a

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Speaker 3: combat related injury. It shouldn't be that, oh, it had

356
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Speaker 3: it happened during a time of war, therefore we're going

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Speaker 3: to take care of you. It should be if you

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Speaker 3: were injured on a training jump, you call done. If yeah,

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Speaker 3: if you were, if it's related to a toxic exposure

360
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Speaker 3: or if it's related to to the unseen wounds, whether

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Speaker 3: it's PTSD or depression. Yeah. I had a guy the

362
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Speaker 3: other day saying, you know, he was talking about the

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Speaker 3: credibility of someone and I and they said, he goes, ah,

364
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Speaker 3: there were a rerecor operator in the Marines, And I said, listen,

365
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Speaker 3: that guy, he was a recor operator in the Marines.

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Speaker 2: But but he would go.

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Speaker 3: Out into the field and pick up the vehicles that

368
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Speaker 3: had been destroyed by IDs and he'd have to clean

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Speaker 3: them out and that you can't take that away from

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Speaker 3: your mind. And I said, you know, you can't. The

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Speaker 3: other example is in so common we used to have

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Speaker 3: we used to have guys who were running predators and

373
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Speaker 3: running drones, and they were running ir and they'd watch

374
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Speaker 3: for weeks at a time a target and almost build

375
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 3: a relationship with them. And then but they were they

376
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 3: were the best guy and they were doing really bad

377
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,920
Speaker 3: things and they got but they got to know them,

378
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 3: and then you'd have to eliminate them. That is tough

379
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,080
Speaker 3: to walk away from, tough to keep going. You have

380
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,000
Speaker 3: to walk away and say okay. But so anyways, my

381
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Speaker 3: point is it's really hard to have concrete guidelines when

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Speaker 3: war is nothing but nothing close to concrete. No, and

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Speaker 3: you know, anyways, I would just I would say that

384
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Speaker 3: about your friend and about that. People shouldn't It should

385
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,159
Speaker 3: be do they need help? Like my wife and I

386
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,080
Speaker 3: were doing fine and she's doing better, much better now,

387
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Speaker 3: so we don't necessarily need I don't need caregiver support.

388
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Speaker 3: But my point is that there are people who do,

389
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Speaker 3: and they if they do, they should get it. To

390
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Speaker 3: doctor Stone's point, they should get.

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Speaker 2: It right, like the OUTPATI shouldn't be a back right,

392
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Speaker 2: like the outpatient visits that are out there where they

393
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 2: can go to them, or these virtual sessions that they

394
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 2: can have, you know, to reach the patient at home

395
00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:08,159
Speaker 2: now where before it was like you have to go

396
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,800
Speaker 2: down those long hallways to get care. And of course

397
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,480
Speaker 2: doctor Stone he was saying, you know, some vas are

398
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,880
Speaker 2: starting to step it up and become more modernized where

399
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,480
Speaker 2: you get out of the parking garage and then you're

400
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,040
Speaker 2: already at like neurology. You know, you're already at these

401
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,560
Speaker 2: different you know places you need to go versus these

402
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 2: long Utah See I'm in Utah, so we have that

403
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Speaker 2: long VA system here and there's others around the country.

404
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,679
Speaker 2: And you know, if you've been to one, it's a

405
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Speaker 2: mile long. You can run, yeah, I mean yeah.

406
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Speaker 3: I would also say rad you know. And this goes

407
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Speaker 3: to caregivers too. This is a caregiver issue, but it's

408
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,760
Speaker 3: a veteran issue. You know, the Mission Act was passed,

409
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,119
Speaker 3: we haven't fully implemented it. You know, we have a program.

410
00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:49,879
Speaker 3: America's Warrior Partnership has a program in the Permian Basin

411
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Speaker 3: called the Permian Warrior Partnership. And if you've ever been

412
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,280
Speaker 3: out in West Texas Midland Odessa area, you know, the

413
00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,200
Speaker 3: VA's got a sea back there. They're about two hours

414
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 3: away from a major medical center, and if they really

415
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,320
Speaker 3: need to get care, they've got to go to Dallas,

416
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 3: which is about a four hour drive. There is a

417
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,640
Speaker 3: ton of medical capacity in Midland, Texas, Midland and Odessa.

418
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Speaker 3: And my point is, my caregivers should just be able

419
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:16,919
Speaker 3: to drive me twenty minutes down the road and go

420
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 3: see a civilian provider and the VA pays for it.

421
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Speaker 3: And then I see that so one of the things

422
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:25,040
Speaker 3: that we get. And this goes to caregivers too. So

423
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Speaker 3: everyone talks about distance and duration, right, how far do

424
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Speaker 3: I have to go and how long do I have

425
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 3: to wait for an appointment? And I think there needs

426
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 3: to be another factor, and rad this is this is

427
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,760
Speaker 3: the first time that I'll speak publicly about it. I

428
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:42,320
Speaker 3: think the other factor that we need to consider is continuity. Right,

429
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Speaker 3: So if you go to your Saint provider for the

430
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,360
Speaker 3: last ten years and you walk in and that provider

431
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 3: sees you, they're going to say, you know what, something's

432
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,919
Speaker 3: not right, Jim, I've seen you for ten years. You

433
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:54,919
Speaker 3: know it don't look like this. Something's not going on.

434
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,680
Speaker 3: But if I have never seen that person before, it's

435
00:22:58,720 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 3: a new meeting every.

436
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 2: Time, every time, and I think, yeah, go ahead, it's

437
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,640
Speaker 2: rehashing it too. I mean agreed, because at the VA

438
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:11,480
Speaker 2: here it's a clinic, it's a student facility for training doctors.

439
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,400
Speaker 2: And my dad would have to have heart issues and stints,

440
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 2: five different stints put into his thighs and whatnot, all

441
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 2: from a different person.

442
00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:23,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you know, yes, I think at least have

443
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 3: the primary care have continuity, and then if you have

444
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,280
Speaker 3: specialty care. You know, one of the issues that my

445
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 3: wife faced when we moved to Augusta, Georgia, and she

446
00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 3: did a really good job of balancing. So because we

447
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,400
Speaker 3: lived near Augusta, we had Eisenhower Armory Medical Center, which

448
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,640
Speaker 3: was at for Gordon. We had two campus via Big

449
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 3: VA Hospital in Augusta, and then we were fortunately Trycare

450
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,679
Speaker 3: and she was Medicare, so she had the choice of

451
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 3: going downtown. Well, she would have three or four different

452
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,639
Speaker 3: providers for the same thing, and she would have to

453
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,240
Speaker 3: orchestrate and coordinate amongst them, and I wouldn't help her.

454
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,160
Speaker 3: We would all work together. It shouldn't be that way.

455
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:05,960
Speaker 3: I should be able to She should have been able

456
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:10,480
Speaker 3: to go to the same provider who was the expert, right, Yeah,

457
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 3: and they took the lead. Anyways, It's it's crazy.

458
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 2: I just don't understand that either. And I get costs

459
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:17,760
Speaker 2: and cuts, but I don't get cost and cuts to

460
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,160
Speaker 2: this aspect of population as Americans. Right. You can maybe

461
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,879
Speaker 2: cut other things, like I don't know, but just not this.

462
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 2: And I hear about it right now chattering. They're like

463
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,320
Speaker 2: trying to cut you know, outpatient visit money from UH

464
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 2: spending bills and all these things in Congress, and it's like,

465
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,120
Speaker 2: you know, you're you're cutting out the wrong people here, right,

466
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 2: These people like the mobility aspect if they can't get out.

467
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,919
Speaker 2: I'm okay with these delivery services these days, bringing different foods.

468
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:45,439
Speaker 2: Like when I was growing up, it was always pizza.

469
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 2: I could order a pizza, Okay. Today yeah, everything's just

470
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 2: delivered right. So and I'm like to my daughter, I'm like,

471
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 2: where'd you get all these chips?

472
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:53,920
Speaker 3: Oh?

473
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,480
Speaker 2: They were delivered chips. I was like, okay, I'm just

474
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 2: you know, So that's a good thing for people who

475
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,239
Speaker 2: can't get out of the house to have that, you know,

476
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 2: that delivery service. I just that's what the VA is

477
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,440
Speaker 2: doing right now for the veterans by going out to

478
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 2: visit them and checking on them at their home where

479
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 2: they need that help if they're not able to get

480
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,119
Speaker 2: if they're in a rural area and you've got a

481
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,560
Speaker 2: VA rep driving the VA bus out there to go

482
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 2: meet with them, you know, I mean, that's a big deal.

483
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,240
Speaker 3: I'll talk about another community we have. It's called the

484
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 3: DNA NASBA Partnership, which is just south of u It's

485
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:31,919
Speaker 3: the Navo Nation and we have some great Navo women

486
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 3: that run it and that they lead it locally there.

487
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,040
Speaker 3: You know, everyone talks about during the pandemic, their number

488
00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,600
Speaker 3: one need was firewood, because that's what they used to

489
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 3: cook and eat their homes. It wasn't Internet, It wasn't deliveries,

490
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,159
Speaker 3: and nobody out there is going to deliver anything, so

491
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 3: you literally, you know, Internet was so far away from

492
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,320
Speaker 3: their thoughts it wasn't even a factor. We spent a

493
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 3: lot of time and with our partner, Garrisonese Foundation, making

494
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 3: sure that they had firewood. The point is, you know,

495
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 3: forty percent of veterans live in rural communities, That's right,

496
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 3: and that means forty percent of caregivers live in rural communities,

497
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 3: and we've got to figure out a way to make

498
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,159
Speaker 3: it easier on their life, whether it's via disability claims

499
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 3: that they shouldn't have to submit twice to get the answer,

500
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,160
Speaker 3: to submit it once. It should not be go through.

501
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,439
Speaker 2: The MEB Medical Evaluation Board and then we're gonna get

502
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,120
Speaker 2: to NINED and go through another METB and then you're

503
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 2: gonna get approved from the same beat. Yeah it's from

504
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,960
Speaker 2: the same Oh yeah, no, I mean really like it's

505
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 2: so close to home for me. That's why I was

506
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 2: so excited to have you on the show. And I

507
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,600
Speaker 2: know my listeners always hear my voice. I want them

508
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 2: to hear yours, otherwise I'd be gushing with you about

509
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,360
Speaker 2: so many different things that my mom had to learn

510
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:44,159
Speaker 2: to become a caregiver. Was half lawyer, half caregiver, half

511
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,439
Speaker 2: mom still half money. Hell do I how do? How

512
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,160
Speaker 2: do we make money? While Dad's you know, being rated out?

513
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 2: I mean talk to the church to get food assistants.

514
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,960
Speaker 2: I mean I've drank powdered milk. And my dad was

515
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,480
Speaker 2: a Green Beret and you would think these guys had

516
00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:58,919
Speaker 2: all star contracts.

517
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, no.

518
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 2: And he makes sure every every month his faith, every month,

519
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 2: without without any wavering And I never thought any different

520
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: of Dad or mom forgiving their money to what they

521
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 2: believed in as their faith, because I always was provided

522
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 2: to even if it was water in cheerios, okay, which

523
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,679
Speaker 2: was my dad's told me that's normal. Look, all these

524
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 2: kids eat water and cheerios these days, Like I can't

525
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 2: google that, So here I am eating water in my ceios.

526
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 2: But you know, you just got to do what you

527
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 2: gotta do. And so that's what they taught me. And

528
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: they taught me to take care of people. And you know,

529
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,880
Speaker 2: never judge a book by its cover, and everybody's unique,

530
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:36,639
Speaker 2: you know. And I always thought, if you raise your

531
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 2: hand and swear to defend the country, and off you

532
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,480
Speaker 2: go and step on yellow dots somewhere, you're good to gold.

533
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:44,680
Speaker 2: Your gold, you're good with me. Right, you get hurt

534
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 2: from there on out, man. You know, it's like training

535
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 2: issues happen. People think they can run overnight and they

536
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 2: get to boot and they don't run overnight. They tear

537
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,440
Speaker 2: their body up and they could get hurt third week in.

538
00:27:56,119 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 2: That's still happened on the spot right all the way. Yeah,

539
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 2: if you get id in a village, you know, the

540
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 2: injuries are still there, the person still deals with them,

541
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 2: and they should still be looked at appropriately and not

542
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 2: like you said, oh, he's just a mechanic driver. You know,

543
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 2: you just don't know anybody's trials, tribulations.

544
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 3: You don't you don't know what path they've taken, especially nowadays. No, Well,

545
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 3: what I would say, you know, offer there's a lot

546
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 3: of great caregiver programs that are out there, and I

547
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,880
Speaker 3: would offer your viewers if if they don't know where

548
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 3: to go, there's a lot of options. If they don't

549
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,200
Speaker 3: know where to go and how to navigate, they can

550
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 3: contact America's Warrior Partnership We have a program called the Network,

551
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 3: and I'll talk you know you in your state. You've

552
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 3: got a great director of Veteran Services for the state.

553
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 3: His name's Gary Harder, great guy. We work closely with Utah,

554
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 3: so if anyone called us from Utah, we would then

555
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 3: reach back into Utah and say, hey, I've got somebody

556
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,920
Speaker 3: who needs help. All let's both work together to do it.

557
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,840
Speaker 3: But the point is is that there are so many

558
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 3: services that are available that most people aren't even aware of.

559
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 3: And honestly, Google is great eight to get an idea,

560
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 3: but it's not great in telling you who's who's credible

561
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 3: and who's not right. And I would offer your viewers

562
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 3: if they want to come to America's Warrior Partnership and

563
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 3: go to the network. It's it's www. America's Warrior Partnership

564
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 3: dot org and go to the network and ask for help.

565
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 3: Will help you.

566
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 2: It's a really cool app and there's a lot it's

567
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 2: really easy to scroll through and.

568
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, that's right you here on the Yeah.

569
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,800
Speaker 2: I was, I was researching it. You're talking about events

570
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 2: coming up. You know, I don't really like to date

571
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 2: my episodes, but you know, it's May. It's Mother's Day

572
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 2: if you know coming up, this will probably go on

573
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 2: in about a week or two, but you have an

574
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 2: August event coming up that you guys are going to

575
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,000
Speaker 2: be helping out with in Texas. I saw that and

576
00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 2: then actually there's quite a lot of information on the app,

577
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 2: and if you just go check out the app, which

578
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 2: is the America's Warrior Partnership, which is what I looked up.

579
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,720
Speaker 2: I just went and did it. Yeah, it's like okay, yeah,

580
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 2: And what.

581
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 3: Will happen is it's not a way. It's not a

582
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,000
Speaker 3: You're going to talk to somebody who is an expert

583
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 3: at solving veterans issues at the community level and they're

584
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,600
Speaker 3: going to listen to it and then we're gonna go forward.

585
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 3: But that's what the network does. I'll offer that up

586
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,480
Speaker 3: to your viewers. The other thing that I would just

587
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 3: want to talk about, just briefly, if you don't mind,

588
00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 3: is suicide and veteran suicide, and we do a study

589
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 3: it's called Operation Deep Dive. One of the things that

590
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 3: I've talked about is that no one's doing a study

591
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 3: on caregiver suicide and there's really not a lot of

592
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 3: ways other than anecdotally. There's not a lot of ways

593
00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 3: to capture it, but I think that we need to

594
00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 3: figure out how do we understand the toll caregiving is

595
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,720
Speaker 3: taking on our families. Like I said, anecdotally, you hear

596
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 3: stories about families who have you know, whose wives or

597
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 3: children take their lives and their caregiver family. But I

598
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,600
Speaker 3: don't think we quantify it. And you know, while we're

599
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 3: doing veterans as at America's Warrior Partnership and National Guard

600
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 3: Reserve and veterans and those who served and trying to

601
00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:00,280
Speaker 3: understand more about their suicide rate and suicide patterns, I

602
00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 3: think caregivers need more. And there's you know, there's a

603
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 3: couple of great organizations Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Steven Schwab there

604
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 3: does a great job and they are fantastic. The Red

605
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,600
Speaker 3: Cross has a program called the Military Veteran Caregiver Network,

606
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 3: and my friend Melissa Como runs that. She is a

607
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 3: caregiver herself, and I'll tell you what she is. She

608
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 3: is a force of nature. But there's a lot of

609
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 3: resources out there that people can go to. And our

610
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,880
Speaker 3: model in America's Warrior Partnership is together, we can do better,

611
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:33,920
Speaker 3: and I truly believe we can do better.

612
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do too, I really and I hope our listener.

613
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,360
Speaker 2: You know, if we're talking to one person right now

614
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 2: and they're listening to this and it hits them right

615
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,000
Speaker 2: in the in the fields, then I would definitely check

616
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,400
Speaker 2: out America's Warrior Partnership and just link up if you're

617
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,600
Speaker 2: looking for any advice, if you're wanting to know who

618
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 2: in your state would be good to link up with.

619
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 2: I'm sure you know that Jim and the guys can

620
00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 2: out in the right direction. You're not only a member, Jim,

621
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 2: you're the president. I know.

622
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 3: Exactly. I'm a member and I'm a president. And you know,

623
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:08,120
Speaker 3: I laugh rad that I said to someone, I said,

624
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 3: I'm a vet, I'm a caregiver, I'm a spouse, and

625
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 3: I'm a dad and a grandfather of a veteran. So

626
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 3: my son serves and my granddaughter's husband serves in the

627
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 3: Air Force. Oh, my son serves in the army. But

628
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 3: it's a family business. And what you're seeing rad when

629
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 3: you look at recruiting numbers and those who are currently serving,

630
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 3: eighty percent of those who are currently serving have a mother, father, sister,

631
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,920
Speaker 3: or brother who serves. It's becoming a family business.

632
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 2: YEP.

633
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,960
Speaker 3: And I have to tell you that's not a good thing.

634
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 3: That's not a good thing that the majority of the

635
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,440
Speaker 3: people in the United States don't have a connection to

636
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 3: anyone who served in the military, because unfortunately, I feel

637
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 3: like that will be taken for granted at some point.

638
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 2: So it's just like, you know, what do we do

639
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 2: with recruiting, Then we need to just have more people

640
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 2: maybe someone listening, just reach out and talk to their

641
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 2: local National Guard recruiter or even like a reserve recruiter.

642
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,440
Speaker 2: You don't have to do it twenty four to seven

643
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 2: unless you want to go twenty four to seven or

644
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 2: you get activated. All right, let's get tweekends a month,

645
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 2: one week a year kind of thing.

646
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 3: Oh no, oh no, it's not anymore.

647
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no, no no. My friend had

648
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 2: a sign in the first Iraq wave like OEF one

649
00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:21,760
Speaker 2: or OIF one, and it had h had a sign

650
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 2: that said one week in a month, my ass and

651
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 2: it was it was on CNX. It was in the

652
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,719
Speaker 2: window of his like truck.

653
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 3: No, that's exactly. And you know, we put so much

654
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,560
Speaker 3: of a so much of a burden on on our

655
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 3: guarden reserve. And let you know, let's go back to caregivers,

656
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 3: if we're going to talk honestly about it. Yeah, a

657
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,280
Speaker 3: guardsman and a reservist who didn't get federally activated for

658
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:44,520
Speaker 3: more than one hundred and eighty days. The VA doesn't

659
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:45,040
Speaker 3: come as.

660
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,520
Speaker 2: A vat right. And I sell my guys that all

661
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:47,960
Speaker 2: the time.

662
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:48,960
Speaker 3: It's crazy.

663
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 2: I say, make sure you get active duty, make sure

664
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:52,760
Speaker 2: you get some active duty days, make sure you go

665
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 2: to do some training.

666
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:58,480
Speaker 3: Yeah. I when I was at SOCOM when I really realized,

667
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 3: when I was at the care Coalition and I realized

668
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:02,800
Speaker 3: how different, and I got to I have to tell

669
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 3: you that it came actually when I was on active

670
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:09,080
Speaker 3: duty and I had buddies of mine who were Guard Reserve.

671
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:11,960
Speaker 3: We were all together and they, you know, a couple

672
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:16,120
Speaker 3: of them got really badly wounded and they went home

673
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 3: to a different world than active duty did. And I

674
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,279
Speaker 3: then afterwards, I used to say to people, what are

675
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 3: you join the guards for? You get you have to

676
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 3: get active duty time so that you're eligible for VA

677
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:34,160
Speaker 3: benefits regardless of what happened. And I think, yeah, and

678
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:38,040
Speaker 3: that goes to caregivers too, These caregivers who have National Guard.

679
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,560
Speaker 3: You know, your dad was SF and so.

680
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 2: He was twenty four to seven active arg like active

681
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 2: guard ready, you know? Right?

682
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 3: So yeah, right, let me give you an example. Right now,

683
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:51,960
Speaker 3: let me give you it's probably it's not back to

684
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 3: your dad's age. But but since the mid two thousands,

685
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,120
Speaker 3: Special Forces said, hey, we've got this program called eighteen

686
00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:01,359
Speaker 3: X RAY. If you're old enough, you get old enough

687
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,000
Speaker 3: with some college education, you can enlist directly in and

688
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,080
Speaker 3: if you can make it through the assessment, selection and

689
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,040
Speaker 3: Q course, you can be a Green Beret and so so.

690
00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:13,319
Speaker 2: As yours like you straight up start is that? That's

691
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 2: what it is.

692
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:16,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, straight up start is that? And you can do

693
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,160
Speaker 3: that through the National Guard. Right so, now, so I

694
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 3: go through that whole process. By the way, that two

695
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:23,839
Speaker 3: years of training that I could have gone through as

696
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 3: a medic in SF as a National guardsman doesn't count

697
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:32,040
Speaker 3: towards any active duty ten number one, what, no, doesn't count.

698
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:32,800
Speaker 3: It's called training.

699
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:34,480
Speaker 2: What so that doesn't count?

700
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,600
Speaker 3: No? No, So then you go in here follow this train,

701
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,480
Speaker 3: and then you go into the Special Forces and you're

702
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 3: in a let's say, and I've got a buddy up

703
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:46,239
Speaker 3: and up in Boston who's guardsmen up there, and they

704
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,000
Speaker 3: respond to national disasters, They do a lot of other things.

705
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,160
Speaker 3: They do. They deploy to foreign internal defense missions that

706
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,720
Speaker 3: might be thirty days long, right, doesn't count as active duty.

707
00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,760
Speaker 3: You could do your whole career twenty twenty years, responding

708
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:06,080
Speaker 3: to every national emergency, every call, deployed overseas to places

709
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:09,480
Speaker 3: that you are in harm's way as a guardsman, and

710
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:11,799
Speaker 3: you're still not You're still not considered a vet.

711
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 2: I would almost think that if you sleep over it's activity.

712
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 2: I agree, but yeah, you're putting me up overnight. We're

713
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 2: counting that like twenty four hour period.

714
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,440
Speaker 3: Bro. We need to rethink. I think the nation, with

715
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,120
Speaker 3: our dependence on the National Guarden Reserve, need to rethink

716
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:33,560
Speaker 3: correct how do we how do what do we consider

717
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 3: having served and not? And then this is the other

718
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 3: travesty that I that we found in our suicide study

719
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 3: is that the VA doesn't count Garden reserve. So if

720
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,960
Speaker 3: you died, if you took your life between drills, you're

721
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,000
Speaker 3: not considered you're you're actually considered a veteran, but the

722
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 3: VA is not going to count yet, and DUD will

723
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 3: count you, but only if you're on orders while it happens.

724
00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:00,160
Speaker 3: So anyway, the point is we need to remove of

725
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,040
Speaker 3: all the ambiguity of do I count or not? Right,

726
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 3: and get rid of itactly. Yeah to me, if you

727
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,200
Speaker 3: raise your hand, you and you swore to defend the

728
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:13,000
Speaker 3: Constitution against all enemies born and domestic, and you didn't

729
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:17,640
Speaker 3: get discharged dishonorably, guess what, you're a vent you sir?

730
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 3: Thank you. Now, let's take care of it.

731
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:20,880
Speaker 2: Let's go and let's go.

732
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 3: And to the point of the recruiting. You know, the

733
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:27,480
Speaker 3: recruiting crisis. Everyone says, Oh, the recruiting crisis is marketing,

734
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,279
Speaker 3: and no it's not. It's service. If you went to

735
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,840
Speaker 3: a McDonald's and got a shitty hamburger, right, would you

736
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 3: go back to that McDonald's? No?

737
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:38,399
Speaker 2: No, right?

738
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 3: Or if or let's let's do this. If you ordered

739
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 3: from Amazon and a third party filled it and the

740
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 3: third party wronged you, would you go back to Amazon? No?

741
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:49,799
Speaker 2: No?

742
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 3: So anyways, the point is, I think if we want

743
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:56,680
Speaker 3: to increase our recruitment of this all volunteer force, because

744
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,200
Speaker 3: rat I'll tell you this nation is not ready for

745
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,359
Speaker 3: a draft. But if you went back to an all

746
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 3: volunteer if we to sustain our all volunteer force, the

747
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:06,960
Speaker 3: first thing that we have to do is make the

748
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 3: best recruiter for the Department of Defense. Who is the

749
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:10,800
Speaker 3: VA better?

750
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 2: Yes? Yeah, Otherwise every single mom and pop is going

751
00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:17,920
Speaker 2: to in high school, USA is going to lose their

752
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 2: entire football team to conscription exactly. Oh yeah, and they're

753
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 2: not going to the NFL. It's conscription. It's draft.

754
00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:29,160
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, get to that. I don't think the American

755
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,960
Speaker 3: people would tolerate tolerated. But I have to tell you,

756
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,879
Speaker 3: and I've talked to older vets who are Vietnam Era

757
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 3: vets and I and I and my opinion is I

758
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:43,359
Speaker 3: would never want a conscripted force in combat. I would

759
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 3: rather much rather have Instead of one hundred conscripted, I'd

760
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:48,239
Speaker 3: rather have ten volunteers.

761
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, any patriotism, you just can't force it. But you

762
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:53,319
Speaker 2: got to do what's right.

763
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:54,839
Speaker 3: You got to do right for them, by them.

764
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 2: You got to do right. You got to be son

765
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:58,840
Speaker 2: of Utrid as you cross through all of the planes

766
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,240
Speaker 2: of England and create one England in one America.

767
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:02,400
Speaker 3: You know.

768
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:03,799
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've seen that show, but you

769
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,200
Speaker 2: should shout out to Utred on Netflix. Okay, I think

770
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:06,840
Speaker 2: it's neflia.

771
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,239
Speaker 3: No, I agree, but I mean we got to do

772
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 3: a better job. And you know, since this is the

773
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 3: month of the caregiver, you know, you gotta do a

774
00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 3: better job.

775
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,839
Speaker 2: A caregiving agreed, and I goes to the VA being

776
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:22,200
Speaker 2: the caregiver as well to the actual caregivers who are

777
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:26,879
Speaker 2: giving care. It's a very sensitive subject to me because

778
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,359
Speaker 2: my father, grandfather was World War Two event very VA

779
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:31,960
Speaker 2: strickened how to go there. A lot you know, passed

780
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:34,719
Speaker 2: away there in the VA on Christmas Day and then

781
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,080
Speaker 2: my father, you know, I was in the ward with

782
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,239
Speaker 2: them when they were like calling them vts and then

783
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 2: they had the ww's and then they had the deserts,

784
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:42,960
Speaker 2: and I was like, what are you saying? And these

785
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:44,880
Speaker 2: were nurses and I was like, what are you saying?

786
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:46,600
Speaker 2: Right here? And I'm standing at the desk, like what

787
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:48,520
Speaker 2: are you talking about? My dad? Calling him a what? Oh,

788
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,759
Speaker 2: he's a VT. And we just shortened everything for the

789
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:53,799
Speaker 2: ww's because that's who's going next. And I was like,

790
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 2: you know, I'm the son of him.

791
00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:58,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, And you're talking.

792
00:39:58,320 --> 00:39:59,759
Speaker 2: Like this in front of me. It's almost like the

793
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 2: dog tags the same in private Ryan in front of

794
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:03,799
Speaker 2: the whole other unit as they's tossing them looking for

795
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,440
Speaker 2: their guy. They're like they just forgot for a moment, like.

796
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no, you can't depersonalize it. Everybody. You know,

797
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:16,080
Speaker 3: America's warrior partnership, our model is I truly believe, I

798
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:18,040
Speaker 3: think every veteran in the United States should be known.

799
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:21,439
Speaker 3: And when you think that there's something like seventeen point

800
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:24,560
Speaker 3: eight million veterans in the United States and we only

801
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:27,440
Speaker 3: serve and there's only eight to nine million enrolled in

802
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,319
Speaker 3: the VA, right, we're missing another eight Where are they right?

803
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:31,759
Speaker 2: Right? Why aren't they right?

804
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:33,160
Speaker 3: Why aren't they where are they?

805
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:35,320
Speaker 2: You know? Doctor Stone kind of elaborated, He said the

806
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,440
Speaker 2: same kind of numbers and stats. He said that, you know,

807
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,160
Speaker 2: those are the youngers who just think that they don't

808
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 2: need to go to the VA because they've been through something,

809
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:46,600
Speaker 2: but they're still prideful about walking down that mile long

810
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,480
Speaker 2: hallway to get checked out by a VA doc. Then

811
00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:52,160
Speaker 2: they get older and then they realize the VA needs

812
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:53,799
Speaker 2: to see them, and then now they have to have

813
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,200
Speaker 2: their caregiver walking down that mile long.

814
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 3: No no before they do that rad Yeah, they have

815
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 3: to prove right that they had a disability right, which

816
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 3: ten years later is near impossible.

817
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,239
Speaker 2: But he was just playing with uranium depleted shelves, loading

818
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 2: him into a taint during desert storm.

819
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:12,440
Speaker 3: Doctors, it doesn't matter. It may not even you know,

820
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,080
Speaker 3: they're gonna say it's not service connected.

821
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:16,040
Speaker 2: You know it was.

822
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:18,399
Speaker 3: It was the plastic bottle you drank out.

823
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:21,239
Speaker 2: Of, right, it was only dropping them out of an airplane. Wrong. Yeah,

824
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 2: you know.

825
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 3: But the point to your viewers, anybody who's watching, who's

826
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:28,040
Speaker 3: a young post nine to eleven VET, if you haven't

827
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:31,440
Speaker 3: enrolled in the VA for whatever the reason is, it

828
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:34,799
Speaker 3: doesn't get easier with time. It doesn't. Every day that

829
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:37,359
Speaker 3: goes by it makes it harder for you. And don't

830
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,799
Speaker 3: do it. Just go ahead and enroll. You'd never have

831
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:43,400
Speaker 3: to go, ever have to go. You've earned it. But

832
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 3: it's there as a safety net. Go and roll.

833
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:46,839
Speaker 2: Call them.

834
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:47,799
Speaker 3: It's easy calls.

835
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:50,640
Speaker 2: Talk, say hey, I served, and they'll say what's your

836
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:53,239
Speaker 2: Social Security number? And then I bet you just go

837
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:54,759
Speaker 2: right down the hill right there, they'll point in the

838
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:56,319
Speaker 2: right direction. You just got to fall through, just like

839
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:57,799
Speaker 2: you did when you join, and you went through all

840
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 2: your stuff and you follow through. So my listener out there,

841
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:01,560
Speaker 2: you just got to follow through. You just got to

842
00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:03,680
Speaker 2: do it. You have to do it. And uh, when

843
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:05,719
Speaker 2: my dad wasn't able to do it, my mom was

844
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,200
Speaker 2: doing it. And so I learned all of these things

845
00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:11,440
Speaker 2: that you can get elevators for disabled loved ones at

846
00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,640
Speaker 2: one hundred percent rated. You can get you know, recreational

847
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,840
Speaker 2: therapy for somebody who needs to go out and be

848
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:18,719
Speaker 2: in the mountains and have that prescribed. Just got to

849
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:20,560
Speaker 2: ask the VA about it.

850
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,359
Speaker 3: You're right, You're right. And like I said, in all

851
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,120
Speaker 3: the states have a state director, most states have county

852
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:30,880
Speaker 3: Veteran Service officers. They're there to advocate for you. Again,

853
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:33,480
Speaker 3: I'm going to do a pitch for America's Warrior Partnership.

854
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:36,640
Speaker 3: If you don't get satisfaction, contact us and we'll and

855
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:38,080
Speaker 3: we'll advocate on your behalf.

856
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:42,920
Speaker 2: So because you remember he's the president, I love.

857
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:44,719
Speaker 3: It works so well that you know, I didn't buy

858
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:48,080
Speaker 3: the company, we founded it, but yeah, yeah, because we

859
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,319
Speaker 3: love you know, we got started rad and when I

860
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:55,240
Speaker 3: moved up from Socom up to Augusta, Georgia, I thought

861
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 3: we founded a local program and we got lucky because

862
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:00,759
Speaker 3: one of the one of the jobs that we had

863
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:03,920
Speaker 3: was doing homeless bets and we focused on it was

864
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 3: a big issue back in back in the early twenty ten,

865
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 3: twenty eleven, and when I came here in Augusta, they

866
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,240
Speaker 3: had one hundred and fifty nine homeless veterans by their

867
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 3: official count, and we went we went military on them

868
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:21,439
Speaker 3: and said, okay, number one, let's go find them all.

869
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,359
Speaker 3: And they and the team looked at me and said,

870
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:24,719
Speaker 3: what do you mean, find them all? So go find

871
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:27,480
Speaker 3: them all. Go find them, build a relationship with them,

872
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,279
Speaker 3: understand who they are, and then let's connect them to

873
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,600
Speaker 3: the services that exist to improve their quality of life,

874
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,439
Speaker 3: and then let's stick with them until they get until

875
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:39,279
Speaker 3: they get taken care of. Well. In eighteen months we

876
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:41,160
Speaker 3: went from one hundred and fifty nine down to seven.

877
00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:44,480
Speaker 2: That's great, and the point is huge.

878
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,160
Speaker 3: The point is that communities can do this. Everybody can

879
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:51,959
Speaker 3: do this. You still have to focus and go let's

880
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:54,719
Speaker 3: roll it back to the VA. We have to think

881
00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:58,040
Speaker 3: differently to your point about the long quarters. That's that's

882
00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:00,960
Speaker 3: resonating with me for a couple of reasons. One is,

883
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:02,640
Speaker 3: you know, I worked in a hospital and I've been

884
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:06,879
Speaker 3: hospit medically based. Long quarters are ancient times. Those are

885
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 3: that's old medicine in my opinion, look at the new

886
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,080
Speaker 3: hospitals today, there are no longer quarters. You go to

887
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:16,400
Speaker 3: Cleveland Clinic, customer service is their focus. They get you through,

888
00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:19,200
Speaker 3: they get your focused, they get you in, and it's

889
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:22,680
Speaker 3: a positive experience to a negative position that you're in.

890
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:25,879
Speaker 3: We have to think differently, we have to look at

891
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:29,399
Speaker 3: some at things differently and approach it differently. I'm sure

892
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,600
Speaker 3: doctor Stone felt the same way. Yes, you know, he's

893
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,480
Speaker 3: a smart guy. Yeah, yeah, and he's great. You know,

894
00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 3: he's gonna go teach recreational surfing.

895
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:40,359
Speaker 2: Yeah.

896
00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:40,600
Speaker 3: Yeah.

897
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:42,520
Speaker 2: As we were talking about snowboarding because I snowboard a lot,

898
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:44,400
Speaker 2: he skis, and he's like, oh hey, and you know,

899
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,400
Speaker 2: when you're a general dude, sir, you know, it's like,

900
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 2: let's go hit the surf. I want to. I was

901
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,239
Speaker 2: talking about surfing and he's like, well, that's something I'm

902
00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:53,439
Speaker 2: actually taking a bunch of veterans to the West Coast.

903
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:54,759
Speaker 2: I'm gonna teach him how to surf. And I was

904
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:57,040
Speaker 2: like that, why did you get out of the position.

905
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:59,560
Speaker 2: Hopefully your predecessor, the guy in charge right now, is

906
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 2: watching it. This is what I said, and he's gonna

907
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:04,880
Speaker 2: implement surfing because I think that might make you smile

908
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:06,759
Speaker 2: if you think about going up on the mountain right now,

909
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 2: if you think about something you love to do, if

910
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:09,839
Speaker 2: you love to scuba dive and you're missing your legs,

911
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:12,080
Speaker 2: you can still scuba dive, okay. And it could be

912
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:13,960
Speaker 2: weightless and you can be down there and you can float,

913
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 2: and you can still be just with the fish and

914
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 2: all the things you love, and you'll just forget about

915
00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 2: everything and just be weightless. And that goes for a

916
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,719
Speaker 2: lot of people. Scuba diving is huge, you know, because

917
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:26,120
Speaker 2: now you're like, I gotta live. You're like, what about

918
00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:27,800
Speaker 2: my problems? Oh, I gotta live, I gotta breathe, I

919
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:28,279
Speaker 2: gotta live.

920
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:31,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I'll tell you at the

921
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:35,000
Speaker 3: end of the month, we've got a supporter. There's a race.

922
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,080
Speaker 3: There's a sailing race at the end of that's Memorial

923
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:40,680
Speaker 3: Day every year, and it's up it's say, there's a

924
00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 3: race is from Hyenna's Mass to Nantucket. A few years ago,

925
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:45,719
Speaker 3: a guy reached out to me and he said, Hey,

926
00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:47,920
Speaker 3: I've got a bunch of vets that are coming, but

927
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,960
Speaker 3: I want America's Warrior Partnership to be the part of this.

928
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,279
Speaker 3: Right the boat that he has is called Defender. His

929
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:57,680
Speaker 3: name's Chris Christian. He's a great guy as a former

930
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:01,359
Speaker 3: eighty second Airborne guy. But anyway, so what we do

931
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,359
Speaker 3: and I'll go up there, this will be my third year.

932
00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 3: We go up and we bring a bunch of vets.

933
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,279
Speaker 3: We put them on other people's boats and they not

934
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:13,640
Speaker 3: just sail, but they race from Hyanniston Nantucket. It is

935
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,520
Speaker 3: what they get out of it is team building. My team.

936
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:20,080
Speaker 3: I said to my team this as a matter of fact.

937
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:22,360
Speaker 3: They said it to him yesterday. You know, we have

938
00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:24,279
Speaker 3: a lot going on. I said, I'm not sure I'm

939
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:26,160
Speaker 3: going to I think I'm going to shorten the trip.

940
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:28,719
Speaker 3: And they looked at me and they said, no, no, no, no,

941
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:32,319
Speaker 3: you have to go. That is your this where you

942
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:36,200
Speaker 3: get relief, You come back and change person. You need

943
00:46:36,239 --> 00:46:39,280
Speaker 3: to go do this, not for work, but for yourself.

944
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:41,920
Speaker 3: And to your point, I agree, whether you're up on

945
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,520
Speaker 3: the mountain or whether you're surfing, or whether you're sailing,

946
00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 3: or whether you're playing golf or whatever you're doing, they

947
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:50,160
Speaker 3: give you.

948
00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:52,319
Speaker 2: I love to do it. I love to do it.

949
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:53,640
Speaker 2: I just want to put it out there. But it's

950
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:54,839
Speaker 2: it's really you're the river.

951
00:46:55,719 --> 00:46:59,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I mean, you know, one of them.

952
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:02,719
Speaker 3: America's where your partnership. We look at eight things that

953
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:06,920
Speaker 3: contribute to quality of life and spiritual is one of them. Housing, employment, education,

954
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:10,839
Speaker 3: blah blah blah. One of them is recreation. That and

955
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:12,840
Speaker 3: everyone pushed back on me and they said, why do

956
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:15,400
Speaker 3: you have that in your wheel of quality of life?

957
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:17,959
Speaker 3: It's because if you're not doing something that you love,

958
00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:20,000
Speaker 3: what are you doing?

959
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:20,560
Speaker 2: Yeah?

960
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,920
Speaker 3: You know, and so yeah, what are you doing it for?

961
00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:27,080
Speaker 3: And I think, I think, so let's go back to caregivers.

962
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,239
Speaker 3: In the caregiver world. In the there are a lot

963
00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:32,920
Speaker 3: of programs for caregivers. One of the things that the

964
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:38,440
Speaker 3: caregiver program gives to to families is respite care. So

965
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:40,919
Speaker 3: where you were the person given the care, they don't

966
00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:42,360
Speaker 3: come to somebody will come in and take care of

967
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,920
Speaker 3: your loved one for a period of time so you

968
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:46,839
Speaker 3: can go have a breather or else.

969
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 2: Twenty four seven, I was a respect caregiver. You know, yeah, no,

970
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:57,520
Speaker 2: here you that's awesome. I agree so much in common.

971
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,319
Speaker 2: I just except you know, you and I to be

972
00:48:00,719 --> 00:48:04,240
Speaker 2: a lieutenant colonel. No, I think that I would listen

973
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:06,160
Speaker 2: and what I'd like to do is keep you in

974
00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:08,680
Speaker 2: my rolodex of having you back on the show and

975
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:10,959
Speaker 2: talking to you about you and finding out how maybe

976
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,719
Speaker 2: your trip went or other positive things that you want

977
00:48:13,719 --> 00:48:15,080
Speaker 2: to put out. There are things that you might find

978
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:17,239
Speaker 2: out with the via. You're like, hey, Rad, let's link

979
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:19,279
Speaker 2: up again and let me get my message out. And

980
00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:21,080
Speaker 2: you know, if you ever have a book that you've written.

981
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:26,120
Speaker 2: But again, America's Warrior Partnership is what's going on right now,

982
00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:28,800
Speaker 2: and to my listener, just check that out. Get involved

983
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,359
Speaker 2: with what Jim Lorraine has put together based off of

984
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,720
Speaker 2: just experience and empathy and trying to get it done

985
00:48:35,719 --> 00:48:40,280
Speaker 2: for himself and his loved one. Right caregiver loving, your loving,

986
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:42,440
Speaker 2: that's just it empathy, you know. And if you're a

987
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,319
Speaker 2: caregiver out there, don't give up, don't give up hope.

988
00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:48,480
Speaker 2: You know, you can reach out to me Rad Rockin

989
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:50,560
Speaker 2: on Instagram if you feel like you're down and out

990
00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:52,120
Speaker 2: and you want to say hi. It's not the first

991
00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:53,960
Speaker 2: time I've had somebody reach out to me and do that.

992
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:57,000
Speaker 2: My wife's like, who are you talking to to the board, Like, so,

993
00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:58,640
Speaker 2: I'm just having a hard day, you know.

994
00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:01,640
Speaker 3: And Brad you got to take care of yourself too.

995
00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:06,040
Speaker 2: Well, it's really you know again, I blame my mom.

996
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:08,120
Speaker 3: Go blame your mom.

997
00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:12,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love her and it's Mother's daytime. So even

998
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:14,520
Speaker 2: though this air a little bit, we love our mom.

999
00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:16,399
Speaker 2: So make sure she's around and you love her. Tell

1000
00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:19,040
Speaker 2: her hi. And to allow those you out there, those

1001
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:22,480
Speaker 2: women mothers who were in our military that served and

1002
00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:26,080
Speaker 2: endured pregnancy under a chain of command and had to

1003
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:28,719
Speaker 2: deal with all of that. And you know, thank you

1004
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:30,759
Speaker 2: from the bottom of my heart and all of us

1005
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:34,200
Speaker 2: here a soft rep. And I'm sure my boss, Brandon

1006
00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:37,480
Speaker 2: Webb would think his mom publicly. So what's up? Thanks mom,

1007
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,319
Speaker 2: Mom's rock, Jim. Do you have any last final things

1008
00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:41,040
Speaker 2: you'd like to say?

1009
00:49:41,719 --> 00:49:43,480
Speaker 3: No, I just want to say thank you and happy

1010
00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:45,960
Speaker 3: Mother's Day. But want to say thank you to you

1011
00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:50,600
Speaker 3: and your viewers. If again, you're not alone, there's somebody

1012
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:53,040
Speaker 3: who always has your back, and if you need help,

1013
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:56,440
Speaker 3: contact somebody, and you can contact America's Warrior Partnership and

1014
00:49:56,480 --> 00:49:57,359
Speaker 3: we're happy to help.

1015
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:00,959
Speaker 2: Well we will end on that positive note, right, that's okay,

1016
00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:02,920
Speaker 2: And I just want to say thank thank you so

1017
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,239
Speaker 2: much for joining us. And again, if you're listening to

1018
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:07,320
Speaker 2: this far into the podcast. Thank you to my listener.

1019
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:10,080
Speaker 2: Check out our merch store at softwap dot com. Go

1020
00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:12,600
Speaker 2: buy a mug, buy a shirt, go check it out,

1021
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:16,600
Speaker 2: and check out America's Warrior Partnership by my friend here,

1022
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:19,600
Speaker 2: Jim Lorraine. All Right, and with that, I'm gonna say

1023
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:20,520
Speaker 2: peace Bank.

1024
00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:30,120
Speaker 1: You've been listening to Self Rep Radio.