WEBVTT - Finding Your Voice in The Army with Kynnie Martin 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:04.720 Please be advised the following episode contains references to violence 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:13.480 and may not be suitable for all listeners. This is 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:16.079 BETS You Should Know, a podcast from My Heart Radio 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.680 celebrating the many who have selflessly put their lives on 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:20.840 the line to serve their country and the armed forces. 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:24.239 Every Veterans Day, we as a country honor and commemorate 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:26.960 the people who fight for our freedom and defend our country. 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:29.400 And in this four part series, you'll hear from these 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:32.880 individuals as they share their unique experiences in the military 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.360 and the lessons they learned that carried them into their 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.520 new roles in civilian life. Former U. S Army Captain 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.120 Kenny Martin has a story unlike any other. The daughter 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:44.760 of a single mother, Kenny spent her teen years living 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.720 with her grandparents after a tragic event befell their family 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.800 and left her mom serving a twenty eight year prison sentence. 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.120 During the trial, Kenny was told her voice and story 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.680 didn't matter. Thankfully, it wasn't long after joining the Army 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.680 that Kenny found her voice again. Today, she uses her 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:02.800 voice to lift up and support the voices of others 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.520 by working with nonprofit organizations that serve veterans I had 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:08.800 a chance to speak with Kenny about the incredible work 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.880 she did in military intelligence and the hopes she has 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:19.240 for her own daughters. Hi. Hi, how are you good 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:20.800 to talk to you? Get to talk to you? Well, 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:22.720 I mean, I don't talk to you on the radio 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.320 when I hear your voice, but good to hear your voice. 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:27.440 But for real, it's kind of weird. It's like an 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:30.880 interactive radio show. Now. Usually just yell and I wouldn't hear. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:32.640 But now you can say whatever you want any time, 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.200 and I have to acknowledge it. I know. Well, I'm 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.600 very honored that you'd spent some time with me, So again, 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:41.160 thank you very much. Yeah, thanks for doing this. Let's 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.600 start from the beginning. I kind of like to get 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:45.959 to know what what folks are about before we even 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:50.280 talk about the military service. And so tell me where 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:52.680 you grew up and what home was like for you 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:57.480 early on. Sure. So. I born and raised in Colorado, 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:01.440 originally from Colorado Springs, but currently live in Denver with 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.040 my husband and my two kids. I was raised by 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.400 a single parent, my mom My father Quasi in the 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.000 picture when I was little, but they got divorced when 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:15.200 I was pretty young. My mom and my grandparents raised 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:19.640 myself and my two younger brothers in Colorado Springs. Growing 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:21.600 up with a single mom, Do you feel like that 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:24.079 in any way or anything from that, because I grew 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:25.639 up with a single mom too, and it had a 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:27.720 lot to do with the decisions I made in life. Yeah, 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.960 for sure. So speaking of life decisions, tell me about 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.000 your decision to listen the army. How did that come about? 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:36.320 It was actually a spur of the moment decision for 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:41.800 me to go into the army. I think being raised 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.640 by a single parent and then my grandparents. My grandfather 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.240 was a West Point class of nineteen thirty two and 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.200 served thirty two years in the army, and his side 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.240 of the family has very long history of service in 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:57.240 the military, dating all the way back to you know, England, 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.760 the Civil War and everything. So yeah, I think the tenacity, 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.560 the grit, the resiliency that single parents have to have 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.400 and that they have to instill in their kids to 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:13.200 be able to function in life. You know, I think 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.680 having two kids in my own even with a great 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:21.000 supportive partner, was really hard to do. And so having 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.000 a single parent being able to raise three kids with 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.760 my grandparents, you know, it definitely teaches you a lot differently. 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.280 I think you you rely on each other, you get 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:33.280 really close to your family, I think. And there's just 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:35.560 a lot to be said about single parents for sure. 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.680 When you were a teenager, your mom got remarried to someone, 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.240 Is that right? Yeah? So, you know, as a kid, 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.800 I grew up an incredibly supportive family, a really good 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:52.400 school system, and I always had that support system to 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.360 to build up my confidence. You know. I was in 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:59.120 Gift and Talented Student Council president and my mom, being 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:03.160 a single parent, went with low income. We were also 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:06.400 a free and reduced lunch program. Kid like me and 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.960 my brothers were right, but we were never taught that 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:12.360 we were victims of anything. We were never taught to 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.480 take advantage of any of the programs, but to be 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.440 thankful for them and of all the things that we 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.240 can be thankful for. To continue giving to our community. 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:27.560 So we always did volunteering with our church, with our neighborhood, 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:32.000 with other groups, and so we've always just been taught 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.719 to give back in that kind of way. So seven 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:41.320 were juniors in high school and my mom had gotten 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:44.960 remarried to this guy and they had met because she 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:49.000 actually was going to school to get her pH d 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.960 in criminology and sociology, and after a few years, the 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:59.800 marriage started to deteriorate pretty quickly, and he became pretty abusive, 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:04.279 mostly mentally to my mother and then also to me 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.039 and my brothers. So there would be multiple days where 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.320 we would come home from school and the house would 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.640 be trashed. We would come home and you know, they 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.120 would be arguing, and my mom would tell us, you know, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.320 go to youth church and come back and I'll make 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.760 sure he's gone out of the house and you guys 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.680 can sleep here and go to school the next day. 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:31.200 As the relationship became more toxic and abusive, Keeney's mother 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.359 filed a permanent restraining order against him, which required he 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:39.080 moved out of their home in Boulder, Colorado. He was 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.600 scheduled to come over to our home to pick up 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.440 the rest of his belongings, and this was in May 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:49.000 of He came over and while they were in the 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:51.320 house and he was escorted by a member of the 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:56.359 Boulder Police Department. He told my mom that she couldn't 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.480 watch me all the time, and she couldn't take care 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:00.719 of me all the time, and he was going to 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:04.240 do whatever it took to either bring harm to me 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.280 or take me and my brothers away from her. So 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.240 that really scared her, and it scared her to the 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:19.400 point where she had purchased a handgun unbeknownst to me 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:23.119 and my brothers, and she had kept it in her house. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:25.479 She had taken lessons on how to use it in 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.560 self defense, and in that moment when he told her 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.680 he was going to take us away from her and 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:38.839 possibly hurt me, she decided in that moment to pull 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:43.560 out that gun and she shot him six times. He 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:50.279 didn't survive. And so through the court trials and everything, 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.320 it was determined that because she had purchased that handgun 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.600 at advance, it was premeditated murder and not self defense 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:03.240 since he had physically never done anything to her. So 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:09.080 in October of which was twenty three years ago, my 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:11.800 mom was sentenced to twenty eight years in prison. She 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:18.200 obviously missed high school graduation, college graduation, all of that stuff, 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.440 but she was here in Colorado and we still got 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:22.920 to see her. And that kind of was like the 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.640 first watershed moment of my life that brought me into 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:31.320 this military service. I'm so appreciative of you being completely 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:33.080 vulnerable with your story because I think a lot of 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:34.840 people in different ways relate. I think you and I 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:39.880 have very similar stories growing up with just the parental situation, 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.760 how vulnerable we were as kids, but how protective my 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.000 grandma was from for me or even you know, my 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.200 mom when when she was raising me. So so I 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:50.400 really appreciate you sharing that. You know, and as as 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.000 you're getting into the first stage of your life in 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.600 the Army and you go into basic training, like, that's 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.720 where I want to start with you and I talking 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.400 about this. Tell me what going into basic training was 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.760 like for you. I got a letter in the mail 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.960 from our r O t C unit saying they were 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:10.160 looking for students who would be interested in joining our 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.720 O t C and possibly commit to being in the 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:17.720 military afterwards. And that summer I was like, you know, 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.240 I'm not doing anything. So I went to basic camp 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:26.360 in June of two thousand to my first ever military 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:32.680 experience activity. That basic camp is really what changed my life. 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:37.679 Um it was four weeks. It was the hardest mentally, 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:44.800 the most grueling physically, and the most fun thing I 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:46.960 had ever done. And it was the first time ever 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.600 that I had actually touched a weapon before in my life, 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:55.000 and I remember being so nervous about handling live rounds, 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:59.920 especially given my situation with my mom. Had no idea, 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.320 you know, how I was going to do one drill. 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:06.480 Sergeant took an interest in me, and I think just 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:09.920 saw the leadership potential that I had, and he knew 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.559 how nervous I was, and so he took me aside 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.400 and helped me feel comfortable with my weapon, and then 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.560 we went to the life fire range. I hit thirty 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.320 eight out of my forty targets and actually was in 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.360 the top three at the range. So so that was 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.840 pretty awesome. I was pretty proud of myself for, you know, 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.320 overcoming this big fear and for kind of being a 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:36.200 badass at the time. So I came back from this 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.680 basic camp experience in Fort Knox with this whole renewed 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.800 sense of confidence. It was then in that moment that 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.480 I realized I had this voice and that I had 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.559 lost it during the trials when my mom was sent 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:56.520 to prison, the judge overseeing the case didn't allow me 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:00.360 to take the stand to talk about my experience living 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.800 in that home with my mom and her husband, and 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.200 so essentially I told me that my voice didn't matter. 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.720 So when I went to that basic camp for the Army, 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.080 I was told that my voice did matter and that 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:16.559 I needed to use it. From that day on, I 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:20.880 had to rebuild myself really, and it was those members 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.840 of the military, my friends, the drill sergeants, all of 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.680 those people that were involved in that camp and then 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.839 later on in r O t C who really helped 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.720 me regain my voice and regain my confidence so that 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.800 I could be a voice for others going forward. That's 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.600 when I decided, like, I'm going to join the Army. 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.600 As soon as I got back, I signed my contract 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.800 and started r OTC for the last two years of 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:53.240 my college experience, and then graduated in December of two 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:58.280 thousand two and became an active duty Army officer. From 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.559 that point on, your first year in the Army, if 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.040 you were to put into a minute nutshell, what would 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:09.520 you describe it as the first year in the Army man, 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.720 I would say it teaches you a lot about yourself 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:17.920 about what you're capable of doing, because you are put 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:22.480 into school and you are tested mentally and physically beyond 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:26.280 like anything that you ever thought you could imagine. It 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.880 really either breaks you down, quite honestly, or it helps 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:31.920 break you down and then builds you right back up. 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:38.320 Kenny found her voice and trusted a support system of 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.320 friends and mentors during our first few months in the army, 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.800 and eventually she would also find someone to love for 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:48.800 the rest of her life. I met my husband in 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.560 September of two thousand four. We deployed to Iraq in 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.520 February of two thousand five, so we didn't really have 0:11:56.640 --> 0:12:00.160 much of a dating history before deployment. We had no 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.080 clue if we were going to see each other again. 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.760 We didn't know what communications were going to be like 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:10.600 at that time. So we're like, well, I guess I'll 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.600 keep my cell phone number, and if we come back 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:16.800 at the end of this twelve months and make it 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:22.600 back alive, let's call each other and kind of start 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:26.040 all over. I was just reading about your wedding day. 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:28.480 How did it happen? Is it true? Because what I 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.600 read was you were not even on the same continent. Yes, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:37.880 that's true. So on October, my grandfather, who again had 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.000 helped to raise me and my two brothers, he actually 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.760 passed away. I was able to get a Red Cross 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.200 message and was home within twenty four hours of his passing. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.960 Because my husband and I were not married yet, the 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.959 army still considered us single soldiers even though we were 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.520 engaged but not legally married. He was not able to 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.520 come with me to go home to attend my grandfather's funeral, 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.080 so I went home by myself. He decided to start 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.959 looking into how we could get married. Turns out Colorado 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.760 is one of four states that allows a marriage by proxy, 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:16.320 so we looked into how that was possible because that 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:21.360 sounded really weird. And in Colorado, if one person is present, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.240 the other person can fill out an affidavit and a 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:29.240 power of attorney and have another person mary their person 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.640 by proxy. So I had my best friend marry me 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:39.040 in proxy for my husband on November four, Colorado time 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:44.439 zone and November five, Iraq time zone. But we did 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:48.440 have a real wedding, mostly because he's always grown up 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.360 in the church and had always just pictured having an 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.680 actual wedding, so he wanted that. And then he also 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.720 wanted his signature on our marriage license, so I have 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.360 to marriage licenses. Is that legal? I don't know, let's hope. 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.200 So you know, I love it. I think it's a 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:09.440 fantastic story. Can you tell me about the work that 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.200 your husband was doing as you guys were over there 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.520 at the same place. Yes. So with the third Infantry Division, 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.839 he was stationed in Baghdad within the Green Zone or 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:22.920 the International Zone as it's known. He was in charge 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:27.880 of force protection for the entire divisions areas of operations, 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.040 so that was all of Baghdad and some of the 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.320 surrounding areas as well. He had a pretty unique role 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:39.280 with forced protection because he was in charge of physical security, 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.800 so all the checkpoints and those kind of things that 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.360 our division was in charge of the security for the 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.920 polling sites during the first national Iraqi elections in two 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.640 thousand five. That was a little bit scary, but a 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:58.760 great opportunity for him again because he was just on 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.600 the road all the time. One of the reasons why 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:05.880 we are adamant about voting and talking to these younger 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.800 generations about why it's so important to vote and use 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:13.240 their voice when they're voting is in Iraq, people were 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.160 waiting in line to vote to make their voice heard 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.680 for the first time ever. And there were suicide bombers. 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.160 There was vehicle bombs, there is roadside bombs, there were 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.960 attacks on polling places to silence those voices. After my 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:32.160 husband and his teams would go out to clean up 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.120 these polling sites, people would be their waiting in line 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.440 again to make their voices heard. So it's it was 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.200 that important to them that despite these attacks, they would 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.040 go to the polling sites. And while you're there, what 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:48.360 type of work are you doing in Iraq? So when 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:50.400 I was over there, I had two different jobs. So 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.480 the first half of the deployment, I was in charge 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:58.240 of these drones by planes. They were the shadow tactical 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.840 unmanned aerial vehicles. I was a first person with a 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:06.880 third infortuted division to have that type of equipment. Myself, 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.800 my company commander, and our first sergeant. We received our 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.400 equipment and we also welcomed our first soldiers into that 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.840 unit in July of two thousand and four and then 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:22.040 had to train and prepare for deployment by February of 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.720 two thousand five. So that was a really unique experience 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:28.680 because there was only one other unit in the army 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.360 who had been doing it, and they had just done 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.720 it the year prior to us arriving, So it's a 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.880 really steep learning curve. One of the things I think 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:40.280 I learned out of that deployment and out of that 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.600 experience of being a platoon leader is you know, you 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:48.200 get your soldiers, it's a really wide age range of 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:52.680 people that you are thrown in together with all varying backgrounds, 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.480 and then me as a platoon leader, I had the 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.160 least experience among all of them, but I was looked 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.120 at as a leader. So so really, I think for 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.120 for me, one of the things that I've always tried 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.520 to do as a good leader, a good manager, or 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.080 even just a friend is just making sure that you 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.840 take care of your people, you know, making sure that 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.120 when we got over to Iraq, they were calling their 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.400 families and they had been in touch with their families 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.680 to let them know they had gotten there, making sure 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.199 that they needed what they needed to be able to 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:24.760 do their jobs well and to be able to make 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.919 it home. And so, my guys, we had a laundren 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.760 recovery site located out of Taji, which is just north 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:37.760 of Baghdad. It was our responsibility to make sure that 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:43.600 these drones were conducting two seven operations on reconnaissance to 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:48.160 ensure the safety of our coalition and US multinational forces. 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.000 My guys saved a lot of lives from the work 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:54.520 that they did, and it was work that that couldn't 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.760 go without a break. So we literally had birds up 0:17:57.920 --> 0:17:59.679 twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, the 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.520 entire year. I want to talk now about your life 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.879 after the military, starting with your retirement from the Army. 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:07.439 When did you know it was the right time to 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.879 leave and what was that transition into civilian life like. 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:15.000 So after my deployment to Iraq in two thousand five 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.760 to two thousand six UM and obviously meeting my husband 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.480 and then getting married and all of that stuff, the 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:25.920 Army at the time was doing these extended deployments where 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:29.560 they were going to be deployed for eighteen months sometimes more, 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:33.520 and we decided at that time that maybe being dual 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:36.399 military wasn't the right fit for us. At the time, 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.760 just starting a family and everything that we wanted to do. 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.160 The situation with my mother was improving and she had 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:47.879 an opportunity as well to be released from prison, and 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:49.800 so it was at that point in time that we 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:53.040 decided that leaving the military was going to be the 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:56.000 right decision for us. So in two thousand seven is 0:18:56.040 --> 0:19:00.160 when we got out and we moved to Colorado where 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.919 I was born and raised, and we were able to 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:08.040 be with my grandmother, my brothers, and then also helped 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:11.520 support my mom as she transitioned out from the prison 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.600 system and then helped her with her transition into civilian 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.720 life as well. What drew you to volunteering and working 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:25.240 with nonprofits during this time? In two thousand and eight, 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:30.120 the Medal of Honor convention came to Colorado, and that 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:35.639 is when I met all these veterans who had received 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:37.960 the Medal of Honor, and the Medal of Honor is 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:42.159 the highest award bestowed upon any military service member, and 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.960 these true real life heroes were just so humble and 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.199 many of them had their own stories that they were 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.040 willing to share with us. And it was in that 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:53.600 point that I realized that I wanted to do more 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:59.439 for veterans. Being a veteran myself, I think for a 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.199 lot of veter ends leaving the military, that's one of 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.200 the things that we all miss the most is that 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.520 we have this higher purpose and greater mission that we 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.760 are all going towards. With volunteering, I was looking for 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.840 something to contribute to and to just better myself and 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.760 better the community that I was living in and so 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.040 using my post nine eleven g I Bill, I decided 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:23.560 to go to school to get my master's degree and 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:27.120 start working in the nonprofit sector. So the first nonprofit 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.440 organization that I worked for was called Veterans Green Jobs. 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:36.000 They were interested in helping veterans who are transitioning out 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:39.640 of the military to get jobs in the green energy sector, 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.320 and so it was a really great organization to be 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.359 part of. I was surrounded by other veterans who wanted 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.720 to just help our fellow brothers and sisters and arms, 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:53.360 and I'm still again very good friends with many of them, 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:57.040 just because of that common interest and the common path 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.720 that we took together. Working at Veterans Green Jobs really 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:04.640 helped me to refine how I wanted to help veterans, 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:08.520 and it was in employment. It was helping them discover 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:13.199 what they wanted to do post military, the skills that 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.960 they had learned, and the leadership that they had been taught, 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.240 and how all of that can transition into a successful 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:24.080 civilian career where they can work for companies that they're 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.560 proud of, where they can have jobs that are well 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.840 paying and support their families and just be out in 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:35.000 their communities again, So where did things go from there? 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:36.359 What was the next tour for you in your career 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:41.720 after Veterans Green Jobs. So I started working with many 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:46.240 companies across the country and helping them to recruit veterans, 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:49.199 essentially like a headhunter almost, but again we were a 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:55.879 nonprofit organization and helping veterans achieve employment. And so with 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:59.679 with that came a lot of connections into companies that 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:03.760 were interest in hiring veterans. Xcel Energy was one of 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:08.240 the companies that I partnered with. They operate out of Minnesota, 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:13.280 and then they also have corporate headquarters in Colorado and Texas, 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.760 and so being in Colorado, it was a really great 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.600 opportunity for me to work with this company, this utility 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:23.680 company that had so many great jobs and were interested 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:26.760 in hiring veterans. Again, it was just really great timing 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:31.359 where after I had graduated from Regis in two thousand 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:35.560 and ten, and then the CEO of Xcel Energy in 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.600 two thousand and twelve actually testified in front of the 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:42.680 joint chiefs about why it's smart to hire veterans, why 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:47.120 it was a good business case to hire veterans. With 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:54.520 that came internally the interest and intentionality of Xcel Energy 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.320 wanting to hire veterans and create a veteran hiring program 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:02.080 internal to the company, and I was brought in to 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:06.560 launch their internal veteran hiring program, which to this day 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:11.440 we still hire ten percent military veterans. External to the company, 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:16.520 we have a fantastic internal employee Veterans Affinity group, and 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:18.680 there's just a lot of people who do a lot 0:23:18.680 --> 0:23:21.880 of good for veterans in the communities where we work, 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:25.800 live and play. Now I am an account manager working 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:30.159 with large customers and communities to help them achieve their 0:23:30.280 --> 0:23:34.840 energy goals and sustainability goals, but I'm still very involved 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:38.320 in that employee affinity group. I'm actually the chair of 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:43.120 the Military Veterans Employee Group at XL and we do 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.600 a lot as far as supporting our employees who are 0:23:46.600 --> 0:23:49.960 currently serving in the National Garden Reserve, who may be 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:56.160 going on active training or deployments, supporting them and their families. 0:23:56.359 --> 0:23:59.080 We do a lot of volunteering in the communities, helping 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:06.240 homeless veterans, building care packages, renovating homes, writing letters to 0:24:06.440 --> 0:24:11.280 veterans who are in our nursing centers and community living centers. 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:13.200 So we do a lot in the community through that 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:15.960 Veterans program, and so it's in that way that I'm 0:24:16.000 --> 0:24:18.439