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Speaker 1: Mute for us.

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Speaker 2: If it doesn't work, you're just not using enough. You're

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Speaker 2: listening to Software Radio, Special Operations, Military nails, and straight

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Speaker 2: talk with the guys in the community.

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Speaker 3: Hey, welcome back to softwarep Radio.

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Speaker 4: This is your host Rad and I have a wonderful

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Speaker 4: guest with me today. His name is Cole Lyle and

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Speaker 4: he comes from US the United States Marine Corps. Served

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Speaker 4: as a heavy combat equipment operator.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for having me on RAD.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, there's more to it than just the

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Speaker 4: heavy equipment operator. You know, you also helped move some

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Speaker 4: things around on Capitol Hill after you got out of

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Speaker 4: the military. But what was it that got you into

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Speaker 4: wanting to join the military? For my listener out there,

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Speaker 4: that's like, well, what ticked you to go to the

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Speaker 4: Marine Corps in the first place.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so two separate answers to that. What made me

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Speaker 1: want to join the military. I can't really pinpoint any

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Speaker 1: one thing that made me be like, yeah, I want

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Speaker 1: to you know, I want to join the military. I

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Speaker 1: you know, I was an Eagle Scout, I you know,

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Speaker 1: wanting to serve my community, and you know, was was

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Speaker 1: involved in service projects with my church and all sorts

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Speaker 1: of stuff, and I really just, even at a young age,

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Speaker 1: had kind of a fascination with military history. So I

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Speaker 1: think I always just kind of wanted to. And then

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Speaker 1: my mom said, you know, when you turn eighteen, you're

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Speaker 1: either going to go to school, join the military, or

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Speaker 1: get a job, but you're not staying in my house.

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Speaker 1: And I didn't have money if you go to school.

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Speaker 1: And I didn't want to work three jobs to put

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Speaker 1: myself through school like my sisters did and go into debt,

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Speaker 1: and so I, you know, I was like, the military

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Speaker 1: makes sense. I want to serve. I remember going to

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Speaker 1: boy scout campouts and being excited about it because I

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Speaker 1: was at home with two older sisters and my mom,

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Speaker 1: so it was like my only opportunity to be around

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Speaker 1: a bunch of dudes. Sure, sure, and you know, I

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Speaker 1: wanted the camaraderie and I had that sense of service,

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Speaker 1: so I wanted to go do that. I think the

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Speaker 1: Marine Corps in particular, you know, I talked to recruiters

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Speaker 1: from multiple different you know, branches, and but my brother

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Speaker 1: in law was not then my brother in law, but

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Speaker 1: sister's boyfriend was a Marine, and I really respected him

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Speaker 1: and admired him. And he was in Fallujah and so

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Speaker 1: talked to me a lot about and he gave me

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Speaker 1: the real He talked to me about, you know, the

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Speaker 1: bad stuff about the corps and the good stuff about

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Speaker 1: the Corps. But I ultimately just made that choice.

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Speaker 4: To experience it yourself and just said, Hey, you know,

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Speaker 4: I'm going to get on this bus or get on

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Speaker 4: this airplane, get on this bus, get all these yellow footprints.

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Speaker 4: Did you go to MCRD. Are you West Coast or

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Speaker 4: are you East Coast?

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Speaker 3: Marine? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: I went to MCRD San Diego, San Diego, And you know,

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Speaker 1: he actually tried to talk me out of it, and

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Speaker 1: he tried to say, you should go to Yes, you

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Speaker 1: should be an officer. But I, you know, I didn't.

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Speaker 1: I didn't want to do that because again, a going

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Speaker 1: to school, and I think I was pretty self aware

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Speaker 1: at that point too to know that I wouldn't take

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Speaker 1: school very seriously and I probably needed a little kick

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Speaker 1: in the pants.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean school is not the easiest for a

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Speaker 4: lot of people, right, Just graduating is just a big accomplishment,

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Speaker 4: let alone, you.

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Speaker 3: Know, grabbing your eagle scout.

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Speaker 4: Good job on that, you know, staying staying true to

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Speaker 4: that and going to all your campouts and you know

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Speaker 4: community selfless service right code to all that you know,

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Speaker 4: do a good turn daily, right, and so that's I.

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Speaker 1: Mean this to this day, I can still recite like

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Speaker 1: the Scout oath and lawn just off.

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Speaker 4: Top of my head, as I would imagine here at Utah,

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Speaker 4: it's pretty popular still Scouting. We have like the Order

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Speaker 4: of the Arrow that's very popular. My son's and Scouts.

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Speaker 4: He's a star right now.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know the Mormons, they I do know the Mormons.

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Speaker 3: Bro.

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Speaker 1: It's like over fifty percent of Boy Scout funding comes

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Speaker 1: from the Church. And that's why I you know, when

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Speaker 1: all the scandals came out about the Boy.

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Speaker 3: Scouts, No that's true. No, it's okay. It is what

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Speaker 3: it is. It is what it is.

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Speaker 1: You know, the Boy Scouts made the decision to start

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Speaker 1: allowing like gay troop leaders and openly gay you know

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Speaker 1: Boy Scouts. The Mormon Church like pulled all their funding

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Speaker 1: and that's mortgage a lot of their camp sites and

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Speaker 1: everything like that.

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Speaker 4: You know, there's a fun story at a ceremony for

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Speaker 4: one of our Scouts. You know, they bring your mom

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Speaker 4: up because you've got to give your mam a hug. Okay,

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Speaker 4: give your mama hug right, because you got you got

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Speaker 4: your award. You're gettingr pinned.

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Speaker 3: But this one young man had two moms.

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Speaker 4: Okay because it's today, right, we're talking about exactly what

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Speaker 4: you're talking about.

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Speaker 3: And a scout master.

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Speaker 4: He's old school but still new school at the same time,

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Speaker 4: because here he is running a troop in this environment

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Speaker 4: that you're talking about from the old school days. And

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Speaker 4: he's like, okay, go ahead and bring your mama, and

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Speaker 4: both moms get up and walk up front, and he's like,

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Speaker 4: how do I handle this? And I'm watching him. I'm like,

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Speaker 4: how's he going to handle this? He's like, you know,

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Speaker 4: I'm gonna let you choose. And he just pointed to

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Speaker 4: the scout you can choose which mom you're this, and

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Speaker 4: the other mom's like, well, you know he's yours.

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Speaker 3: You give it to it.

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Speaker 4: You know, it's really cool, you know, to see that,

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Speaker 4: Otherwise that wouldn't have been a thing. You know that

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Speaker 4: scout is still getting the same, you know, not tying

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Speaker 4: the same. You know, a spree decors of unity and

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Speaker 4: you know, the Scout oath and the Scout law and

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Speaker 4: moving forward and is going to be tomorrow's you know,

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Speaker 4: you the h well and.

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Speaker 1: A lot of folks don't realize that if you get

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Speaker 1: your Eagle scout and you join the military, you automatically

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Speaker 1: get one rank. Like you don't join as an E one,

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Speaker 1: you join as an E two after boot camp, automatic

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Speaker 1: because the military respects the amount of not just the

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Speaker 1: achievement in the award, but like the survival skills you

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Speaker 1: learn and the basic not tying and like that sort

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Speaker 1: of stuff that's actually something that they don't already. They

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Speaker 1: don't have to teach you because you already know it, right,

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Speaker 1: and you can teach you know, your fellow service members.

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Speaker 3: You could be leaned on.

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Speaker 4: You know, I've met sixteen year olds who I would

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Speaker 4: be like, I will trust you with my life in

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Speaker 4: the wilderness, you know, through the scouting program. And I

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Speaker 4: know a recruiter would just love to get hooks into

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Speaker 4: those young men, you know.

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Speaker 3: And it's not a force thing.

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Speaker 4: And that's what's great about our military is that we

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Speaker 4: are a volunteer, right and so here you are looking

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Speaker 4: to volunteer, you get in, you go over. Okay, so

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Speaker 4: you enlisted as a marine, but what made you go

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Speaker 4: into vehicles? You know what was it that made you

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Speaker 4: want to do well?

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Speaker 1: I wanted to Honestly, I wanted to learn something that

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Speaker 1: I could potentially use after I got out. And so

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Speaker 1: to be clear, I was I was a diesel mechanic.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't a heavy equipment operator. Those are two separent things,

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Speaker 1: thank you. But as a diesel mechanic, right, you could

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Speaker 1: get out. You're working on seven tons what do they

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Speaker 1: call it, Matt V's m wraps everything with a diesel,

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Speaker 1: Everything with a diesel. You could get out and then

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Speaker 1: go work for Caterpillar, or go work for Mac Truck,

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Speaker 1: or go work for Force Pro or one of those things.

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Speaker 3: Open your own shop, but be your own box, you know.

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Speaker 1: And it's even it's just a skill set that I

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Speaker 1: got a little bit of that because I grew up

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Speaker 1: and my dad was very mechanical. But I didn't know.

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Speaker 1: I just wanted something that I could potentially use as

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Speaker 1: a job when I got Ultimately I didn't go that route,

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Speaker 1: but that was kind of my rationale behind it.

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Speaker 4: No, that's savage because you're getting instructed through the Marine

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Speaker 4: Corps on how to do that job with efficiency, right,

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Speaker 4: I mean, you know they say in the Air Force

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Speaker 4: were they're all about attention to detail. But I bet

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Speaker 4: you the Marin said the same thing during training. Your

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Speaker 4: attention to detail is paramount. You know, you need to

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Speaker 4: be attention to detail at all times. You need to

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Speaker 4: make sure, Yeah, this fan bell goes on and this

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Speaker 4: diesel wrench turns this way, and you're like, I got

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Speaker 4: this in my sleep, right, So it's like, so you

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Speaker 4: go over and you deploy right, and you're in the

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Speaker 4: middle of Afghanistan picking place right, okay, and what hits

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Speaker 4: the fan?

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Speaker 3: Now?

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Speaker 4: What's going through your mind when I say this? You're like, operator,

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Speaker 4: You're a diesel mechanic. Are you seeing it?

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Speaker 3: Is it? Is it coming? Are you getting into any

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Speaker 3: type of sorties over there?

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Speaker 1: You know, most of my time, honestly, was spent on

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Speaker 1: Camp Flout the Neck, which was a big base in

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Speaker 1: southern Afghanistan. I got oj ted on the job, trained

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Speaker 1: as a as a record operator, so I did that

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Speaker 1: and again I didn't do like a whole lot of that,

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Speaker 1: but you know, went out and was doing you know,

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Speaker 1: fuel runs and a record operator for people who were

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Speaker 1: unfamiliar or essentially military tow trucks, so anytime something gets

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Speaker 1: blown up, which was very very often you'd go out

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Speaker 1: and tow them back to base and pick them up.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 1: At one point in time, I think from nine to

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Speaker 1: maybe even earlier than that, eighth nine to eleven twelve

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Speaker 1: ish record operators actually had the highest fatality rate in

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Speaker 1: the Marine Corps because you'd go out and they knew

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Speaker 1: you were going to go out and tow up trucks

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Speaker 1: that they had just blown up, so they'd have secondaries

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Speaker 1: or ambushes or things like that. I honestly never never

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Speaker 1: saw a heavy combat at some point, you know, I

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Speaker 1: mean took small arms and indirect but it wasn't it

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Speaker 1: wasn't like I was in.

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Speaker 3: That thick of but the aftermath of it you saw that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean for the last month and some change

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Speaker 1: month and a half two months of my deployment, I

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Speaker 1: volunteered at the trauma center at Baston, which was the

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Speaker 1: British Air base which was right next to it was

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Speaker 1: literally an adjoining base to Camp Blowneck. So I spent

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Speaker 1: a lot of time there because they were kind of

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Speaker 1: understaffed and I'm not a doctor and I'm not a

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Speaker 1: you know, a nurse, but I end the same combat

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Speaker 1: like they call combat life saver training and medic training

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Speaker 1: that we got. So I was like, I'll just be

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Speaker 1: a ketch all. I'm just going to show up and

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Speaker 1: do it. And I mean you can you can certainly

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Speaker 1: imagine some of the things that come into a military

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Speaker 1: trauma center. And it's not just marines and US service personnel,

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Speaker 1: it's it's local nationals and kids, women. So yeah, I

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Speaker 1: mean it was rough, and that is ultimately kind of

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Speaker 1: what led me to having some issues with post traumatic stress.

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Speaker 1: And it seems stupid to comparatively, I understand why some

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Speaker 1: people are like, oh, you didn't see combat, but what

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Speaker 1: do you have these issues with? Like to this day,

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Speaker 1: I hate hospitals like I just I get just real

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Speaker 1: uptight and I just don't. I can't do them.

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Speaker 4: So they'll wait till you're older to do them, because

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Speaker 4: then you got the long hallway, the Vay road. That's like,

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Speaker 4: you know, whoever's going to be wheeling you down that

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Speaker 4: mile long hallway, they're going to be older too. So

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Speaker 4: I was just talking to a major general who was

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Speaker 4: running the Department of the Veterans Affair. We talked about

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Speaker 4: that long hallway and exactly what you're mentioning, right, there's

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Speaker 4: young veterans who don't want to go into the hospital

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Speaker 4: because you know, we don't want to go, I don't,

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Speaker 4: you know, But when we're older, we realize we have to.

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Speaker 4: And at that point the caregiver who's with us has

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Speaker 4: to go there too, and if they're older like us,

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Speaker 4: you know, then it's.

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Speaker 1: Just well, I mean, to be clear, I go, I

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Speaker 1: just don't like going. I got mean when I because

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Speaker 1: I know exactly what you're talking about. I mean, I

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Speaker 1: have worked in veteran accacy for the better part of

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Speaker 1: a decade, So I mean I get the need and

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Speaker 1: the for our listener to try to go to deal

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Speaker 1: with your issues before they become bigger issue. But that

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean I.

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Speaker 3: Have to like it. No, You're right, it's got to

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Speaker 3: do it right. Just suck it up.

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Speaker 1: And no one said you gotta like it. You just

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Speaker 1: got to do it just you know, just just get

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Speaker 1: it done. And the sooner you get it done, the

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Speaker 1: sooner it's over.

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Speaker 4: So getting out of the military, right, we're flashboarding through

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Speaker 4: your life here, and uh, you've seen things and been

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Speaker 4: a part of you know, uh, you know, trauma, and

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Speaker 4: you're now dealing with this in your own way and

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Speaker 4: you're at the VA, and what's the first line you

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Speaker 4: through out there? Were you like, hey, you know, I'm

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Speaker 4: just feeling this way, or who did you reach out?

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Speaker 1: When we got back from Afghanistan, they made us all

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Speaker 1: take what was called a post appointment health assessment, and

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Speaker 1: it indicated I needed to go, you know, talk to somebody.

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Speaker 1: And so they forced us to at least the first

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Speaker 1: appointment if you were like red flagged based on certain

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Speaker 1: answers and whatever, to go see somebody. And so I

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Speaker 1: saw somebody, and you know, and then I was in

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Speaker 1: a reserve unit, so I wasn't like active duty, so

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Speaker 1: you know, I couldn't go see a military physician at

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Speaker 1: a military hospital or anything on any frequent basis because

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Speaker 1: I was in the reserves. So you know, I went

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Speaker 1: to go see a VA psychologist and psychiatrist and and

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Speaker 1: then I started utilizing of that center down in Texas.

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Speaker 1: You know, was prescribed some SSRIs for sleep and depressions

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Speaker 1: filled me. It's a I forget what the acronym. It's

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Speaker 1: like a sarah something serotonin something inhibitor. It's a medical

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Speaker 1: term for they're basically antidepressants. Okay, So the VA, that's

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Speaker 1: what they prescribed for the symptoms of postraumatic stress and

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Speaker 1: depression and sleep and all that stuff, but they don't

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Speaker 1: actually because there's no pill for post traumatic stress. There's

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Speaker 1: pills for these symptoms of post traumatic stress. But anyway,

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Speaker 1: so I.

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Speaker 3: Was taking rearing their heads, yeah for sure.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know, a year, year and some change

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Speaker 1: goes by, and you know, I'm dealing I'm going through

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Speaker 1: a divorce and having some issues as a result of

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Speaker 1: you know, the pills and the therapy wasn't really working

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Speaker 1: for me.

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Speaker 3: And probably some thoughts.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so you know, I mean, as a lot

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Speaker 1: of men and women have. Unfortunately, I got inspiraled down

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Speaker 1: and it was you know, one night, in one night

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Speaker 1: in April in twenty fourteen, that I was like that

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Speaker 1: close to becoming suicide statistic. If it wasn't for another

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Speaker 1: marine intervening, you know, I would be. But as is

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Speaker 1: often the case, like that night, I was probably drinking

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Speaker 1: too much and in my fields and I really, you know,

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Speaker 1: I can't, I can't explain it too well. But the

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Speaker 1: next morning we should have been hungover, but I wasn't.

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Speaker 1: I was just very clear and very like focused, and

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Speaker 1: my mindset went from like you know, I was thinking,

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Speaker 1: like why, why, why are you doing this to yourself?

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Speaker 1: You know, you're At the time my divorce, I was like,

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Speaker 1: you didn't do anything wrong. You weren't there, you weren't

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Speaker 1: the party to this situation. That so you know that.

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Speaker 3: And then you had a lot of factors hitting you.

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Speaker 4: Dude.

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Speaker 3: You had a lot, Yeah, a lot.

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Speaker 4: You know, you had some something going on with the

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Speaker 4: relationship and family. Yeah, your whole your whole bubble was

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Speaker 4: just kind.

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Speaker 1: Of like, you know, finances.

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Speaker 3: The reason we've all been in a dark hole. Okay.

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Speaker 4: Anybody that says they haven't, I just I'm like, okay,

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Speaker 4: you know, everybody's had a crazy thought in their head.

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Speaker 3: It's just you can't you know. The follow through is

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Speaker 3: the action and all that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So I started I stopped thinking I have nothing

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Speaker 1: and started thinking I have the opportunity to do anything

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Speaker 1: because I didn't have anything holding me back or tethered me.

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Speaker 1: And so I decided I wanted to go back into

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Speaker 1: public service. And at the time I wanted to, like

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Speaker 1: in my mind, I was like, yeah, I want to

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Speaker 1: go into the foreign service. I want to serve in

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Speaker 1: a diplomatic capacity. I only knew one or two people

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Speaker 1: that worked in politics and policy, and so I contacted

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Speaker 1: those folks and they got me plugged in, and it

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Speaker 1: was on my path to doing that, but I realized

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Speaker 1: I still needed to find ways to mitigate symptoms of

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Speaker 1: postraumatic stress, and I didn't want to keep taking pills.

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Speaker 1: And then, like I said, therap, it wasn't working. So

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Speaker 1: I stopped doing that and ended up going and talking

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Speaker 1: to a buddy of mine who had a service dog,

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Speaker 1: and it worked phenominantly well for him. But the VA

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Speaker 1: didn't provide any funding for it, and the nonprofits that

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Speaker 1: I kind of researched had year long wait times sure,

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Speaker 1: and so I ended up paying about ten maybe a

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Speaker 1: little more than ten thousand to get my own dog.

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Speaker 1: Her name was Kaya, German Shepherd, So you know, went

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Speaker 1: up and interned in Washington, d C. And with Kaya,

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Speaker 1: and somebody happened to be a senator stopped me on

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Speaker 1: the street, Senator Tillis in North Carolina and started asking

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Speaker 1: me about her because I'm not blind and don't have

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Speaker 1: a WINSS you have a service do service dog? Got

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Speaker 1: that question a lot.

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Speaker 3: I think it too, you know. Through the airport, I'm like,

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Speaker 3: what's up?

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Speaker 4: I got an iguana service iguana.

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Speaker 3: No, no, no, but you're Cada.

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Speaker 4: You're Cada. I know your beautiful dog. So the Senator's

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Speaker 4: interested in saying, hey, why are you usually a therapy pet?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so I told him and said the v

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Speaker 1: didn't provide funding and researchers for it. So I he

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Speaker 1: was like, well, come on by to my office and

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Speaker 1: let's let's talk about this. Let's kick this around. And

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Speaker 1: so I did. And he didn't initially do anything and

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Speaker 1: write the bill, but he gave me the idea that

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Speaker 1: if he was willing to listen, other people might be

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Speaker 1: willing to listen too. So I drafted what became known

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Speaker 1: as the initial version of the Pause Act, which is

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Speaker 1: an acronym for puppies Assisting Wounded Service Members. So I

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Speaker 1: went around shot that to a bunch of different offices

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Speaker 1: to see if anybody would be willing to sponsor it

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Speaker 1: and kind of spearhead it. And then Congressman DeSantis was

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Speaker 1: the original, like the person before he was this big

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Speaker 1: national thing.

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Speaker 3: Before he was in the governor's office.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was like, yeah, I'll do it, like as

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Speaker 1: a as an IRAQ vet and then also having a

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Speaker 1: service dog org in his district. He was like, this

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Speaker 1: is a great idea, let's do it. So spent some

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Speaker 1: years doing that. At the time, went back to Texas

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Speaker 1: A and M to finish my degree. So I was

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Speaker 1: flying back in political science, and I was flying back

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Speaker 1: and forth from college station to DC to lobby for

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Speaker 1: this doing political science. You know, it didn't pass in

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Speaker 1: that Congress, but it took a few more congresses. But

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Speaker 1: that's kind of ultimately what got me into veteran advocacy.

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Speaker 4: Generally, so kind of becoming your own advocate, figuring it

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Speaker 4: out for yourself, and then you're like, you know, could

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Speaker 4: use your lead.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I got a lot of fulfillment. I think

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Speaker 1: one of the keys to overcoming issues of when you

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Speaker 1: feel you know, misunderstood or lonely is serving others. I mean,

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Speaker 1: if you're having a bad day or having a bad year,

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Speaker 1: you know, like go volunteer to soup kitchen, go volunteer

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Speaker 1: at an American legion, or go volunteer I mean really anywhere.

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Speaker 1: Just find a place where you can be useful and

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Speaker 1: feel like you're serving and feel like you got a

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Speaker 1: little purpose and people rely on you and depend on you.

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Speaker 1: That was another reason why the Service dogs, you know

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Speaker 1: they work so well is because yes, they're trained to

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Speaker 1: mitigate specific symptoms for you. Like that's the difference between

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Speaker 1: a service dog and like an emotional support animal therapy animal.

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Speaker 1: Like a service dog is legally protected because it has

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Speaker 1: specific tasks that it does for you to mitigate symptoms.

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Speaker 1: But the yeah, the reason why they're so powerful is

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Speaker 1: because they provide you with that sense of purpose and

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Speaker 1: meaning and belonging that you get up. They need to

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Speaker 1: be taken care of, they need to be fed, you've

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Speaker 1: got to get out of bed, you've got to go

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Speaker 1: for walks, you got to do all this stuff.

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Speaker 4: You need to get up, you got to be fed,

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Speaker 4: you got to go for walks, and they're there with

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Speaker 4: you doing it, you know.

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Speaker 1: So it's a you know, and if you find yourself

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Speaker 1: spiraling down again and getting to that point where you

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Speaker 1: know you're alone, and when men and women get to

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Speaker 1: that point, they feel alone and they feel like nobody

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Speaker 1: loves them. And the dog is a very powerful backstop

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Speaker 1: when you're sitting there with a gun in your mouth

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Speaker 1: and you are like, I can't leave this dog because its.

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Speaker 3: Like are we eating that? Yeah, don't do that.

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Speaker 1: Your dog loves me because that's a that's a huge

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Speaker 1: I think they're so powerful in the fight against suicide.

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Speaker 3: I think so also.

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Speaker 4: And I mean I'm not against you know, doing push

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Speaker 4: ups to prevent suicide or bring awareness to it. But

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Speaker 4: you know, it's got to come down to the individual

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Speaker 4: to you know, be on their own best recognizance and

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Speaker 4: do their own thing.

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Speaker 3: I can't I can't stop you from.

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Speaker 4: Tattooing yourself, but I can stop you from tattooing me

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Speaker 4: with whatever it is. But up to you, It's up

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Speaker 4: to you to do whatever you want to yourself. I'm

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Speaker 4: a big believer in self choice, right, Like, yeah, it's

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Speaker 4: up to you each your call, man. And but I'll

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Speaker 4: tell you, if anybody out there is listening to this

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00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,119
Speaker 4: and they're and they're tripping out, and they're like, well, okay,

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00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,119
Speaker 4: hit me up on Instagram and I'll talk with you, you know,

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Speaker 4: if you've got to, if you're if you're out there

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00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,200
Speaker 4: like that, you know, if you need a lighthouse out there,

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Speaker 4: you can also mission roll call.

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Speaker 3: You know, let's talk about mission roll call.

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Speaker 4: That's a whole other avenue where people can look to

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Speaker 4: for some type of like a security blanket.

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Speaker 3: Don't you think your website you can sell that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean so mission roll Call is a national

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Speaker 1: advocacy program, So we are I mean, our mission is

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Speaker 1: to advocate on behalf of all veterans in the United

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Speaker 1: States to improve policies that will reduce the suicide epidemic.

437
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,000
Speaker 1: And the way we do this we're not like a

438
00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,360
Speaker 1: direct service organization where like we're not out building houses

439
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,119
Speaker 1: for you know, so amputees or things like that like

440
00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,159
Speaker 1: the Gary Sineyze Foundation or others. Our goal is for

441
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:05,600
Speaker 1: policy to change for the better using the direct voice

442
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,080
Speaker 1: of veterans. So as we all know, you know, suicides,

443
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,200
Speaker 1: there's no one thing we can point to that says

444
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 1: this is why vets are killing themselves. So we get

445
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,400
Speaker 1: involved in a lot of policy discussions. But I've got

446
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,879
Speaker 1: about a million and a half veterans that are opted

447
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,639
Speaker 1: into our text and email polls. And when Congress or

448
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,480
Speaker 1: the VA or the White House comes out with some

449
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,359
Speaker 1: policy that says, you know, we want to do this

450
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,360
Speaker 1: or this or blah blah blah, whatever it is, we

451
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,640
Speaker 1: pull those veterans directly and we get pretty pretty high

452
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,960
Speaker 1: response rates, to be honest, depends on what it is.

453
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:41,960
Speaker 1: But and we're able to give that instantaneous feedback to

454
00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:44,640
Speaker 1: those policy makers so they can be like, oh, maybe

455
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,639
Speaker 1: this isn't a good idea, or well, this has a

456
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,400
Speaker 1: lot of support in the veteran community and we didn't

457
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,280
Speaker 1: think it, did you know, So.

458
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,200
Speaker 4: Maybe you should take a poll of the debt ceiling

459
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 4: being held hostage with veterans attached to it, so that yeah,

460
00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,640
Speaker 4: you know, maybe that's a poll that should be taken

461
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 4: and set up the flag because you know, they want

462
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:03,719
Speaker 4: to cut out right now. Let's see, so we're in

463
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,680
Speaker 4: May and it is Mental health Awareness month. Okay, so

464
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,480
Speaker 4: there is a lot of like, you know, this chatter

465
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,400
Speaker 4: that politicians want to like, you know.

466
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,400
Speaker 3: Have a photo, a photo op.

467
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,679
Speaker 4: They want to have somebody in the background, you know,

468
00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,680
Speaker 4: for this mental health awareness. Well what are they doing

469
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,879
Speaker 4: right now is they're trying to from my understanding, is

470
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:21,600
Speaker 4: you know, say, we're going to cut out all these

471
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 4: veterans off site visits where they go and visit with

472
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 4: people like maybe on a novel whole nation, you know,

473
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:29,800
Speaker 4: and they have to go out there and visit with

474
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 4: veterans that are not able to get to the VA,

475
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,520
Speaker 4: and they want to call all these VA benefits out.

476
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:35,960
Speaker 3: How do you feel about that?

477
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,360
Speaker 1: Well, I'm actually really glad you brought that up because

478
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,359
Speaker 1: and there's a reason that we haven't done a poll

479
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: on that. This is just classic. This is the thing

480
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,320
Speaker 1: that most veterans hate about Washington. Veterans benefits are not

481
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,680
Speaker 1: and we're not ever actually gonna get cut. They were

482
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,600
Speaker 1: using that as a talking point to try to win

483
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,320
Speaker 1: the messaging battle, But.

484
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,800
Speaker 4: It seems like a bad message from from where who

485
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 4: I talked to on this show, and with like guys

486
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,200
Speaker 4: like yourself and veterans who are actually dependent on the payments,

487
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,879
Speaker 4: and these visits to cut eighty thousand jobs. When the

488
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:16,680
Speaker 4: last president got three passes with Nancy Pelosi in charge

489
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,200
Speaker 4: of the Congress, she was in charge, and she said,

490
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 4: here's the death ceiling. Boom raised it, here's the death

491
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,880
Speaker 4: ceiling boom. Nothing was held onto it. No veterans were

492
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:26,879
Speaker 4: held onto it, No one was held to it.

493
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:27,240
Speaker 3: No one.

494
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 4: You know, my mom, if she was still around, she'd

495
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:31,880
Speaker 4: be taking care of my dad. She would have depended

496
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 4: on these benefits that are being you.

497
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 1: Know, well, and I'm not even taking like political sides here,

498
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 1: I'm not saying but.

499
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:39,920
Speaker 3: No, right, neither of mincuse.

500
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,760
Speaker 4: I'm saying both parties in the last administration allowed it

501
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:43,200
Speaker 4: to happen.

502
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,200
Speaker 1: But to be clear, I'm the facts are that, yes,

503
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,199
Speaker 1: they need to come to an agreement on the dead ceiling.

504
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,359
Speaker 1: Just raise it, which is just you know, raise it, yep, right.

505
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 4: Just raise it for the Americans. Just raise it and

506
00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:58,440
Speaker 4: then just figure it out everything else.

507
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,880
Speaker 1: Right, And certain people are trying to use you know,

508
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,640
Speaker 1: that as leverage to talk about spending because the reality

509
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,880
Speaker 1: is like we're at this point, like thirty one trillion

510
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,720
Speaker 1: something dollars in debt, which comes out to like ninety

511
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: seven thousand dollars per taxpayer. Right, government spending is out

512
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 1: of control.

513
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 4: Well, twenty five percent of that was under the Trump administration,

514
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 4: with three debt ceilings raised to make it thirty one trillion.

515
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,880
Speaker 1: It's a bipartisan problem, is it. Spending is a bipartisan.

516
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 4: But it wasn't the last administration, right, they approved it. Well,

517
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,960
Speaker 4: I mean there's no hostages. There were some people, like

518
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,720
Speaker 4: some some conservative conservatives in the at the end of

519
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,919
Speaker 4: it, it just got passed with no no question I mean ceiling.

520
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 3: Right.

521
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,120
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi like was the Speaker of the House.

522
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,160
Speaker 3: And she proved it. Yeah, so for Trump, yeah right

523
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 3: right right, but that's not happening now for Biden.

524
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,320
Speaker 1: Well, I'm again, this is why I'm not I'm not

525
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:57,200
Speaker 1: trying to get into a political conversation because like we

526
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 1: are nonpartisan and I'm not sure taking I'm not taking.

527
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,600
Speaker 3: Veterans that they that the death ceilings kind of well.

528
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 1: Again, let me go back, because this is this is

529
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,880
Speaker 1: not it never was going to be cut because first

530
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 1: of all, the budget that the GOP passed is like

531
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: a guideline. It's not an actual legally binding thing. So

532
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,399
Speaker 1: even if the Senate passed it, it's not it doesn't

533
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,600
Speaker 1: go to the President for signature because it's just an agree.

534
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,119
Speaker 1: It's literally just an agreement between the House and the Senate,

535
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 1: so that the appropriations committees, which are the ones that

536
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 1: actually budget line items for programs and things like that,

537
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: are like, oh, this is the budget that we should

538
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: stick to not break what are called pago rules, so

539
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,919
Speaker 1: budget paygo rules. It's all like minutia, you know, stuff.

540
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,080
Speaker 1: In fifty percent of the last budgets that have been passed,

541
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,439
Speaker 1: there were no specifics about which committees should have this

542
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:51,919
Speaker 1: much money versus this much money. So There was no

543
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,200
Speaker 1: in this budget. There was no specifics from the House

544
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,879
Speaker 1: GOP saying that, you know, veterans benefits are going to

545
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,399
Speaker 1: get cut. The White House and Democrats coming out and

546
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 1: saying the GOP wants to cut veterans benefits by you know,

547
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: twenty two percent or whatever was a They got that

548
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 1: number out of thin air because they said, if the

549
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,720
Speaker 1: GOP budget were to pass, that's f y twenty two

550
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:21,520
Speaker 1: budget levels, which is x dollars less than what f

551
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 1: y twenty four budget is. That's the propose, because up

552
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,920
Speaker 1: until the budget was passed, we haven't passed an f

553
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: y twenty four appropriations bill yet we're still on f

554
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 1: y twenty three.

555
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:37,160
Speaker 4: Maybe if the Congress cut their paychecks like they want

556
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 4: to cut the veterans paychecks, then maybe I'd be okay

557
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,400
Speaker 4: with that. Maybe if they want to take no pay

558
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:45,040
Speaker 4: for the job and show us the love of the

559
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,200
Speaker 4: game rather than this this hostage scenario.

560
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 3: Because I have to just I have to digress.

561
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 1: Man.

562
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,880
Speaker 4: I'm seeing a different picture from a lot of people

563
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 4: that I'm talking to who have been like department heads

564
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,840
Speaker 4: of the United States of America, and they're just like, Yeah,

565
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,200
Speaker 4: why can't we just be like, you know, done with it,

566
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,480
Speaker 4: you know what I mean? And and and a pull

567
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 4: like that on to your veterans might help push that towards.

568
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 3: You know, let them know about it. I mean, it's

569
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:10,880
Speaker 3: just a thing. Again.

570
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: So here's the other here's the other reason why it's

571
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 1: never going to happen. Because the Speaker and the Appropriations Share,

572
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:20,200
Speaker 1: which is the person with the power over the money

573
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 1: for the veteran programs, and then the House Veterans Affairs

574
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: Committee chairman all said no cuts to veterans benefits even

575
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,400
Speaker 1: though there's no specific like you know, so everybody was like, hey,

576
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,120
Speaker 1: pass an amendment to the budget saying that no veterans

577
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 1: benefits are going to be cut. So they came out

578
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 1: with their appropriation spill. They're proposed appropriation spill that literally

579
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 1: increases the budget number for veterans. So it completely negates

580
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:45,200
Speaker 1: that argument.

581
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 4: Well, if they if they cut it, would the Pause

582
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 4: Act at all? Would that be affected if they cut

583
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 4: these programs?

584
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 1: Well they're not going to though.

585
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,080
Speaker 4: Let's just let's just say that Pause and Veteran Outreach

586
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 4: and eighty thousand jobs and funding is cut for the

587
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 4: debt ceiling.

588
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,440
Speaker 1: Can I ask you a question real, yeah, please please?

589
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,119
Speaker 1: All right, So, over the last ten years, do you

590
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,440
Speaker 1: feel like we've made significant improvements? And it's not true

591
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,119
Speaker 1: question now, I feel like we've made significant improvements and

592
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: better on suicide, in access to care and quality of

593
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: care to VA. Do you feel like it's gotten significantly better?

594
00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:27,560
Speaker 4: So myself, I feel with suicide and the VA and awareness. Okay,

595
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 4: So my take is, I think you can do only

596
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 4: so many push ups to try to push an agenda, okay,

597
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,600
Speaker 4: without having to worry about the individual's mental health.

598
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:37,280
Speaker 3: Right, there's not.

599
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 4: Much I can do when somebody just goes the full distance,

600
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 4: and the vaight is going to have a hard time

601
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 4: stopping from somebody from.

602
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 3: Going the full distance.

603
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,440
Speaker 4: I find that alcohol is a heavy, you know factor

604
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 4: in people that are making these sloppy decisions at that time.

605
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 4: They're their own decisions though, because whether you're on some myahuasca,

606
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:57,960
Speaker 4: or you're on some type of cannabis, or you're on

607
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 4: some type of pharmaceutical, or you take an alcohol, all

608
00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 4: your thoughts are in your own head. Yeah, okay, whatever

609
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 4: you're spinning, all right. And so if you are on

610
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,960
Speaker 4: something and you don't have the clarity to call the

611
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:11,920
Speaker 4: VA because you feel that you don't want to go

612
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:13,440
Speaker 4: to the VA because they're not going to take care

613
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,640
Speaker 4: of you. Then you're not going to call the special

614
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 4: hotline number and event, you know. And that's why I

615
00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 4: was trying to say, like earlier, if you have younger dudes,

616
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 4: and okay, everybody's a dude to me. So you know,

617
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 4: if you've served in the military and you can get

618
00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,440
Speaker 4: into the VA, you should go into the VA and

619
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 4: get checked because.

620
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 3: They do have services, right, they do have things that

621
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 3: are there. But we're prideful. I'm very prideful. You know.

622
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,400
Speaker 4: I could go have my injury relooked at and all this,

623
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 4: but I'm just like, I don't want to go down

624
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 4: the hallways anymore. Reminds me of my dad, reminds me

625
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:44,920
Speaker 4: of my grandpa, reminds me of my mom breaking her feet,

626
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 4: pushing my dad, you know, in a wheelchair all the time,

627
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 4: all the time, getting denied an appointment after getting scheduled

628
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:52,560
Speaker 4: for an appointment.

629
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,160
Speaker 1: So just the short answer, though, do I think that

630
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 1: it's better over the last decade two decades? Do you

631
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 1: feel like the VA has made some dignificant improvements in

632
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 1: those areas suicide, access to care.

633
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 4: And I think on paper they feel like they have,

634
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 4: but I don't think in actuality it has really made

635
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,040
Speaker 4: a real difference. I think that people have made bills

636
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 4: and passed things and spent taxpayers dollars on pamphlets.

637
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,880
Speaker 1: So my point there is right, over the last ten years,

638
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 1: the VA's budget has increased by one hundred and four

639
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,640
Speaker 1: percent over the last since two thousand and one, it's

640
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:30,200
Speaker 1: increased six over six hundred percent. Since two thousand and one,

641
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: they have hired twice as many, like they've gone from

642
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 1: about two hundred and twelve thousand employees in twenty twenty

643
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,400
Speaker 1: or in two thousand and one to about four hundred

644
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 1: and thirty four thousand, And the veteran population has been

645
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,720
Speaker 1: declining because sixty five percent of veterans are over the

646
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 1: age of fifty five, Vietnam veterans that are, you know,

647
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 1: unfortunately dying. Yeah, and so the veteran population is declining.

648
00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,560
Speaker 1: VA usage is declining, but their budget and they're full

649
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: time employee acount keeps going up, and we haven't seen

650
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: a significant, in my view, improvement in those areas. We

651
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 1: seem to always go back to the same conversations about

652
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: why does the VA not do more on suicide. You

653
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 1: know what, why do they.

654
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:17,920
Speaker 3: Well, why do you think the VA can do more

655
00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 3: on suicide?

656
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,400
Speaker 1: Well, I think that first and foremost, they need to

657
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 1: make suicide prevention their number one overall priority. They need

658
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 1: to redirect the Office of Suicide Prevention as a direct

659
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,840
Speaker 1: report to the Secretary instead of being housed under the

660
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,920
Speaker 1: Veterans Health Administration. Because it's not always a health problem.

661
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 1: It's a financial problem, it's a relationship problem, it's a

662
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,000
Speaker 1: you know, I think we completely view suicide through the

663
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: wrong lens. It's not always mental health. Certainly mental health

664
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,840
Speaker 1: can exacerbate that, but I think suicide is a conglomeration

665
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 1: of parts of the human condition, you know that to

666
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,840
Speaker 1: your point, like, people make choices, and sometimes they're bad

667
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,200
Speaker 1: financial choices. That doesn't mean they need to go see

668
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 1: a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Sometimes they just need a

669
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 1: little you know, financial help man.

670
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,120
Speaker 4: Right, financial advisors who you would go and see, you know,

671
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 4: for that issue. You'd go and talk to somebody saying, hey,

672
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 4: say with financial advice.

673
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,960
Speaker 1: So and this is the other thing. The VA budget

674
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,960
Speaker 1: is the second largest budget in the United States government,

675
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 1: behind the Department of Defense. Their budget request this year

676
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 1: was something like three hundred and forty billion dollars. Okay, massive,

677
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 1: massive funding the Office of Suicide Prevention, and the suicide

678
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: prevention budget at VA is one tenth of one percent

679
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,160
Speaker 1: of that budget. One tenth of one percent is.

680
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:37,720
Speaker 3: A special ad.

681
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:43,400
Speaker 4: You're making me do math here, I'm doing like one tenth.

682
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 1: Of the three hundred and forty something billion dollars. It's

683
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 1: four hundred and ninety seven million. It's a it's a

684
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,080
Speaker 1: small percentage, and half of that goes to what you're

685
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,000
Speaker 1: talking about, advertisements. Whenever you see a choose VA ad

686
00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:01,080
Speaker 1: online or superimposed on a hockey or something like that,

687
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: that's ad dollars that the VA is spending from the

688
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,719
Speaker 1: suicide prevention budget. So that's number one, but part of

689
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:08,720
Speaker 1: that budget what they're doing well.

690
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 4: And also broadcasters, just real quick, Broadcasters in Utah, I

691
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,560
Speaker 4: just want to let you know have to allow the

692
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 4: military ad space per FCC regulations. So if you're listening

693
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:20,600
Speaker 4: to the radio late at night here and all of

694
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:21,480
Speaker 4: a sudden, it's like, have.

695
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 3: You thought about joining of the United States Marine Corps?

696
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:24,520
Speaker 3: The Marine Corps here for.

697
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,680
Speaker 4: You, brought to you by Utah Broadcasters Association because there

698
00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 4: is a rule where, you know, the federal FCC allows

699
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 4: these guys on the airwaves just like going to a

700
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,280
Speaker 4: high school. They get funding government, they get to have

701
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 4: recruiters there. So I do know that some funding comes

702
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 4: from like broadcast side as well as spent dollars on advertising.

703
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,960
Speaker 4: And it's not so much like advertising is going to

704
00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 4: stop suicide. Yeah, the individual listening right now is going

705
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 4: to stop it. And themselves. My other beef with this.

706
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,040
Speaker 1: They all they'll always come out with like, oh, we've

707
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,360
Speaker 1: got this new app, right, We've got this suicide prevention app.

708
00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:00,520
Speaker 1: Sure people check in on a daily So I was like,

709
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,960
Speaker 1: have you guys ever been so depressed and lonely that

710
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,600
Speaker 1: you're not gonna fucking check an app excuse me every

711
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:10,520
Speaker 1: day and be like, oh my gosh, I'm feeling depressed today.

712
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,319
Speaker 1: I gotta press this button and go talk to it.

713
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,279
Speaker 3: Unless it's got points to Starbucks involved, I don't know.

714
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,279
Speaker 1: I just I don't get sometimes the logic behind they're like, oh,

715
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 1: this is a really great idea. It's like a good idea.

716
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 4: For you lived three hundred sixty five days, get a

717
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,920
Speaker 4: ten thousand dollars bonus on your VA check yeah, I

718
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,400
Speaker 4: mean just check in though you gotta check in some print.

719
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 4: You gotta have biometrics, But I don't know if you're

720
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:31,839
Speaker 4: gonna if people want that.

721
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,400
Speaker 1: So that's that's my biggest thing. But in twenty twenty,

722
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:39,600
Speaker 1: Congress past the Commander John Scott Hannon the Suicide Prevention Act,

723
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:44,960
Speaker 1: which had the staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox grants that

724
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 1: literally was the VA providing up to seven hundred and

725
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars per organization community organization, not a VIA

726
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:56,880
Speaker 1: entity that had demonstrated they were in the community doing

727
00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,560
Speaker 1: suicide prevention work. So they were leveraging community organis, which

728
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,520
Speaker 1: I think is the right approach because less than fifty

729
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,759
Speaker 1: percent of veterans in the United States even use the VA.

730
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 1: There's like sixteen and a half million veterans in the

731
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,880
Speaker 1: United States for the census, less than half of them

732
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 1: used the VA. So the VA is not even going

733
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 1: to touch half the veteran population.

734
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 4: And like, like what about semper sometimes you know, like

735
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 4: the reservists out there, do they get access to go

736
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 4: to the VA?

737
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:21,760
Speaker 1: Defense?

738
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 3: Right?

739
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:23,560
Speaker 1: You deployed?

740
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:25,880
Speaker 4: So would you would you let me ask a veteran

741
00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,279
Speaker 4: were you did you go in yeah, really, I mean, yes,

742
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:30,200
Speaker 4: you are if you swearing. Here's the thing to me

743
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:30,840
Speaker 4: is if.

744
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 1: If you no I said that in air caps?

745
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:33,880
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, no.

746
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,120
Speaker 1: I definition a veteran, right.

747
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,919
Speaker 3: I was Malibu in it with your like bro, yeah.

748
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we the legal definition of the veteran,

749
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,320
Speaker 1: you know, being like you have to serve one hundred

750
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:47,960
Speaker 1: and eighty days. That's not training whatever. It's like, all right,

751
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:50,279
Speaker 1: do you think a reservist that does six years and

752
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:53,320
Speaker 1: has to like balance what I'm saying, reserve time and whatever,

753
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,680
Speaker 1: and that's what we're getting eighties and go do all this?

754
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 1: You think they don't deal with some of the same issues.

755
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,920
Speaker 4: That's what we should be frustrated about, is why now

756
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,440
Speaker 4: all vets get the access to the VET to that

757
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 4: three hundred and eighty billion dollar number you're thrown around that,

758
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,920
Speaker 4: why not you know, I mean, so you served two

759
00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,239
Speaker 4: weeks a month, but then also you deploy as a

760
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:18,800
Speaker 4: reservist to full time combat. Yeah, brah, even at that point, okay,

761
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 4: let alone just being in the military and you know,

762
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:25,480
Speaker 4: doing what you're doing, you're deploying now, you know, it's

763
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 4: just a shock to me to hear that, you know,

764
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 4: I just learned that the other day as well. In fact,

765
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,160
Speaker 4: I was talked to the president of AWP on our

766
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 4: show and I saw that.

767
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:36,239
Speaker 1: On your website.

768
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,799
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, Jim Lorraine and he was talking about that

769
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:43,200
Speaker 4: same thing and great guy to have on And also

770
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 4: I noticed what as I scrolling through your mission roll call,

771
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,160
Speaker 4: that you guys are teamed up with him.

772
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,479
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's why. So that's why earlier I said

773
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,919
Speaker 1: we're a national nonprofit program. Yeah, we're not our own

774
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,400
Speaker 1: separate organization. So we're a program of America's Warrior Partnership

775
00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,160
Speaker 1: because America. The way I look at it is like

776
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 1: America's Warrior Partnership is like the big think tank that

777
00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,880
Speaker 1: does the research with Operation Deep Dive and trying to

778
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,440
Speaker 1: figure out where the VA gets the data wrong on

779
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,279
Speaker 1: suicide prevention because they do. And we are kind of

780
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:18,879
Speaker 1: the smaller, more nimble organization designed to go out into

781
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:22,680
Speaker 1: the veteran community, talked abouts, get ground truth, do these polls,

782
00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:27,359
Speaker 1: and do the advocacy work with the policymakers. So it's

783
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,760
Speaker 1: a different enough to where we are our own separate

784
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,800
Speaker 1: kind of program house within AWP.

785
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,080
Speaker 3: Oh that's very cool.

786
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:35,760
Speaker 1: So Jim technically is my boss.

787
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 3: Yeah.

788
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,200
Speaker 4: Oh, not only is he a member or the president,

789
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 4: he's your boss.

790
00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, not technically my boss, he is my boss.

791
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 3: He is your boss. Yeah.

792
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:45,960
Speaker 4: I think he'll get a kick out of what I

793
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,040
Speaker 4: just said when he goes to listen to this all right,

794
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:50,319
Speaker 4: because we were talking about how you know, this all

795
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,840
Speaker 4: hits home and you know, being a caregiver helping veterans

796
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,040
Speaker 4: and and I'm like, not only are you a member

797
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:57,719
Speaker 4: of this, dude, you're also the president.

798
00:37:58,360 --> 00:37:59,000
Speaker 1: Yeah.

799
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:00,000
Speaker 3: He's like, it's true.

800
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,879
Speaker 4: Right, who better to help try to lead the way

801
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 4: than someone who's been through what you need help getting through. Right,

802
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,000
Speaker 4: That's why you say, go serve somewhere, go help somebody,

803
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:10,760
Speaker 4: do something.

804
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 3: You know, have you done a good deed? You know? Yeah?

805
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:14,960
Speaker 3: Good turn daily?

806
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:15,279
Speaker 4: Right?

807
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:16,920
Speaker 1: That's yeah, it is.

808
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 4: So true and it can help you and it makes

809
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 4: you feel better. And you don't have to put it

810
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,759
Speaker 4: on TikTok. You don't have to put it on Instagram.

811
00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 4: You can just open the door for somebody and just

812
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:26,600
Speaker 4: say have a nice day. You can just do something

813
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,360
Speaker 4: nice just to your speed. Be that person, you know,

814
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 4: because it's contagious, yeah right, you know, it just is.

815
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:36,480
Speaker 4: So it's patriotism. I'm not gonna lie. And if you're

816
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,080
Speaker 4: out there and you want to try to join the military,

817
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,200
Speaker 4: go try it, give it your all, give it your best,

818
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,399
Speaker 4: raise your hand, step up. That's another selfless option. I'm

819
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:47,000
Speaker 4: not paid by any department to say these things, right,

820
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,200
Speaker 4: this is just a real, real talk, and I'm just saying,

821
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:53,439
Speaker 4: you know, you can try your best foot forward at

822
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:56,840
Speaker 4: going to your local recruiter, asking them questions and taking

823
00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,120
Speaker 4: a test and see what the next test does and

824
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,000
Speaker 4: what the next test, and you make your own decisions. Yeah,

825
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:04,879
Speaker 4: so I would I would say give it a shot,

826
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:07,440
Speaker 4: because you know, we do have people out there that

827
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:09,480
Speaker 4: have the heart to want to serve. And you know,

828
00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 4: if you don't want to be drafted and you don't

829
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:13,160
Speaker 4: want to have a conscription like World War two or

830
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:17,839
Speaker 4: you know, through the dawna time conscriptions, right, an army

831
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 4: of forced patriotism doesn't get anywhere.

832
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: Well yeah, but unfortunately, you know, if we continue to

833
00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 1: degrade the incentives to serve, then and frankly, young people

834
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,880
Speaker 1: are looking at how veterans are treated and they see

835
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:39,399
Speaker 1: sometimes they're not treated well, especially because Mission Roll Call.

836
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: We did a national research poll that was a representative

837
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,799
Speaker 1: of the American population, and we found that sixty seven

838
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 1: percent of Generation Z did not know a veteran or

839
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,920
Speaker 1: somebody currently serving on active duty, so they have no

840
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 1: real touch points into.

841
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,320
Speaker 4: Well, that's just a flip of the of the switch,

842
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,320
Speaker 4: because it was just everybody has somebody that has served

843
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:03,560
Speaker 4: in this long, yeah, conflict of Afghanistan and a rock

844
00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:04,319
Speaker 4: that we dealt with.

845
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,120
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, military services is a family business at

846
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,160
Speaker 1: this point because eighty percent of people that have served

847
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: also have an immediate family member that served, which is

848
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:16,799
Speaker 1: why you see Gen Z saying, you know, we don't

849
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 1: know anybody, because it's all the same families that are

850
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:24,840
Speaker 1: just continuing to serve incentives like the GI bill, We

851
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,480
Speaker 1: don't take care of the veterans suicide crisis, We're going

852
00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:30,239
Speaker 1: to continue to see it's like two years in a

853
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,239
Speaker 1: row now that the Army is not going to meet

854
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,400
Speaker 1: its recruiting goals, the Marine Corps is not going to

855
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:35,719
Speaker 1: and part of that's because.

856
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:37,239
Speaker 4: Well, I think that's where money should be spent on

857
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,239
Speaker 4: pamphlets for real, Like let's talk about the GI bill

858
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,040
Speaker 4: real quick. You don't know, like when you enlist, they

859
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 4: don't tell you your recruiter doesn't tell you they're going to

860
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 4: take money out of your paycheck every month.

861
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 1: They don't do that anymore. That was the Montgomery GI Bill,

862
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:53,000
Speaker 1: So that forever GI bill passed in two thousand and

863
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:57,160
Speaker 1: I want to say seventeen or eighte okay forget okay,

864
00:40:57,280 --> 00:40:59,719
Speaker 1: so they don't actually take money out of your GI

865
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:04,720
Speaker 1: bill anymore. And now if you serve, when you enlist,

866
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 1: or if you're an officer before you get out, you

867
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:12,319
Speaker 1: can elect to give your GI bill to your son

868
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,400
Speaker 1: or daughter. So you don't even have to use your

869
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:16,320
Speaker 1: GI bill. You could transfer it to your son or

870
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,720
Speaker 1: daughter if you don't want to use it. So now

871
00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:22,640
Speaker 1: people that I know that are going into service. One

872
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: of my former interns last year, he's commissioning later this year,

873
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,200
Speaker 1: and I told him, I was like, man, if you

874
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,200
Speaker 1: want to go to grad school, do it while you're

875
00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,279
Speaker 1: on active duty, like an online grad school program. You

876
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,360
Speaker 1: use tuition assistance, and then give your GI bill to

877
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,880
Speaker 1: your son or daughter. He doesn't kids yet, but you

878
00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 1: can transfer it to a dependent so that you not

879
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:49,320
Speaker 1: only get your grad degree paid for, no student loans

880
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,439
Speaker 1: or anything like that, but now your son or daughter

881
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:53,480
Speaker 1: has the GI Bill.

882
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:55,319
Speaker 3: A that's really good to know.

883
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, So my listener out there, you're listening, okay,

884
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,320
Speaker 4: if you're thinking about going to talk to that recruiter,

885
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 4: bring up the GI bill, talk to him about it,

886
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:04,719
Speaker 4: get more information, get clarity, ask them. They're the ones

887
00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:07,440
Speaker 4: out are the subject matter experts on a career right

888
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 4: because they moved away from recruiting. But I'm just putting

889
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,239
Speaker 4: that out there because hey, you know, go check out.

890
00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:14,279
Speaker 4: If you're listening to this and you're like, Scouts is

891
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:14,879
Speaker 4: still a thing.

892
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:16,959
Speaker 3: It is. There's a local Scout probably in your area.

893
00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:19,200
Speaker 4: Go check out, you know, the boy Scouts, and they're

894
00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:22,320
Speaker 4: still doing tree planting and eagle Scout projects.

895
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:23,960
Speaker 3: And we're up here in Salt.

896
00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:25,880
Speaker 4: Lake and I mean literally they're getting ready to go

897
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,720
Speaker 4: do a camp crossover and the Order of the Arrows

898
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 4: kicking off and it's a big where the jamboree is

899
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:30,920
Speaker 4: going on.

900
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 3: So you know, you're.

901
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:38,000
Speaker 1: Bringing back memories. Man, I I can't I can't wait to,

902
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:43,000
Speaker 1: you know, to if I have the pleasure of getting

903
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,720
Speaker 1: involved again, to go on those campouts and help shape

904
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:49,120
Speaker 1: you know young man, because part of it too for

905
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 1: me was like my dad and my mom got divorced

906
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:53,440
Speaker 1: when I was young, yeah, and so my dad wasn't

907
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:55,600
Speaker 1: like around, you know, I spent summers on the ranch

908
00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:58,560
Speaker 1: with my dad and things like that. But the Scout

909
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:03,480
Speaker 1: masters were really good mentors, very much, and so it

910
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:05,160
Speaker 1: was it was good for me, and I kind of,

911
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 1: you know, I want to give back in some way,

912
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:09,319
Speaker 1: either through the Scouts or Big brothers, big sisters or

913
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,279
Speaker 1: something like that, so that I can kind of pay

914
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,319
Speaker 1: it forward and be that mentor for somebody else.

915
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 3: That's very very awesome and very positive.

916
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 4: And I like your energy and I like everything that

917
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,239
Speaker 4: you're after, and I wish that the VA would.

918
00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:21,920
Speaker 3: You know.

919
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:23,919
Speaker 4: I talked to some dudes and I was like, these

920
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:25,719
Speaker 4: guys that are at the head of the VA from

921
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,040
Speaker 4: past administrations, and it's like recreational therapy.

922
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 3: How come it has to be a certain rating.

923
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,879
Speaker 4: How Come you can't just be prescribed you know outdoors

924
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,680
Speaker 4: you know activities or going in skiing or trying to

925
00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 4: go swimming, you know, something like that, right, especially if

926
00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:43,640
Speaker 4: the VA has a pool there for pool therapy, that's

927
00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:46,440
Speaker 4: recreational you're in the water or going to your local pool.

928
00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 4: But just somehow, you know, taking some of that three

929
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:51,799
Speaker 4: hundred and eighty billion dollars budget that might have a

930
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,360
Speaker 4: slush fund or something, or instead of putting it in pamphlets,

931
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:57,520
Speaker 4: put it into memberships to the pool. For someone who

932
00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:00,000
Speaker 4: can't get to the VA right like they want to

933
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:01,719
Speaker 4: go swim at their local pool. You can cover that.

934
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:06,080
Speaker 4: I mean, if you can cover pharmaceuticals. No, you know,

935
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:08,040
Speaker 4: that's that's the same thing with your Pause Act.

936
00:44:08,719 --> 00:44:11,520
Speaker 1: Well, and that's why, uh you know, I said, I

937
00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:15,040
Speaker 1: think we view suicide through the wrong lens, because you know,

938
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:18,040
Speaker 1: the VA's budget is broken down in three separate agencies.

939
00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,719
Speaker 1: There's obviously the VA is the entire entity, but then

940
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:23,520
Speaker 1: there's the Veterans Health Administration, which is one, you know,

941
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:27,040
Speaker 1: one silo, and that's the brick and mortar healthcare system

942
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:29,719
Speaker 1: that you see the doctors and things like that. There's

943
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:34,640
Speaker 1: the Veterans Benefits Administration, which is the administration that pays

944
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:38,200
Speaker 1: out GI bill, pays out disability compensation, all that stuff.

945
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,239
Speaker 1: There's the Veterans Cemetery Administration, which admin cemeteries and all

946
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,080
Speaker 1: that stuff. So when a veteran passes away, if they're eligible,

947
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,400
Speaker 1: they can get buried in the National cemetery. But the

948
00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:52,080
Speaker 1: Disability compensate. Half of the VA's budget is what's called

949
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 1: mandatory spending. So it is like Social Security, it's veteran

950
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:59,959
Speaker 1: disability compensit. So Congress doesn't appropriate that money, they don't

951
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:02,560
Speaker 1: shoes to spend it. It's automatic. If a veteran has

952
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:06,959
Speaker 1: disability compensation, the government has to pay it. And that

953
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:11,239
Speaker 1: is what is potentially going to get delayed if the

954
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 1: debt ceiling does not get passed. Because like Social Security

955
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,839
Speaker 1: check we don't actually know. This is pretty unprecedented. If

956
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,759
Speaker 1: it actually happens and the dollar you know, default stops. Yeah,

957
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,960
Speaker 1: we don't know, but it's there. There's a strong potential

958
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,759
Speaker 1: that that disability compensation gets delayed weeks, months, however long ago.

959
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:28,520
Speaker 3: It's not a good thing.

960
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:30,319
Speaker 1: Yes, it's not a good thing. It's not a good thing.

961
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:33,120
Speaker 3: Fixed incomes, so yeah, right.

962
00:45:33,600 --> 00:45:35,120
Speaker 1: To pay for you know, mortgage.

963
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:36,280
Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying, homie.

964
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 4: We just got to just snap out of this up

965
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:42,320
Speaker 4: and just get it done because there's people close to

966
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,279
Speaker 4: us who are relying on SSI and veterans benefits like

967
00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:50,200
Speaker 4: lifetime trycare members. Yeah, dependence of one hundred percent rated

968
00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:53,200
Speaker 4: family members who all they could do was die leaving

969
00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:58,319
Speaker 4: their kin there, trike care for life. Yeah, okay, I

970
00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:00,279
Speaker 4: know it all too well. Okay, it's just a close

971
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:01,000
Speaker 4: to that.

972
00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:01,440
Speaker 3: You get.

973
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:04,359
Speaker 4: We could talk va all day on a record, off

974
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:07,360
Speaker 4: the record, you know again. My grandma died there. My

975
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:11,640
Speaker 4: dad basically had multiple heart surgeries there. My mom's veteran

976
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:13,200
Speaker 4: of a Green Beer. My dad was a Green Beret.

977
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:15,960
Speaker 4: My mom was pushing him the whole way, you know,

978
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:20,720
Speaker 4: and all I remember her feet erin. She'd say, my feet, Aaron,

979
00:46:21,239 --> 00:46:23,720
Speaker 4: you know, pushing dad in the wheelchair when he's pushing

980
00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:24,720
Speaker 4: three hundred pounds.

981
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:25,120
Speaker 3: You know.

982
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:28,400
Speaker 4: It's like, you know, the these women and these caregivers

983
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:31,399
Speaker 4: and these significant others that are out there, they're also

984
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 4: the veteran, and I just want to show them love

985
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:36,400
Speaker 4: right now and let them know that if they're listening,

986
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:38,319
Speaker 4: I want to hear from you too. You know, if

987
00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:40,640
Speaker 4: you are a caregiver or wife of a loved one,

988
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:41,200
Speaker 4: then you're doing that.

989
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:43,080
Speaker 3: Get on my show. Come on, I don't mind, I'll

990
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:43,480
Speaker 3: have you on.

991
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:45,920
Speaker 4: Just like just like Cole, we're just really talking, right

992
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:48,920
Speaker 4: We're trying to have a conversation with each other, yea,

993
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,279
Speaker 4: so it can happen and we can do this. And

994
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:55,040
Speaker 4: again my past guests have really hit me with we

995
00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 4: all have us on our name tape, US Army, US Marines,

996
00:46:58,560 --> 00:46:59,319
Speaker 4: US Air Force.

997
00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,440
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, it's all us.

998
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,279
Speaker 4: At the end of the day, that's what we should be,

999
00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:05,840
Speaker 4: you know, all for one, one for all. And so

1000
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:08,440
Speaker 4: you know, I want to thank you being on my

1001
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:09,960
Speaker 4: show today. And I know it took us a couple

1002
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:11,640
Speaker 4: of times to get together. And I know you're a

1003
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,240
Speaker 4: new father, and congratulations on that. And you know, Mission

1004
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:19,120
Speaker 4: roll Call is a part of the American Warrior Partnership

1005
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 4: and you should check it out and it'll be typed

1006
00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:26,080
Speaker 4: out in the dissertation on our website at software dot com,

1007
00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:27,840
Speaker 4: so you'll just be able to click on everything that

1008
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:29,120
Speaker 4: you need to do. And I want to thank my

1009
00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:30,920
Speaker 4: producers that go in and do that for me.

1010
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:33,319
Speaker 3: They listen to this and then they just write it out.

1011
00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:35,200
Speaker 4: I'm like, dude, thank you, and then they write it

1012
00:47:35,239 --> 00:47:37,440
Speaker 4: and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's a good conversation. So

1013
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:40,120
Speaker 4: thanks a lot for all your hard work Anton and

1014
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:43,440
Speaker 4: Chris and Mark so behind the scenes. And and I

1015
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:46,000
Speaker 4: want to again thank Nathan who referred you to.

1016
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:46,680
Speaker 3: Come on the show.

1017
00:47:46,719 --> 00:47:49,000
Speaker 4: All right, So thanks to day Yeah dude, and thanks

1018
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:50,000
Speaker 4: for allowing it to happen.

1019
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:52,000
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. Cole, thank you one hundred percent.

1020
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:54,720
Speaker 1: It was a great conversation. I'm happy to come back anytime.

1021
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:57,560
Speaker 1: If there's another debt sealing crisis or something like that

1022
00:47:57,600 --> 00:48:01,200
Speaker 1: going on, we need to just you know, kick around

1023
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:03,359
Speaker 1: and talk about right.

1024
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:04,920
Speaker 3: Well, it's on our minds, it's all of us. Might

1025
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:07,680
Speaker 3: let you me. You're welcome back.

1026
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:10,160
Speaker 4: That's one hundred percent okay, and I hope to shake

1027
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:11,399
Speaker 4: hands with you in person one day.

1028
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,800
Speaker 1: That's the end of the story. So I love Utah.

1029
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,960
Speaker 3: So you know we're still snowboarding. It's the middle of May.

1030
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:21,440
Speaker 4: Yeah, well anytime you're out here and the Jamboreez is

1031
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:24,520
Speaker 4: going on. So again, if you're listening, I want to

1032
00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,000
Speaker 4: say thanks to you for being a part of soft Rep.

1033
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:29,880
Speaker 4: Go check out our merch store at softwap dot com

1034
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:33,600
Speaker 4: and also soft rep dot com. Forward Slash book Club.

1035
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,560
Speaker 4: All right, we have a book club, and you know,

1036
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:37,960
Speaker 4: go check it out and support that. So reading is

1037
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,200
Speaker 4: cool and being nice to one another goes a long way.

1038
00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:44,560
Speaker 4: So on behalf of Cole and myself here a soft Rep.

1039
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:46,760
Speaker 4: Thank you and saying peace.

1040
00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:56,160
Speaker 2: You've been listening to Silk Red Lady