Podcasts about Air force academy

In honor of Veterans Day, Secretary Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, a third-generation veteran and head of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, joins the podcast to discuss her journey from the Air Force Academy to public service, her current mission to make North Carolina truly the "most veteran-friendly state," and why she accepted the role. She outlines her priorities — sector collaboration, transition support, and economic opportunity — explains the department's services (veteran service centers, state veterans homes, and cemeteries), and describes a statewide roadshow to help employers hire and retain veterans and military spouses ahead of Veterans Day.

Former CIA field operative Andrew Bustamante pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to recruit spies, run intelligence operations, and navigate a life built on secrecy, loyalty, and manipulation. In this riveting and wide-ranging conversation, Bustamante shares stories from his military training at the Air Force Academy, his time at “The Farm” — the CIA's elite training facility — and his years of fieldwork turning foreign agents into assets.He explains how spycraft isn't about glamour or violence — it's about reading people, controlling trust, and gaining influence through empathy and psychological leverage. Bustamante also discusses how operatives are recruited based on “moral flexibility,” why loneliness is built into the job, and how living in the shadows impacts everything from family to friendships.From breaking down the difference between motivation and manipulation to revealing how the CIA targets new recruits, this episode offers a rare, unfiltered look at the human side of espionage — and the psychological toll it takes on those who live it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Alex talks with Heather Gross, superintendent, educator, wife, and mom of four, about life, faith, and the challenges of leading in today's culture. Heather opens up about raising kids—including two sons at the Air Force Academy—navigating the highs and lows of education, and living out her Christian faith authentically in the public eye. From balancing family, church, and sports to standing firm in biblical truth while showing love, Heather's story is a powerful reminder that leadership starts at home and flows into every sphere of influence. #WhatsYourStory #TheWayWeSeeIt #FaithAndLeadership #FamilyFirst #KingdomImpact #ABMMinistries Alex Bryant Ministries is focused on helping people be reconciled to God, then within one's own self, and finally being reconciled to our fellow man in order to become disciples. Connect with us and our resources:    Our books - Let's Start Again & Man UP    More about us Like, subscribe, and share. Partner with ABM to place resources in jails and the inner city for $19 a month at alexbryant.org.  Follow us on Facebook or Instagram  

The path to progressing as a leader isn't always linear. SUMMARY Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott shows how a childhood dream can evolve into a lifetime of impact—from commanding in uniform to leading innovation in healthcare and national defense. Hear more on Long Blue Leadership. Listen now!   SHARE THIS PODCAST LINKEDIN  |  FACEBOOK   MIKE'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS A leader worth his or her salt should be comfortable not being the smartest person in the room. Striving for a lack of hubris is essential in leadership. Setting a clear vision is a fundamental leadership skill. Moving people without authority is crucial for effective leadership. Resource management is key to achieving organizational goals. Acknowledging what you don't know is a strength in leadership. Effective leaders focus on guiding their teams rather than asserting dominance. Leadership is about influencing and inspiring others. A successful mission requires collaboration and shared vision. True leadership is about empowering others to succeed.   CHAPTERS 00:00: Early Inspiration 06:32: Academy Years 13:17: Military Career Transition 21:33: Financial Services Journey 31:29: MOBE and Healthcare Innovation 40:12: Defense Innovation Unit 48:42: Philanthropy and Community Impact 58:11: Personal Growth and Leadership Lessons   ABOUT MIKE OTT BIO Mike Ott is the Chief Executive Officer of MOBĒ, a U.S.-based company focused on whole-person health and care-management solutions. He became CEO in April 2022, taking the helm to lead the company through growth and operational excellence following a distinguished career in both the military and corporate sectors.  A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mike served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves before shifting into financial services and healthcare leadership roles including private wealth management at U.S. Bank and executive positions with UnitedHealth Group/Optum. His leadership ethos emphasizes alignment, acceleration, and human potential, building cultures where teams can thrive and leveraging data-driven models to improve health outcomes.   CONNECT WITH MIKE LinkedIn MOBE CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     OUR SPEAKERS Guest, Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott '85  |  Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   FULL TRANSCRIPT Naviere Walkewicz 0:00 A quick programming note before we begin this episode of Long Blue Leadership: This episode will be audio-only, so sit back and enjoy the listen. Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. Today, on Long Blue Leadership, we welcome Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott, Class of 1985, a leader whose vision was sparked at just 9 years old during a family road trip past the Air Force Academy. That childhood dream carried him through a 24-year Air Force career, culminating in retirement as a colonel and into a life of leadership across business, innovation and philanthropy. Mike is the CEO of MOBE, a groundbreaking company that uses data analytics and a revolutionary pay-for-results model to improve health outcomes while reducing costs. He also serves as a senior adviser to the Defense Innovation Unit, supporting the secretary of defense in accelerating commercial innovation for national security. A member of the Forbes Councils, Mike shares his expertise with leaders around the world. A former Falcon Foundation trustee and longtime supporter of the Academy, Mike has given generously his time, talents and resources to strengthen the Long Blue Line. His story is one of innovation and service in uniform, in the marketplace and in his community. Mike, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad to have you here.   Mike Ott 1:29 Naviere, thanks a ton. I'm glad to be here. Naviere Walkewicz 1:31 Yes, yes. Well, we're really excited. I mean, you're here for your 40th reunion.   Mike Ott 1:35 Yeah, it's crazy.   Naviere Walkewicz1:37 You came right in, and we're so pleased that you would join us here first for this podcast.   Mike Ott 1:39 Right on. Thanks for the time.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:41 Absolutely. Well, let's jump right in, because not many people can say at 9 years old they know what they want to do when they grew up, but you did. Mike Ott 1:48 Yeah. I guess some people can say it; might not be true, but for me, it's true, good or bad. And goodness gracious, right? Here for my 40th reunion, do the math team, and as a 9-year-old, that was 1972, And a lot was going on in the world in 1972 whether it was political unrest, Vietnam and all of that, and the Academy was in the thick of it. And so we had gone — It was our first significant family vacation. My father was a Chicago policeman. We drove in the 1968 Buick LaSabre, almost straight through. Stopped, stayed at a Holiday Inn, destination Colorado, simply, just because nobody had ever seen the mountains before. That was why. And we my parents, mom, mom and dad took myself. I have two younger sisters, Pikes Peak, Academy, Garden of the Gods, Royal Gorge. And I remember noon meal formation, and the bell going off. Guys at the time — we hadn't had women as cadets at that point in time — running out in their flight suits as I recall lining up ready to go. And for me, it was the energy, right, the sense of, “Wow, this is something important.” I didn't know exactly how important it was, but I knew it was important, and I could envision even at that age, there was they were doing good, Naviere Walkewicz 3:21 Wow. Nine years old, your family went on vacation, and it just struck you as this is important and something that I want to do. So what did that conversation look like after that experience that you had as a 9-year-old and kind of manifest this in yourself? How did that go with your parents? Mike Ott 3:36 Well, I didn't say too much about it, as I was in grammar school, but as high school hit, you know, I let my folks know what my plans were, and I had mom and dad — my mother's still alive, my father passed about a year ago. Very, very good, hard-working, ethical people, but hadn't gone to college, and we had been told, “Look, you know, you need to get an education.” They couldn't. I wish they had. They were both very, very, very bright, and so I knew college was a plan. I also knew there wasn't a lot of money to pay for it. So I'm certain that that helped bake in a few things. But as I got into high school, I set my sights. I went to public high school in Chicago, and I remember freshman year walking into my counselor's office, and said, “I want to go to the Air Force Academy,” and he kind of laughed.   Naviere Walkewicz 3:21 Really?   Mike Ott 3:22 Well, we had 700 kids in my class, and maybe 40% went on to college, right? And the bulk of them went to community college or a state school. I can count on one hand the number of folks that went to an academy or an Ivy League school or something of that. So it was it was around exposure. It had nothing to do with intelligence. It was exposure and just what these communities were accustomed to. A lot of folks went into the trades and pieces like that. So my counselor's reaction wasn't one of shock or surprise insofar as that's impossible. It was, “We haven't had a lot of people make that commitment this early on, and I'm glad to help.”   Naviere Walkewicz 5:18 Oh, I love that.   Mike Ott 5:19 Which is wonderful, and what I had known at the time, Mr. Needham...   Naviere Walkewicz 5:23 You Remember his name?   Mike Ott 5:24 Yeah, he was in the Navy Reserves. He was an officer, so he got the joke. He got the joke and helped me work through what classes to take, how to push myself. I didn't need too much guidance there. I determined, “Well, I've got to distinguish myself.” And I like to lean in. I like a headwind, and I don't mind a little bit of an uphill battle, because once you get up there, you feel great. I owe an awful lot to him. And, not the superintendent, but the principal of our school was a gentleman named Sam Ozaki, and Sam was Japanese American interned during World War II as a young man, got to of service age and volunteered and became a lieutenant in the Army and served in World War II in Europe, right, not in Asia. So he saw something in me. He too became an advocate. He too became someone that sought to endorse, support or otherwise guide me. Once I made that claim that I was going to go to the Academy. Naviere Walkewicz 6:30 Wow. So you mentioned something that really stuck with me. You said, you know, you didn't mind kind of putting yourself out there and doing the hard things, because you knew when you got to the top it was going to feel really great. Was that something you saw from your father? Was that something, there are key leaders in your life that emulated that? Or is that just something that you always had in yourself? Mike Ott 6:51 I would say there's certainly an environmental element to it — how I was raised, what I was exposed to, and then juxtaposition as to what I observed with other family members or other parts of the community where things didn't work out very well, right? And, you know, I put two and two together. y father demonstrated, throughout his entire career what it means to have a great work ethic. As did mom and, you know, big, tough Chicago cop for 37 years. But the other thing that I learned was kindness, and you wouldn't expect to learn that from the big, tough Chicago cop, but I think it was environment, observing what didn't occur very often and how hard work, if I apply myself, can create outcomes that are going to be more fulfilling for me. Naviere Walkewicz 7:48 Wow, you talked about kindness. How did you see kindness show up in your journey as a cadet at the Air Force Academy? Or did you? Mike Ott 7:58 Yeah, gosh, so I remember, started in June of 1981, OK, and still connected with many of the guys and women that with whom I went to basic training and all that. The first moment of kindness that I experienced that it was a mutual expression, but one where I recognized, “Wow, every one of us is new here. None of us has a real clue.” We might have some idea because we had somebody had a sibling or a mother that was in the military or father that went to the academy at the time, but none of us really knew, right? We were knuckleheads, right? Eighteen years old. Maybe there were a couple of prior-enlisted folks. I don't recall much of that, but I having gone to a public high school in Chicago, where we had a variety of different ethnicities. I learned how to just understand people for who they are, meet them for who they are, and respect every individual. That's how I was raised, and that's how I exhibited myself, I sought to conduct myself in high school. So I get to the Academy, and you're assigned, you know, the first couple three nights, the first few weeks before you go to Jacks Valley, you're assigned. It was all a alphabetical, and my roommate was an African American fellow named Kevin Nixon. All right, my God, Kevin Nixon, and this guy, he was built. I mean, he was rock solid, right? And he had that 1000-yard stare, right? Very intimidating. And I'm this, like, 6-foot-tall, 148-pound runner, like, holy dork, right? And I'm assigned — we're roommates, and he just had a very stoicism, or a stoic nature about him. And I remember, it was our second night at the Academy, maybe first night, I don't quite recall, and we're in bed, and it's an hour after lights out, and I hear him crying, and like, well, what do you do? Like, we're in this together. It was that moment, like we're both alone, but we're not right. He needs to know that he's not alone. So I walked around and went over his bed, and I said, “Hey, man, I miss my mom and dad too. Let's talk. And we both cried, right? And I'll tell you what, he and I were pals forever. It was really quite beautiful. And what didn't happen is he accepted my outreach, right? And he came from a very difficult environment, one where I'm certain there was far more racial strife than I had experienced in Chicago. He came from Norfolk, Virginia, and he came from — his father worked in the shipyards and really, really tough, tough, tough background. He deserved to be the Academy. He was a great guy, very bright, and so we became friends, and I tried to be kind. He accepted that kindness and reciprocated in ways where he created a pretty beautiful friendship. Naviere Walkewicz 7:48 Oh, my goodness. Thank you for sharing that story. And you got me in the feels a little bit, because I remember those nights, even you know me having family members that went through the Academy. There's just something about when you're in it yourself, and in that moment, it's raw.   Mike Ott 11:13 Raw is a good word. Naviere Walkewicz 11:15 Oh, thank you for that. So you're at the Academy and you end up doing 24 years. I don't mean to, like, mash all that into one sentence, but let's talk… Mike Ott 11:22 I didn't do very much. It was the same year repeated 24 times over. Like, not a very good learner, right? Not a very good learner. Naviere Walkewicz 11:30 Yeah, I was gonna ask, you know, in that journey, because, had you planned to do a career in the Air Force? Mike Ott 11:36 Well, I didn't know, right? I went in, eyes wide open, and my cumulative time in the Air Force is over 24 but it was only it was just shy of seven active duty, and then 22, 23, in the Reserves, right? I hadn't thought about the Reserves, but I had concluded, probably at the, oh, maybe three-year mark that I wanted to do other things. It had nothing to do with disdain, a sense of frustration or any indignation, having gone to the Academy, which I'm very, very proud of, and it meant an awful lot to who I am. But it was, “Wait, this is, this is my shot, and I'm going to go try other things.” I love ambiguity, I'm very curious. Have a growth mindset and have a perhaps paradoxical mix of being self-assured, but perhaps early on, a bit too, a bit too, what's the word I was thinking of? I wrote this down — a bit too measured, OK, in other words, risk taking. And there were a few instances where I realized, “Hey, man, dude, take some risk. What's the downside? And if it isn't you, who else?” So it was that mindset that helped me muscle through and determine that, coupled with the fact that the Air Force paid for me to go to graduate school, they had programs in Boston, and so I got an MBA, and I did that at night. I had a great commander who let me take classes during the day when I wasn't traveling. It was wonderful. It was there that I was exposed to elements of business and in financial services, which ultimately drew me into financial services when I separated from active duty. Naviere Walkewicz 13:17 Well, I love that, because first you talked about a commander that saw, “How can I help you be your best version of yourself?” And I think the other piece of financial service, because I had to dabble in that as well — the second word is service. And so you've never stopped serving in all the things that you've done. So you took that leap, that risk. Is that something that you felt developed while you're at the Academy, or it's just part of your ethos. Mike Ott 13:41 It developed. It matured. I learned how to apply it more meaningfully at the Academy after a couple, three moments, where I realized that I can talk a little bit about mentoring and then I can come back to that, but mentoring — I don't know, I don't recall having heard that term as a mechanism for helping someone develop. I'm sure we used it when I was a cadet at the Academy and out of the Academy, and having been gone through different programs and banking and different graduate programs, the term comes up an awful lot. You realize, wow, there's something there helping the next generation, but also the reciprocity of learning from that generation yourself. I didn't really understand the whole mentoring concept coming out of Chicago and getting here, and just thought things were very hierarchical, very, very command structure, and it was hit the standards or else. And that that's not a bad mindset, right? But it took me a little while to figure out that there's a goodness factor that comes with the values that we have at the Academy, and it's imbued in each one of you know, service excellence, all of those pieces. But for the most part, fellow cadets and airmen and women want to help others. I mean, it's in service. It's in our DNA. Man that blew right past me. I had no idea, and I remember at one point I was entering sophomore year, and I was asked to be a glider instructor. I'd done the soaring and jumping program over the summer, and like, “Hey, you know you're not too bad at glider. You want to be an instructor?” At the time, that was pretty big deal, yeah, glider instructors. Like, “Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that, you know? I've got to study. Like, look at my GPA.” That didn't really matter. “And I'm going to go up to Boulder and go chase women.” Like, I was going to meet women, right? So, like, but I didn't understand that, that that mechanism, that mentoring mechanism, isn't always bestowed upon a moment or a coupling of individuals. There are just good people out there that see goodness in others that want to help them through that. I had no clue, but that was a turning point for me.   Naviere Walkewicz 15:56 Because you said no.   Mike Ott 15:58 I said no, right? And it was like what, you know, a couple months later, I remember talking with somebody like, “Yep, swing and a miss,” right? But after that, it changed how I was going to apply this self-assuredness, not bravado, but willingness to try new things, but with a willingness to be less measured. Why not? Trust the system. Trust the environment that you're in, the environment that we're in, you were in, I was in, that we're representing right now, it is a trusted environment. I didn't know that. And there were a lot of environments when I was being raised, they weren't trusted environments. And so you have a sort of mental callous mindset in many ways, and that that vigilance, that sense of sentinel is a good protection piece, but it prevents, it prevents... It doesn't allow for the membrane to be permeated, right? And so that trust piece is a big deal. I broke through after that, and I figured it out, and it helped me, and it helped me connect a sense of self-assuredness to perhaps being less measured, more willing to take ambiguity. You can be self-assured but not have complete belief in yourself, OK? And it helped me believe in myself more. I still wish I'd have been glider instructor. What a knucklehead. My roommate wound up becoming one. Like, “You, son of a rat, you.”   Naviere Walkewicz 17:29 So tell me, when did the next opportunity come up where you said yes, and what did that look like in your journey? Mike Ott 17:36 I was a lieutenant. I was a lieutenant, and I was looking for a new role. I was stationed at Hanscom Field, and I was working at one program office, and I bumped — I was the athletic officer for the base with some other folks, and one of the colonels was running a different program, and he had gotten to know me and understand how I operated, what I did, and he said, “Hey, Ott, I want you to come over to my program.” And I didn't know what the program was, but I trusted him, and I did it blindly. I remember his name, Col. Holy Cross. And really good guy. And yeah, I got the tap on the shoulder. Didn't blink. Didn't blink. So that was just finishing up second lieutenant. Naviere Walkewicz 18:26 What a lesson. I mean, something that stuck with you as a cadet, and not that it manifested in regret, but you realized that you missed that opportunity to grow and experience and so when it came around again, what a different… So would you say that as you progress, then you know, because at this point you're a lieutenant, you know, you took on this new role, what did you learn about yourself? And then how did that translate to the decision to move from active duty to the Reserve and into… Mike Ott 18:56 You'll note what I didn't do when I left active duty was stay in the defense, acquisition, defense engineering space. I made a hard left turn…   Naviere Walkewicz 19:13 Intentionally.   Mike Ott 19:14 Intentionally. And went into financial services. And that is a hard left turn away from whether it's military DOD, military industrial complex, working for one of the primes, or something like that. And my mindset was, “If I'm not the guy in the military making the decision, setting strategy and policy…” Like I was an O-3. Like, what kind of policy am I setting? Right? But my point was, if I'm not going to, if I may, if I decided to not stay in the military, I wasn't going to do anything that was related to the military, right, like, “Let's go to green pastures. Set myself apart. Find ways to compete…” Not against other people. I don't think I need to beat the hell out of somebody. I just need to make myself better every day. And that's the competition that I just love, and I love it  it's greenfield unknown. And why not apply my skills in an area where they haven't been applied and I can learn? So as an active-duty person — to come back and answer your question — I had worked some great bosses, great bosses, and they would have career counseling discussions with me, and I was asked twice to go to SOS in-residence. I turned it down, you know, as I knew. And then the third time my boss came to me. He's like, “OK, what are you doing? Idiot. Like, what are you doing?” That was at Year 5. And I just said, “Hey, sir, I think I'm going to do something different.” Naviere Walkewicz 20:47 Didn't want to take the slot from somebody else.   Mike Ott 20:49 That's right. Right. And so then it was five months, six months later, where I put in my papers. I had to do a little more time because of the grad school thing, which is great. And his commander, this was a two-star that I knew as well, interviewed me and like, one final, like, “What are you doing?” He's like, “You could have gone so far in the Air Force.” And I looked at the general — he was a super-good dude. I said, “What makes you think I'm not going to do well outside of the Air Force?” And he smiled. He's like, “Go get it.” So we stayed in touch. Great guy. So it had nothing to do with lack of fulfillment or lack of satisfaction. It had more to do with newness, curiosity, a challenge in a different vein. Naviere Walkewicz 21:30 So let's walk into that vein. You entered into this green pasture. What was that experience like? Because you've just been in something so structured. And I mean, would you say it was just structured in a different way? Mike Ott 21:48 No, not structured. The industry… So, I separated, tried an engineering job for about eight months. Hated it. I was, I was development engineer at Ford Motor Company, great firm. Love the organization, bored stiff, right? Just not what I wanted to do, and that's where I just quit. Moved back to Chicago, where I'm from, and started networking and found a role with an investment bank, ABN AMRO, which is a large Dutch investment bank that had begun to establish itself in the United States. So their headquarters in Chicago and I talked fast enough where somebody took a bet on me and was brought into the investment banking arm where I was on the capital markets team and institutional equities. So think of capital markets, and think of taking companies public and distributing those shares to large institutions, pensions funds, mutual funds, family offices.   Naviere Walkewicz 22:48 So a lot of learning and excitement for you.   Mike Ott 22:51 Super fun. And so the industry is very structured. How capital is established, capital flows, very regulated. We've got the SEC, we've got the FDIC, a lot of complex regulations and compliance matters. That's very, very, very structured. But there was a free-wheelingness in the marketplace. And if you've seen Wolf of Wall Street and things like that, some of that stuff happened. Crazy! And I realized that with my attitude, sense of placing trust in people before I really knew them, figuring that, “OK, what's the downside? I get nipped in the fan once, once or twice. But if I can thrust trust on somebody and create a relationship where they're surprised that I've trusted them, it's probably going to build something reciprocal. So learn how to do that.” And as a young fellow on the desk, wound up being given more responsibility because I was able to apply some of the basic tenets of leadership that you learned and I learned at the Academy. And face it, many of the men and women that work on Wall Street or financial services simply haven't gone to the Academy. It's just, it's the nature of numbers — and don't have that experience. They have other experiences. They have great leadership experiences, but they don't have this. And you and I may take it for granted because we were just four years of just living through it. It oozed in every moment, every breath, every interaction, every dialog, it was there.But we didn't know it was being poured in, sprinkled across as being showered. We were being showered in it. But I learned how to apply that in the relationships that I built, knowing that the relationships that I built and the reputation that I built would be lasting and impactful and would be appropriate investments for the future endeavors, because there's always a future, right? So it wasn't… again, lot of compliance, lot of regulations, but just the personalities. You know, I did it for the challenge, right? I did it because I was curious. I did it because I wanted to see if I could succeed at it. There were other folks that did it simply because it was for the money. And many, some of them made it. They might have sold their soul to get there. Some didn't make it. Maybe it wasn't the right pursuit for them in the first place. And if I go back to mentoring, which we talked about a little bit, and I help young men and women, cadets or maybe even recent grads, my guidance to them is, don't chase the money, chase the environment, right? And chase the environment that allows you to find your flow and contribute to that environment. The money will come. But I saw it — I've seen it with grads. I've seen it with many of the folks that didn't make it in these roles in financial services, because I thought, “Hey, this is where the money is.” It might be. But you have to go back to the basis of all this. How are you complected? What are your values? Do they align with the environment that you're in? And can you flow in a way where your strengths are going to allow success to happen and not sell your soul? Naviere Walkewicz 26:26 Yeah, you said two things that really stood out to me in that —the first one was, you know, trusting, just starting from a place of trust and respect, because the opportunity to build a relationship faster, and also there's that potential for future something. And then the second thing is the environment and making sure it aligns with your values. Is that how you got to MOBE? Mike Ott 26:50 Yeah, I would say how I got to MOBE, that certainly was a factor. Good question.   Naviere Walkewicz 26:57 The environment, I feel, is very much aligned Mike Ott 27:00 Very much so and then… But there's an element of reputation and relationship that allowed me to get there. So now I'm lucky to be a part of this firm. We're 250 people. We will do $50 million of revenue. We're growing nicely. I've been in health care for four years. Now, we are we're more than just healthcare. I mean, it's deep data. We can get into some of that later, but I had this financial services background. I was drawn to MOBE, but I had established a set of relationships with people at different investment banks, with other families that had successfully built businesses and just had relationships. And I was asked to come on to the board because MOBE, at the time, great capabilities, but struggled with leadership during COVID. Lot of companies did. It's not an indictment as to the prior CEO, but he and the team struggled to get through COVID. So initially I was approached to come on to the board, and that was through the founders of the firm who had known me for 20 years and knew my reputation, because I'd done different things at the investment bank, I'd run businesses at US Bank, which is a large commercial bank within the country, and they needed someone that… They cared very little about health care experience, which is good for me, and it was more around a sense of leadership. They knew my values. They trusted me. So initially I was asked to come onto the board, and that evolved into, “No, let's just do a whole reset and bring you on as the CEO.” Well, let's go back to like, what makes me tick. I love ambiguity. I love a challenge. And this has been a bit of a turnaround in that great capabilities, but lost its way in COVID, because leadership lost its way. So there's a lot of resetting that needed to occur. Corpus of the firm, great technology, great capabilities, but business model adaptation, go to market mechanisms and, frankly, environment. Environment. But I was drawn to the environment because of the people that had founded the organization. The firm was incubated within a large pharmaceutical firm. This firm called Upsher-Smith, was a Minnesota firm, the largest private and generic pharmaceutical company in the country, and sold for an awful lot of money, had been built by this family, sold in 2017 and the assets that are MOBE, mostly data, claims, analysis capabilities stayed separate, and so they incubated that, had a little bit of a data sandbox, and then it matriculated to, “Hey, we've got a real business here.” But that family has a reputation, and the individuals that founded it, and then ultimately found MOBE have a reputation. So I was very comfortable with the ambiguity of maybe not knowing health care as much as the next guy or gal, but the environment I was going into was one where I knew this family and these investors lived to high ethical standards, and there's many stories as to how I know that, but I knew that, and that gave me a ton of comfort. And then it was, “We trust you make it happen. So I got lucky. Naviere Walkewicz 30:33 Well, you're, I think, just the way that you're wired and the fact that you come from a place of trust, obviously, you know, OK, I don't have the, you know, like the medical background, but there are a lot of experts here that I'm going to trust to bring that expertise to me. And I'm going to help create an environment that they can really thrive in. Mike Ott 30:47 I'm certain many of our fellow alum have been in this experience, had these experiences where a leader worth his or her salt should be comfortable not being the smartest gal or guy in the room. In fact, you should strive for that to be the case and have a sense of lack of hubris and proudly acknowledge what you don't know. But what I do know is how to set vision. What I do know is how to move people without authority. What I do know is how to resource. And that's what you do if you want to move a mission, whether it's in the military, small firm like us that's getting bigger, or, you know, a big organization. You can't know it all. Naviere Walkewicz 31:30 So something you just mentioned that I think a lot of our listeners would really like, would love a little bit to peel us back a little bit. You said, “I know how to set a vision. I know how to…” I think it was move…   Mike Ott 31:45 Move people without authority and prioritize.   Naviere Walkewicz 31:47 But can we talk a little bit about that? Because I think that is really a challenge that some of our you know younger leaders, or those early in their leadership roles struggle with. Maybe, can you talk a little bit about that? Mike Ott 32:01 For sure, I had some — again, I tried to do my best to apply all the moments I had at the Academy and the long list of just like, “What were you thinking?” But the kindness piece comes through and… Think as a civilian outside looking in. They look at the military. It's very, very, very structured, OK, but the best leaders the men and women for whom you and I have served underneath or supported, never once barked an order, OK? They expressed intent, right? And you and I and all the other men and women in uniform, if we were paying attention, right, sought to execute the mission and satisfaction of that intent and make our bosses' bosses' jobs easier. That's really simple. And many outsiders looking in, we get back to just leadership that are civilians. They think, “Oh my gosh, these men and women that are in the military, they just can't assimilate. They can't make it in the civilian world.” And they think, because we come from this very, very hierarchical organization, yes, it is very hierarchical — that's a command structure that's necessary for mission execution — but the human part, right? I think military men and women leaders are among the best leaders, because guess what? We're motivating men and women — maybe they get a pat on the back. You didn't get a ribbon, right? Nobody's getting a year-end bonus, nobody's getting a spot bonus, nobody's getting equity in the Air Force, and it's gonna go public, right? It's just not that. So the best men and women that I for whom I've worked with have been those that have been able to get me to buy in and move and step up, and want to demonstrate my skills in coordination with others, cross functionally in the organization to get stuff done. And I think if there's anything we can remind emerging graduates, you know, out of the Academy, is: Don't rely on rank ever. Don't rely on rank. I had a moment: I was a dorky second lieutenant engineer, and we were launching a new system. It was a joint system for Marines, Navy and Air Force, and I had to go from Boston to Langley quite often because it was a TAC-related system, Tactical Air Force-related system. And the I was the program manager, multi-million dollar program for an interesting radio concept. And we were putting it into F-15s, so in some ground-based situations. And there was this E-8, crusty E-8, smoked, Vietnam, all these things, and he was a comms dude, and one of the systems was glitching. It just wasn't working, right? And we were getting ready to take this thing over somewhere overseas. And he pulls alongside me, and it's rather insubordinate, but it was a test, right? He's looking at me, Academy guy, you know, second lieutenant. He was a master sergeant, and he's like, “Well, son, what are we going to do now?” In other words, like, “We're in a pickle. What are we going to do now?” But calling me son. Yeah, it's not appropriate, right? If I'd have been hierarchical and I'd relied on rank, I probably would have been justified to let him have it. Like, that's playing short ball, right? I just thought for a second, and I just put my arm around him. I said, “Gee, Dad, I was hoping you're gonna help me.” And mother rat, we figured it out, and after that, he was eating out of my hand. So it was a test, right? Don't be afraid to be tested but don't take the bait. Naviere Walkewicz 35:46 So many good just lessons in each of these examples. Can you share a time at MOBE when you've seen someone that has been on your team that has demonstrated that because of the environment you've created? Mike Ott 35:57 For sure. So I've been running the firm now for about three and a half years. Again, have adapted and enhanced our capabilities, changed the business model a bit, yet functioning in our approach to the marketplace remains the same. We help people get better, and we get paid based on the less spend they have in the system. Part of some of our principles at MOBE are pretty simple, like, eat, sleep, move, smile, all right. And then be thoughtful with your medication. We think that medicine is an aid, not a cure. Your body's self-healing and your mind controls your body.   Naviere Walkewicz 36:32 Eat, sleep, move, smile. Love that.   Mike Ott 36:35 So what's happening with MOBE, and what I've seen is the same is true with how I've altered our leadership team. I've got some amazing leaders — very, very, very accomplished. But there are some new leaders because others just didn't fit in. There wasn't the sense of communal trust that I expected. There was too much, know-it-all'ing going on, right? And I just won't have that. So the easiest way to diffuse that isn't about changing head count, but it's around exhibiting vulnerability in front of all these folks and saying, “Look, I don't know that, but my lead pharmacist here, my lead clinician here, helped me get through those things.” But I do have one leader right, who is our head of vice president of HR, a woman who grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, who has come to myself and our president and shared that she feels liberated at MOBE because, though this firm is larger than one that she served as a director of HR, previously, she's never had to look — check her six, look right, look left and seek alignment to ensure she's harmonizing with people. Naviere Walkewicz 37:49 Can you imagine being in an environment like that? Mike Ott 38:51 It's terrible, it's toxic, and it's wrong. Leaders, within the organization, I think you're judged more by what you don't do and the actions that you don't take. You can establish trust, and you will fortify that trust when you share with the team as best you can, so long as it's nothing inappropriate, where you made a mistake, where we went wrong. What did we learn from that? Where are we going to pivot? How we're going to apply that learning to make it better, as opposed to finding blame, pointing the finger or not even acknowledging? That happens all the time, and that toxicity erodes. And regretfully, my VP of HR in prior roles experienced that, and I don't have time. Good teams shouldn't have time to rehearse the basic values of the firm. We don't have time the speed of business is like this [snaps]. So if I can build the team of men and women that trust one another, can stay in their lanes, but also recognize that they're responsible for helping run the business, and look over at the other lanes and help their fellow leaders make adjustments without the indictful comment or without sort of belittling or shaming. That's what good teams, do. You, and I did that in the Air Force, but it is not as common as you would think. Naviere Walkewicz 39:11 20 we've been talking about MOBE, and you know, the environment you're creating there, and just the way that you're working through innovation. Let's talk a little bit how you're involved with DIU, the Defense Innovation Unit. Mike Ott 39:21 Again, it's reputation in relationships. And it was probably 2010, I get a call from a fellow grad, '87 grad who was living in the Beltway, still in uniform. He was an O-5 I was an O-5. Just doing the Academy liaison work, helping good young men and women that wanted to go to the Academy get in. And that was super satisfying, thought that would be the end of my Reserve career and super fun. And this is right when the first Obama administration came in, and one of his edicts and his admin edicts was, we've got to find ways to embrace industry more, right? We can't rely on the primes, just the primes. So those were just some seeds, and along with a couple other grads, created what is now called Joint Reserve Directorate, which was spawned DIUX, which was DIU Experimental, is spawned from. So I was the owner for JRD, and DIUX as a reserve officer. And that's how we all made colonel is we were working for the chief technology officer of the Defense Department, the Hon. Zach Lemnios, wonderful fellow. Civilian, didn't have much military experience, but boy, the guy knew tech — semiconductors and areas like that. But this was the beginning of the United States recognizing that our R&D output, OK, in the aggregate, as a fund, as a percentage of GDP, whether it's coming out of the commercial marketplace or the military DoD complex, needs to be harnessed against the big fight that we have with China. We can see, you know, we've known about that for 30 years. So this is back 14 years ago. And the idea was, let's bring in men and women — there was a woman in our group too that started this area — and was like, “How do we create essential boundary span, boundary spanners, or dual-literacy people that are experiences in capital markets, finance, how capital is accumulated, innovation occurs, but then also how that applies into supporting the warfighter. So we were given a sandbox. We were given a blank slate.   Naviere Walkewicz 41:37 It's your happy place.   Mike Ott 41:38 Oh, super awesome. And began to build out relationships at Silicon Valley with commercial entities, and developed some concepts that are now being deployed with DIU and many other people came in and brought them all to life. But I was lucky enough after I retired from the Reserves as a colonel to be asked to come back as an adviser, because of that background and that experience, the genesis of the organization. So today I'm an unpaid SGE — special government employee — to help DIU look across a variety of different domains. And so I'm sure many of our listeners know it's key areas that we've got to harness the commercial marketplace. We know that if you go back into the '70s, ‘60s and ‘70s, and creation of the internet, GPS, precision munitions and all of that, the R&D dollars spent in the aggregate for the country, 95% came out of DOD is completely flip flopped today. Completely flipped. We happen to live in an open, free society. We hope to have capital markets and access a lot of that technology isn't burdened like it might be in China. And so that's the good and bad of this open society that we have. We've got to find ways. So we, the team does a lot of great work, and I just help them think about capital markets, money flows, threat finance. How you use financial markets to interdict, listen, see signals, but then also different technologies across cyberspace, autonomy, AI. Goodness gracious, I'm sure there's a few others. There's just so much. So I'm just an interloper that helps them think about that, and it's super fun that they think that I can be helpful. Naviere Walkewicz 43:29 Well, I think I was curious on how, because you love the ambiguity, and that's just something that fills your bucket — so while you're leading MOBE and you're creating something very stable, it sounds like DIU and being that kind of special employee, government employee, helps you to fill that need for your ambiguous side.   Mike Ott 43:48 You're right. You're right.   Naviere Walkewicz 43:49 Yeah, I thought that's really fascinating. Well, I think it's wonderful that you get to create that and you just said, the speed of business is this [snaps]. How do you find time in your life to balance what you also put your values around — your health — when you have such an important job and taking care of so many people? Mike Ott 44:06 I think we're all pretty disciplined at the Academy, right? I remain that way, and I'm very, very — I'm spring loaded to ‘no,' right? “Hey, do you want to go do this?” Yeah, I want to try do, I want to do a lot of things, but I'm spring loaded. So like, “Hey, you want to go out and stay, stay up late and have a drink?” “No,” right? “Do you want to do those things?” So I'm very, very regimented in that I get eight hours of sleep, right? And even somebody, even as a cadet, one of the nicknames my buddies gave me was Rip Van Ott, right? Because I'm like, “This is it.” I was a civil engineer. One of my roommates was an astro guy, and I think he pulled an all-nighter once a week.   Naviere Walkewicz 45:46 Oh, my goodness, yeah.   Mike Ott 45:50 Like, “Dude, what are you doing?” And it wasn't like he was straight As. I was clearly not straight As, but I'm like, “What are you doing? That's not helpful. Do the work ahead of time.” I think I maybe pulled three or four all-nighters my entire four years. Now, it's reflected in my GPA. I get that, but I finished the engineering degree. But sleep matters, right? And some things are just nonnegotiable, and that is, you know, exercise, sleep and be kind to yourself, right? Don't compare. If you're going to compare, compare yourself to yesterday, but don't look at somebody who is an F-15 pilot, and you're not. Like, I'm not. My roommate, my best man at my wedding, F-15 pilot, Test Pilot School, all these things, amazing, amazing, awesome, and super, really, really, happy and proud for him, but that's his mojo; that's his flow, right? If you're gonna do any comparison, compare yourself to the man or woman you were yesterday and “Am I better?”. Naviere Walkewicz 44:48 The power of “no” and having those nonnegotiables is really important. Mike Ott 45:53 Yeah, no, I'm not doing that. Naviere Walkewicz 45:56 I think sometimes we're wired for a “we can take on… we can take it on, we can take it on, we can take it on. We got this.” Mike Ott 46:03 For sure. Oh, my goodness. And I have that discussion with people on my team from time to time as well, and it's most often as it relates to an individual on the team that's struggling in his or her role, or whether it's by you know, if it's by omission and they're in the wrong role, that's one thing. If it's by commission, well, be a leader and execute and get that person out of there, right? That's wrong, but from time to time, it's by omission, and somebody is just not well placed. And I've seen managers, I can repatriate this person. I can get him or her there, and you have to stop for a second and tell that leader, “Yeah, I know you can. I'm certain that the only thing you were responsible for was to help that person fulfill the roles of the job that they're assigned. You could do it.” But guess what? You've got 90% of your team that needs care, nurturing and feeding. They're delivering in their function, neglect, there destroys careers, and it's going to destroy the business. So don't, don't get caught up in that. Yeah. Pack it on. Pack it on. Pack it on. You're right. When someone's in the crosshairs, I want to be in the crosshairs with you, Naviere, and Ted, and all the people that you and I affiliate with, but on the day-to-day, sustained basis, right to live, you know, to execute and be fulfilled, both in the mission, the work and stay fit, to fight and do it again. You can't. You can't. And a lot of a little bit of no goes a long way. Naviere Walkewicz 47:40 That is really good to hear. I think that's something that a lot of leaders really don't share. And I think that's really wonderful that you did. I'd like to take a little time and pivot into another area that you're heavily involved, philanthropy side. You know, you've been with the Falcon Foundation. Where did you find that intent inside of you? I mean, you always said the Academy's been part of you, but you found your way back in that space in other ways. Let's talk about that. Mike Ott 48:05 Sure. Thank you. I don't know. I felt that service is a part of me, right? And it is for all of us, whether you stay in the military or not. Part of my financial services jobs have been in wealth management. I was lucky enough to run that business for US Bank in one of my capacities, and here I am now in health care, health care of service. That aligns with wanting things to be better across any other angle. And the philanthropic, philanthropic side of things — I probably couldn't say that word when I was a cadet, but then, you know, I got out and we did different volunteer efforts. We were at Hanscom Field raising money for different organizations, and stayed with it, and always found ways to have fun with it. But recognized I couldn't… It was inefficient if I was going to be philanthropic around something that I didn't have a personal interest in. And as a senior executive at US Bank, we were all… It was tacit to the role you had roles in local foundations or community efforts. And I remember sitting down with my boss, the CFO of the bank, and then the CEO, and they'd asked me to go on to a board, and it had to do with a museum that I had no interest in, right? And I had a good enough relationship with these, with these guys, to say, “Look, I'm a good dude. I'm going to be helpful in supporting the bank. And if this is a have to, all right, I'll do it, but you got the wrong guy. Like, you want me to represent the bank passionately, you know, philanthropically, let me do this. And they're like, “OK, great.” So we pivoted, and I did other things. And the philanthropic piece of things is it's doing good. It's of service for people, entities, organizations, communities or moments that can use it. And I it's just very, very satisfying to me. So my wife and I are pretty involved that way, whether it's locally, with different organizations, lot of military support. The Academy, we're very fond of. It just kind of became a staple. Naviere Walkewicz 50:35 Did you find yourself also gravitating toward making better your community where you grew up? Mike Ott 50:41 Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of my dear friends that grew up in the same neighborhood, he wound up going to the Naval Academy, and so we're we've been friends for 50 years. Seventh grade.   Naviere Walkewicz 50:53 Same counselor? Mike Ott50:54 Yeah, no. Different counselor, different high school. His parents had a little bit of money, and they, he wound up going to a Catholic school nearby. But great guy, and so he and I, he runs a business that serves the VA in Chicago, and I'm on the board, and we do an awful lot of work. And one of the schools we support is a school on the south side, largely African American students and helping them with different STEM projects. It's not going to hit above the fold of a newspaper, but I could give a rat, doesn't matter to me, seeing a difference, seeing these young men and women. One of them, one of these boys, it's eye watering, but he just found out that he was picked for, he's applying to the Naval Academy, and he just found out that he got a nomination.   Naviere Walkewicz 51:44 Oh my goodness, I just got chills.   Mike Ott 51:46 And so, yeah, yeah, right, right. But it's wonderful. And his parents had no idea anything like that even existed. So that's one that it's not terribly formal, but boy, it looks great when you see the smile on that kid and the impact on that individual, but then the impact it leaves on the community, because it's clear opportunity for people to aspire because they know this young man or this young woman, “I can do that too.” Naviere Walkewicz 52:22 Wow. So he got his nomination, and so he would start technically making class of 2030?   Mike Ott 52:27 That's right. Naviere Walkewicz 52:28 Oh, how exciting. OK Well, that's a wonderful…   Mike Ott 52:27 I hope, I hope, yeah, he's a great kid. Naviere Walkewicz 52:33 Oh, that is wonderful. So you talk about, you know that spirit of giving — how have you seen, I guess, in your journey, because it hasn't been linear. We talked about how you know progression is not linear. How have you grown throughout these different experiences? Because you kind of go into a very ambiguous area, and you bring yourself, and you grow in it and you make it better. But how have you grown? What does that look like for you? Mike Ott 53:02 After having done it several times, right, i.e. entering the fray of an ambiguous environment business situation, I developed a better system and understanding of what do I really need to do out of the gates? And I've grown that way and learn to not be too decisive too soon. Decisiveness is a great gift. It's really, really it's important. It lacks. It lacks because there are too many people, less so in the military, that want to be known for having made… don't want to be known for having made a bad decision, so they don't take that risk. Right, right, right. And so that creates just sort of the static friction, and you've just got to have faith and so, but I've learned how to balance just exactly when to be decisive. And the other thing that I know about me is I am drawn to ambiguity. I am drawn… Very, very curious. Love to learn, try new things, have a range of interests and not very good at any one thing, but that range helps me in critical thinking. So I've learned to, depending on the situation, right, listen, listen, and then go. It isn't a formula. It's a flow, but it's not a formula. And instinct matters when to be decisive. Nature of the people with whom you're working, nature of the mission, evolution, phase of the organization or the unit that you're in. Now is the time, right? So balancing fostering decisiveness is something that that's worth a separate discussion. Naviere Walkewicz 54:59 Right. Wow. So all of these things that you've experienced and the growth that you've had personally — do you think about is this? Is this important to you at all, the idea of, what is your legacy, or is that not? Mike Ott 55:13 We talked a little bit about this beforehand, and I thought I've got to come up with something pithy, right? And I really, I really don't.   Naviere Walkewicz 55:18 Yeah, you don't.   Mike Ott 55:19 I don't think of myself as that. I'm very proud of who I am and what I've done in the reputation that I have built. I don't need my name up in lights. I know the life that I'm living and the life that I hope to live for a lot longer. My legacy is just my family, my children, the mark that I've left in the organizations that I have been a part of.   Naviere Walkewicz 55:58 And the communities that you've touched, like that gentleman going and getting his nomination. I'm sure.   Mike Ott 56:04 Yeah, I don't… having been a senior leader, and even at MOBE, I'm interviewed by different newspapers and all that. Like I do it because I'm in this role, and it's important for MOBE, but I'm not that full of myself, where I got to be up in lights. So I just want to be known as a man that was trustworthy, fun, tried to meet people where they are really had flaws, and sought to overcome them with the few strengths that he had, and moved everything forward. Naviere Walkewicz 56:33 Those are the kind of leaders that people will run through fire for. That's amazing. I think that's a wonderful I mean that in itself, it's like a living legacy you do every day. How can I be better than I was yesterday? And that in itself, is a bit of your living and that's really cool. Well, one of the things we like to ask is, “What is something you're doing every day to be better as a leader?” And you've covered a lot, so I mean, you could probably go back to one of those things, but is there something that you could share with our listeners that you do personally every day, to be better? Mike Ott 57:05 Exercise and read every day, every day, and except Fridays. Fridays I take… that's like, I'll stretch or just kind of go for a walk. But every day I make it a moment, you know, 45 minutes to an hour, something and better for my head, good for my body, right? That's the process in the hierarchy of way I think about it. And then read. Gen. Mattis. And I supported Gen. Mattis as a lieutenant colonel before I wanted to and stuff at the Pentagon. And he I supported him as an innovation guy for JFCOM, where he was the commander. And even back then, he was always talking about reading is leading none of us as military leaders… And I can't hold the candle to the guy, but I learned an awful lot, and I love his mindset, and that none of us can live a life long enough to take In all the leadership lessons necessary to help us drive impact. So you better be reading about it all the time. And so I read probably an hour every night, every day.   Naviere Walkewicz 58:14 What are you reading right now?   Mike Ott 58:15 Oh, man, I left it on the plane! I was so bummed. Naviere Walkewicz 58:17 Oh, that's the worst. You're going to have to get another copy. Mike Ott 58:22 Before I came here, I ordered it from Barnes & Noble so to me at my house when I get home. Love history and reading a book by this wonderful British author named Anne Reid. And it's, I forget the title exactly, but it's how the allies at the end of World War I sought to influence Russia and overcome the Bolsheviks. They were called the interventionalists, and it was an alliance of 15 different countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, U.K., Japan, Australia, India, trying to thwart, you know, the Bolshevik Revolution — trying to thwart its being cemented. Fascinating, fascinating. So that's what I was reading until I left it on the plane today. Naviere Walkewicz 59:07 How do you choose what to read? Mike Ott 59:10 Listen, write, love history. Love to read Air Force stuff too. Just talk to friends, right? You know, they've learned how to read like me. So we get to talk and have fun with that. Naviere Walkewicz 59:22 That's great. Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, the last question I'd like to ask you, before I want to make sure you have an opportunity to cover anything we didn't, is what is something you would share with others that they can do to become better leaders? Maybe they start doing it now, so in the future, they're even stronger as a leader. Mike Ott 59:42 Two things I would say, and try to have these exist in the same breath in the same moment, is have the courage to make it try and make it better every day, all right, and be kind to yourself, be forgiving. Naviere Walkewicz 59:59 That's really powerful. Can you share an example? And I know I that's we could just leave it there, but being courageous and then being kind to yourself, they're almost on two opposite sides. Have you had, can you share an example where I guess you've done that right? You had to be you were courageous and making something better, and maybe it didn't go that way, so you have to be kind to yourself. Mike Ott 1:00:23 Yeah, happy to and I think any cadet will hear this story and go like, “Huh, wow, that's interesting.” And it also plays with the arc of progress isn't linear. I graduated in '85 went to flight school, got halfway through flight school, and there was a RIF, reduction in force. And our class, our flight class, I was flying jets, I was soloing. I was academically — super easy, flying average, right? You know, I like to joke that I've got the fine motor skills of a ham sandwich, right? You know, but, but I didn't finish flight school. And you think about this, here it is. I started in 1981 there were still vestiges of Vietnam. Everyone's going to be a fighter pilot. Kill, kill, kill. Blood makes the grass grow. All of that was there. And I remember when this happened, it was very frustrating for me. It was mostly the major root of frustration wasn't that I wasn't finishing flight school. It was the nature by which the determination that I wasn't finishing was made. And it was, it was a financial decision. We had too many guys and gals, and they were just finding, you know, average folks and then kicking them out. So our class graduated a lower percent than, I think, in that era, it was late '85, '86, maybe '87, but you can look at outflows, and it was interesting, they were making budget cuts. So there was a shaming part there, having gone to the Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:02:02 And knowing since 9 years old. Mike Ott 1:20:04 Right, right, right, and I knew I wanted to go the Academy. I'd like to fly, let's check it out and see if it's for me. I would much rather have been not for me, had I made the decision I don't want to do this or that I was just unsafe and didn't want to do it. The way it turned out is, and this is where I learned a little bit about politics as well. In my class, again, I was very average. Like, nobody's ever going to say, like, yeah, I was going to go fly the Space Shuttle. Like, no way, right? Very, very average, but doing just fine. And a lot of guys and gals wanted to go be navigators, and that's great. I looked in the regs, and I learned this as a cadet, and it's helped me in business, too. If there's a rule, there's a waiver. Like, let me understand the regs, and I asked to go to a board. Instead of just submitting a letter to appeal, I asked to go to a board. And so I went to a board of an O-5 five, couple of threes O-4 four, and ultimately shared the essence of why I shouldn't be terminated in the program. And son of a gun, they agreed, and I still have the letter. The letter says, “Recommend Lt. Ott for reinstatement.” Nobody in my class has that letter, nobody makes the appeal. And I'm like, I'm going downstream. I'm going downstream. And that's the Chicago in me, and that's the piece about… but also move forward, but forgive yourself, and I'll get to that. And so I, I was thrilled, My goodness, and the argument I had is, like, look, you're just not keeping me current. You put me in the sim, and then you're waiting too long to put me in the jet. The regs don't allow for that. And like, you're right. So I'm assigned to go back to the jet. My pals are thrilled. I'm going to stay in the same class. I don't have to wash back. And then I get a call from the DO's office — director of operations — and it was from some civilian person so the DO overrode the board's decision. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:04:12 You were so high, you did all of your work. And then… Mike Ott 1:04:15 Yeah, and then heartbreaking and frustrating, and I guess the word is indignant: anger aroused through frustration. In that I figured it out. I knew exactly what's happening. I made the appeal and I won. And it wasn't I was expecting to be assigned to fly a fighter. It was like, “Just let me, let me express the merits of my capabilities. It's how the system is designed.” The son of a gun, I jumped in my car and I ran to base and I waited and reported in. He didn't really know who I was. That's because he didn't make a decision. It was just it was that decision, and that's how life comes at you. That's just how it is. It isn't linear. So how do you take that and then say, “Well, I'm going to be kind to myself and make something out of it.” And he went through, you know, a dissertation as to why, and I asked him if I could share my views, and it's pretty candid, and I just said, If my dad were something other than the Chicago policeman, and maybe if he was a senator or general officer, I wouldn't be sitting here. That lit him up, right? That lit him up. But I had to state my views. So I knew I was out of the program. Very, very frustrating. Could have had the mayor of Chicago call. Didn't do that, right? Like, OK, I understand where this is it. That was very frustrating and somewhat shaming. But where the forgiveness comes in and be kind to yourself, is that I ran into ground. I ran into ground and drove an outcome where I still… It's a moment of integrity. I drove an outcome like, there you go. But then what do you do? Forgive yourself, right? Because you didn't do anything wrong, OK? And you pivot. And I turned that into a moment where I started cold calling instructors at the Academy. Because, hey, now I owe the Air Force five years, Air Force is looking for, you know, things that I don't want to do. And thank goodness I had an engineering degree, and I cold called a guy at a base in Hanscom. And this is another tap on the shoulder.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:06:24 That's how you got to Hanscom. Gotcha.   Mike Ott 1:06:27 There was a friend who was Class of '83, a woman who was in my squadron, who was there. Great egg. And she's like, “Hey, I was at the O Club.” Called her. I said, “Hey, help me out. I got this engineering degree. I want to go to one of these bases. Called Lt. Col. Davis, right? I met him at the O Club. I called a guy, and he's like, “Yeah, let's do this.”   Naviere Walkewicz 1:06:44 Wow, I love that..   Mike Ott 1:06:46 It was fantastic So it's a long winded way, but progress isn't linear. And progressing through that and not being a victim, right, recognizing the conditions and the environment that I could control and those that I can't. Anything that I could control, I took advantage of and I sought to influence as best possible. Ran into ground and I feel great about it, and it turns out to be a testament of one of my best successes. Naviere Walkewicz 1:07:17 Wow. Thank you for sharing

After stints at the White House, Air Force Academy and Amazon, Nick Mastronardi set out to help the public sector make data-driven decisions and improve performance.Nick Mastronardi had the realization while writing his dissertation about applying game theory to public finance. In game theory, each person's outcome depends upon all the participants' strategies and decisions. It was the fact that everyone wasn't participating, Nick reasoned the outsized influence of the vocal few that made the public sector underperform. If someone could help officials harness the collective intelligence, it could improve local governments' performance. Six years after finishing his Ph.D., in 2015, Nick co-founded Madison-based Polco to act on that realization. Its platform helps local governments engage residents, analyze data and measure and track their performance.Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

Air Force's head coach Joe Scott visits with Jason Walker at 2025 Mountain West men's basketball media day in Las Vegas - Oct. 23, 2025

What if saying yes to significance over money could unlock a decade of impact and lead you to build the business you were always meant to create? In this episode, Steve Caton, founder of Altezza Solutions and fractional sales expert, shares his remarkable journey from rejecting his banker father's career path to becoming a champion for trapped founders. Through four pivotal relationships, each arriving at exactly the right moment, Steve learned the art of relational sales, the discipline of the sales process, the courage to choose significance, and the confidence to finally launch his own company. His mission? Freeing brilliant founders from the sales trap so they can lead their vision while spending more time at the dinner table with their families. Steve reflects on how the right mentors at the right time shaped his career and why he believes the fractional sales model is a game-changer for emerging growth companies stuck between $1-5 million in revenue.   [00:06:00] What Altezza Does Altezza = Italian word for "altitude" (inspired by Colorado living) Provides fractional sales expertise AND execution Frees brilliant founders trapped doing sales instead of leading their vision Allows business owners to focus on what truly matters: building their extraordinary future [00:06:40] The Sales Trap is Real Emerging growth businesses started by visionary innovators Founders know they need to stop selling but don't have the framework Can't attract top-tier salespeople without proper sales infrastructure Hiring inexperienced or commission-only reps almost always fails [00:08:20] The Innovator's Journey Steve discovered he's wired as an innovator and starter Thrives in early-stage growth companies ($1-5M revenue range) Gets restless when companies become routine without innovation Spent career helping companies bring in their first real salesperson [00:11:00] The COVID Pivot Waited until last son graduated college to start the business Launched during COVID pandemic, initially seemed like bad timing Actually worked in their favor: remote work became normalized Altezza operates 100% remotely, selling remotely [00:12:00] The Sweet Spot Client Professional services or technology firms $1-5 million in revenue range Founder still trapped in the sales motion Highly relational, consultative sales needed Can sell remotely without boots-on-the-ground [00:13:00] Three Service Models Do It Yourself: Client has sales infrastructure, just needs the right salesperson Done With You: Some documentation exists, needs tweaking and 90-day support Done For You: Everything lives in founder's head, must extract, document, and build systems [00:14:40] Beyond the Numbers Stories of 40% sales increases and doubled revenue matter But the real win: founders getting home for dinner more often Client's wife thanked their salesperson: "My husband is home for dinner way more" Freedom founders dreamed of when starting their business [00:17:40] Four Pivotal People [00:18:40] 1. His Dad: The Passion Banking and finance background Ton of passion, drive, fire, and energy Steve internalized that drive but knew banking wasn't his path Couldn't envision putting on a suit and tie every day [00:19:23] 2. David: The Relational Sales Master Left high-paying pharmaceutical job to start real estate company Invited Steve to get real estate license and sell with him 10 years older, taught Steve everything about relationship-driven sales How to build rapport, ask open-ended questions, and shut up and listen Made way more money in real estate than he would have in banking [00:22:11] 3. Doug Sherman: The Process Guru Held record for highest math score on Air Force Academy entrance exam Sales consultant for companies like Boeing Helped Boeing overcome getting "their butt kicked by Airbus" Game changer: Taught Steve about sales PROCESS for the first time [00:25:24] 4. Jerry Melek: The Significance Prophet Grandfather of kid on Steve's son's football team Career counselor and recruiter with strong faith Steve at crossroads: high-paying jobs vs. low-paying significant opportunity Jerry's challenge: "You told me you wanted significance. This is black and white. Which job is about significance? If you care about significance and not money, this is a no-brainer." Hit Steve right between the eyes, he was too fearful to do what he felt led to do [00:29:00] 5. Don Martin: The Business Leadership Mentor Former Century 21 executive team member Gave Steve the tools to actually LEAD a company and be a business owner Helped Steve see he wasn't launching Altezza because of fear "God created you for this moment: see it, own it, have faith, take the step" Still there for challenges, rough days, pep talks, and "kicks in the ass" [00:31:40] The Ripple Effect Moment Leaving the company Jerry helped him join Spontaneous going away party with his team One by one shared the impact Steve had on them Gave him caricature with signatures and encouragement [00:34:49] The "Go With Others" Glass Gift from team member at that farewell gathering Reminder of ripple effects Steve won't get to see Still uses it 9 years later: an anchor to that meaningful season Physical reminder of choosing significance over salary KEY QUOTES "We don't get wherever we are in life by ourselves. It's always with the help that we get from other people we intersect with on the journey along the way." - Steve Caton "When a company got to a certain size, I started getting super restless because God wired me as an innovator and a starter. When you put me in an early stage growth company, I'm thriving. As soon as it starts to feel routine, I get bored." - Steve Caton CONNECT WITH STEVE CATON

From the Pentagon on 9/11 to keeping service members safe through timely innovation, Dave Harden ‘95 embodies what it means to run toward the fire. SUMMARY In this episode of Long Blue Leadership with host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99, hear how adversity, gratitude and courage forged a leader others would follow anywhere. From his harrowing experience during the 9/11 attacks to overcoming childhood adversity and pioneering innovation in the Air Force, Dave Harden shares practical lessons on gratitude, resilience and the importance of running toward challenges rather than away from them. The conversation emphasizes that true leadership is forged in the fire of adversity and that gratitude can transform hardship into fuel for growth.   SHARE THIS EPISODE LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK   DAVE'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Leadership is about how we respond in crisis. Everyone has a personal story of 9/11. Muscle memory from training prepares us for challenges. Gratitude shifts our perspective from burden to opportunity. Looking up fosters hope and gratitude. Gratitude can transform lives and relationships. Innovation is crucial for effective leadership. Courage is a choice we make every day. Hardships prepare us for future leadership roles. True leaders run toward the fire, not away from it.   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Leadership Lessons 01:28 The Impact of 9/11 on Leadership 09:40 Overcoming Childhood Adversity 14:27 The Power of Gratitude 16:56 Innovation in the Air Force 24:43 Transitioning to the Private Sector 31:16 Courage and Leadership Choices   ABOUT DAVE HARDEN BIO Dave Harden is a Class of 1995 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he earned his B.S. in electrical engineering and began a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He went on to serve at the Pentagon as chief of strategic prioritization for the Air Force and later as the chief architect and chief operating officer of AFWERX, the service's innovation accelerator. Building on that experience, he founded and now leads Outpost Ventures (also known as “The Outpost”), a firm dedicated to guiding dual-use technology companies across the so-called “valley of death” from promising concept to real nation-scale impact. At Outpost Ventures, Harden leverages his deep experience in national security, technology transition and strategic decision-making to help entrepreneurs navigate both government and commercial ecosystems. His blend of military leadership, innovation acumen and venture focus makes him a valued partner for founders tackling the toughest problems at the intersection of defense and industry.   CONNECT WITH DAVE LinkedIn Outpost Ventures CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     TRANSCRIPT   OUR SPEAKERS Guest, Dave "Big D" Harden '95  |  Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:12 Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, where we explore the lessons of leadership through the lives and stories of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm your host, Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. My guest today is Dave Harden, Class of 1995. Dave is widely accepted in the Long Blue Line community for his leadership, service, business acumen and his willingness to run toward the fire. Dave Harden 0:35 When bad things are happening and fires are burning around you, you won't even think for a second, “I need to help someone. I need to do the thing.” Naviere Walkewicz 0:46 From his time as a C-17 pilot to his work at the Pentagon and in the private sector, David's faced both personal and professional moments that shaped not just his career, but his philosophy of leadership. In our conversation, we'll talk about three transformative moments in his journey — from being just 400 feet away from impact during the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, to overcoming hardships in his childhood, to his work pioneering innovation at the highest levels in government and business. Along the way, we'll hear about the meaning behind his call sign, “Big D,” and engage in practical leadership lessons that have transformed his life and can transform yours. This is a conversation for cadets, aspiring leaders, seasoned business professionals and lifelong learners alike, because leadership isn't just about what we do; it's how we respond when the fire is burning right in front of us. Dave, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Dave Harden 1:38 Thanks for having me on today. I'm excited to be here.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:41 We are so excited, and I think this is going to be a real conversation that's extremely practical for our listeners, but we're going to jump into a really important moment, and this is one that encourages so many people — 9/11. Can you talk about that experience with us? Dave Harden 1:57 I've been able to speak over the years post the event. Talked to 15,000 people about 10 years after the event and have been able to share this story many times over, and I'm glad to be able to share it here with us today. Everyone knew what happened — kind of the Twin Towers. The first story comes out. I was busy in the thralls of my job at the Pentagon. Actually getting stuff out for President Bush, for him to make statements to some of my work in the Baltics at the time. So I wasn't really paying attention kind of to what was going on at the World Trade Center. Kind of knew what was going on. My beautiful redheaded wife, Angie, was coming to pick me up. So at the time, we had a young daughter, and she was pregnant with what would be my son, but we didn't know that at the time. So she was supposed to pick me up from the ultrasound, and so I rushed outside, and I don't remember the exact timing. Maybe she's supposed to pick me up at 9:15, 9:30, is right around, as we know now, when the plane would come into the Pentagon. So I'm out on the south bridge of the Pentagon, and it winds up being on the side of the impact of the plane would come in. And standing out there, I remember looking, it was a beautiful day, quiet, and if you remember, not a lot of people, there wasn't a lot of videos — not a lot of people actually saw the plane impact. And so those things you never forget. So that day, standing out there, I saw this plane coming. But we're by Reagan National Airport, right? So you're thinking that another plane's coming into Reagan. No big deal. I'm waiting for Angie to pick me up. She winds up being about five, 10 minutes late, and in hindsight, she always said, “If because I was late, you lost your life, I would never forgive myself.” And so I watch the plane come in, and then all of a sudden, it's like, “Holy crap! This plane is pointed right at me.” And so as it's coming straight in, I start running over the bridge. Little did I know Angie was just driving under the bridge at the time. So the plane comes over the top of her car, and as the plane impacts, if you remember, it kind of like actually careened, bounced into a 45-degree angle and then hit the building. So I'm running off the bridge. I'll never forget the sound, the flames, the searing heat as I was kind of running off the bridge, as the plane came in. And you could hear the engines spooled up, because if you remember, kind of like, obviously the terrorists are full throttle. And I remember looking in and seeing the people in the window, and I can't imagine their emotions and what they were going through in their final moments of life. So the explosion happens, I'm running off. I then run back into the bridge, go back into the building, really not thinking, and just like, you know, you're like, “How can I help?” So there's fire, there's smoke, and so we just start trying to get folks out and they start setting up kind of triage stations, both inside the courtyard, you know, at the Pentagon, and on the outside. So do that about 45 minutes, like, an hour helping out. And then enough people got me to kind of stabilize, you know, the situation. And so then, you know, I'm in the mission of finding my wife. So I was fortunate to kind of find her in the parking lot, you know. And obviously we have a moment. And it was interesting, because from her vantage point, she just was kind of blocked by the bridge. She saw the plane, and then they just saw the explosion and the fire, and so she thought I was dead. Naviere Walkewicz 6:03 I can't imagine how she was feeling at that moment. Dave Harden 6:06 So she takes Madison out. She's holding Madison, and she just starts bawling. She's like, “I just lost my husband,” right? And it's amazing, because Madison, who's, I guess, 2 years old, goes, “Mommy, it's OK. God will take care of the fire. God will put it out.” And the power of the words of a 2-year-old, kind of, in that moment, she's like, “All right,” you know, she took a deep breath, like, “Hey, I gotta get my act together.” We're able to get back kind of together, but we live like maybe an hour from the Pentagon. The car was there. We could take all these people, it's chaos, as you can imagine, it felt like a war zone that was just happening. And we get flooded with calls and, this was back — maybe not as much good telecommunications. We're flooded with calls and people. So because of all the adrenaline, everything that happened that day, we finally had a moment to break down, right? And we're just tearing up and crying and in that moment, just such a sense of gratitude for not only being alive, but for my family, for everything that kind of this nation represents, right? It's just a moment that kind of brought everybody together, and everyone has a 9/11 story. Everyone says, “Here I was, or there I was,” on 9/11. Naviere Walkewicz 7:30 After running across the bridge, like when you saw it coming, obviously you're like, “I need to not be in its path.” Can you remember what in you said, “Turn around and go back.” Was it just your background in the military? Like, “We don't run from we go help.” Can you remember? Dave Harden 7:50 It's hard to remember. I think it's instinct in the moment, you know? But I also think for listeners today — and today is about thinking through all those moments, and saying what are the muscle memories of running into the fire that gets you maybe more prepared for that moment?   Naviere Walkewicz 8:10 So you don't freeze.     Dave Harden 8:12 So you don't freeze. I think the Academy helps prepare you for those moments. What you go through — through hardships, and your personal hardships and childhood can help you through those moments, right? So many things make up someone's journey and the fabric of their lives, and who makes them themselves. And you don't always know if you'll have the courage in that moment. You don't always know if you'll have kind of what it takes. But I think, along the way, you can have a muscle memory that prepares you for that, right? And so, you know, might be something — you're overloaded with academics at the Academy, right? It could be you're having a personal crisis, you know, could be in your family. It could be external. It could be, literally, you're getting shot at, right? But I think it's kind of transforming the mentality, or a victim mentality, of, “I have to. This is a burden” to “I get to.” It's not saying, “I have to” anymore, It's saying, “You know what? I'm so thankful that I get to,” right? I get to solve this problem, right? “I get to — I'm lucky that I'm here at the Academy, and I have 25 credits, and I gotta take all these classes.” It's hard to think like that. You're like, “Oh, woe is me. This is such a burden. Oh, this is problem at work. Oh, someone died in the family, there's a crisis.” You have cancer, right? Think about all the things that impact our lives, that are hard. And if we're able to say, “You know what…” Start that muscle memory like, “You know what, I get to overcome this, I'm going to learn a lot going through this hardship, through these tough times. It's going to make me different. It's going to make me stronger. It gives me that instinct and that character.” And when you have enough of those muscle memories, then I think what happens in the moment is you're ready.   Naviere Walkewicz 10:04 Yeah, you act. Dave Harden 10:05 You act.   Naviere Walkewicz 10:06 Did you develop that as a child — that muscle memory, you think? Or what was that like for you then? Dave Harden 10:19 So I was very fortunate. I'll preface this with: I have a family that adopted me, but my early childhood was not a silver spoon. A lot of people look at my life today and they say, “Oh, you were given something. It was easy.” A lot of people feel like that, you know, someone made money. They got inheritance from the family. You know, all those things.   Naviere Walkewicz 10:39 Right. The easy way, right? The easy button. Dave Harden 10:41 The easy road. Easy street.     Naviere Walkewicz 10:43 Yes, you push the button, and it was… yeah. Dave Harden 10:44 So I would say that there was no yellow brick road to this path. And so I was actually born in Avignon, France. And so my birth father was French, my birth mother was American. I don't speak a lick of French, so that's a side note. And so I wind up born a U.S. citizen. Come back to the U.S. when I was 2 — they split up. And, you know, unfortunately, my birth mother just wasn't well and wasn't able to love me, maybe you think like a traditional family. So I suffered extreme abuse as a child, and so much so that the state had to come in at 6 years old and take me away. My original foster parents told me, you know, I think I knew 12 letters of the alphabet at that time because I wasn't going to school; I wasn't doing the things that most kids kind of get to do. If you look at the history of what I went through in the beginnings of my life, normally, that doesn't lead to success. So a lot of people over the years have asked me, “Dave, what was the difference? How'd you come out of that differently?” And you don't always know in the moment, right? You think about it, you reflect all the things that came through. And for me, as I reflect, there's an unyielding faith in God. And I think, as I reflect — some people call it the universe, and I want to be respectful about how people view the energy that we get to experience and the faith that we have. But for me, what I figured out is, I was able to look up when all hell is breaking loose, when your life seems like it's in shambles, when things are going wrong, how do you have a glimmer of hope?   Naviere Walkewicz 12:54 You look up.   Dave Harden 12:55 You look up, right? And what does that mean? Looking up changes your gratitude, your centeredness, and it shifts from a “why me” conversation — “Why is all of this happening to me?” Right? “I'm a bad person. I fail. Things are going wrong. Things are blowing up. Someone just died. I'm getting shot at. I have too much academics. I just lost someone close to me in my life.” But if you can go from like, “Why me?” to “What if? What if things get better?” Naviere Walkewicz 13:45 How did you do that as a young boy? I mean, I'm thinking, you know, 9 years old, you know, you're still learning about yourself. You had maybe a foster family that showed you and displayed maybe some love. Is that where you learned to look up, or was it just something in you, and that was just the way that — I know you said faith. Dave Harden 14:03 Yeah, I think it's both. I've had deep analysis on nurture versus nature and I think it's a little bit of both. My foster parents went on to adopt me, and they come from a Depression, kind of post generation, right? And so I think what they were able to give me is enough structure and safety to become the person who I could become. And I think you need that safety and structure to start with, and then I could learn the things about gratitude and self-esteem and love, right? And those were innate with me. Each of us have this creative being, and we want to see it become alive. But if it gets squashed, If we don't believe in ourselves, if we don't look up, then we're just confronted with all the stuff in front of us. All the crap, all the fire, all the burning in our lives, in our businesses and in our workplaces. And I think going through that experience helped me learn to transform that thinking so that we look up and we look beyond. Naviere Walkewicz 15:23 When I'm looking at you right now, you know how, as we age, we have like lifelines on our face? And when I think about people who tend to look down, their face kind of shows it. But what I see in you when I look across right now are the lines that show that you have looked up. I see when you smile, it is so like, etched in your face, like in a way that is like joy. And I really do think you live that way. How do you share that gratitude and what has been innate in you that's been ignited with others? How have you helped others find that, whether while you're a cadet or in business, etc.? Dave Harden 15:57 Yeah, that's a great question. Everyone says I have about 300% more energy than most people.   Naviere Walkewicz 16:02 I know, I'm trying to hang. I'm trying to keep up with you here!   Dave Harden 16:06 I think that's one way, right, is again, you'll hear me say it over and over again. It's gratitude. Do you wake up in the morning and say, “Hey, what are the three things that I'm just freaking thankful for?” Because it's so easy — you listen to news, it's heavy. It's just, everything's heavy, right? And so I think living a life of gratitude transforms everyone's life and allows you to be a different person, allows you to create those muscle memories that allows you to do something. It's interesting — I get asked a lot of questions, especially having kind of this, you know, successful investment and business career, having flown C-17s, having done AFWERX — I think maybe we'll kind of dive in that a little bit. I've had all these eclectic kind of backgrounds and experiences, and they're like, you know, “How'd that happen? How'd you go from this to this, to this, to this?” And, you know, it's interesting. I think it just winds up, you know, running towards the problem. And I've had people say that over and over again: “You're just a person that, man, I just feel like, you know, you'll always run to the fire.” And so, I think when you do that over and over and over again, then it just transforms the way you think. You're willing to overcome, and hey, “I'll take on this bureaucracy. I'll take on the Air Force and transform it.   Naviere Walkewicz 17:26 Is that where Big D came from? Dave Harden 17:28 It is. So are we gonna have a side shuffle here? Alright. We'll have a side shuffle. As you know, we can dive into it more. I had this opportunity, because of the business background and all these — right moment, right place, right time, had the great honor of being able to build from the ground up with a bunch of other amazing, talented people, what's now known as AFWERX. And that wound up being the anchor innovation arm for the Air Force to bring in new technology and transform the way we're doing business as a service. So that was amazing. We did a shark tank called Spark Tank at Mark Cuban, George Steinbrenner in there. Transform the culture, identify innovation superheroes, is what we call it.   Naviere Walkewicz 18:19 I love that.   Dave Harden 18:20 So, where's your cape? Where are you innovating? How can we go make that happen quicker? And that's what we were able to do. But it was funny when we kind of started, you know, I was like, 30 days — they wanted to facilitate all the four-star generals in the Air Force in this, like, 30-year planning. So I was only supposed to be at the Pentagon for 30 days…   Naviere Walkewicz 18:40 And you're a reservist during this, right?   Dave Harden 18:42 I'm a reservist during that time — lieutenant colonel reservist.  And so I wound up… this turns into four years now of my life. I get sucked back into the five-sided building, which was a great honor. But as you know, it's a lot of like, you know, cyber locks and behind-closed-doors kind of stuff at the Pentagon. Everyone goes to their little room and cubicle, and that's where your magical work happens. So here's this business guy who happens — I liked to wear flight suits as much as I can. Every once in a while they make me wear blues in the Pentagon. So, walking around the five-sided building. Well, as you can imagine, cell phone service is not the best at the Pentagon. So, you can imagine, I'm trying to connect businesses. I'm trying to think about different ways to do stuff, right? So that's not sitting at my desk working on the NIPRNet. Naviere Walkewicz 19:38 There's no magic happening from your seat in the cubicle. Dave Harden 19:40 So, I'm wandering around the halls, and I have to, like, triangulate — “Where the hell am I going to get a cell phone signal?” Might be the courtyard. I've got my hand in the air. If I put aluminum foil on this, you know, the little longer thing. There's one window by the second corridor, you know? So anyhow, that's the exercise. So literally, for like, six months, every month, without fail, someone's pulling me into their office because I'm not following protocol. Naviere Walkewicz 20:14 Oh my goodness. You're like, “Do you know what I'm standing up?” Dave Harden 20:16 Didn't care. They didn't care. They're like, “You're screwing off. You're doing other stuff. You're doing outside business. You're always in the hall. You're never at your office.” You know, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” right? So I just got read the riot act. “Terrible officer not doing the things you're supposed to be doing.” A maverick. So anyhow, eventually all these big things started happening. We're transforming the way the Air Force Association…   Naviere Walkewicz 20:49 The light goes bing.   Dave Harden 20:51 Right. And, like, these new capabilities, and I'm like, actually connecting people, like, I pull people by their office and say, “You need to walk down to this other corridor. Meet this person.” Because this is the connection we need to get stuff done. Now we're just running around the halls of the Pentagon, either on the phone or shuffling people around, and eventually they're like, “Oh, wow. This is making a difference. Things are happening. And so in that process, I got the call sign Big D, which, on this podcast, could be funny. So we'll keep it PG-13 here on this network. But you know, it was for the deal making. So it's like they knew that big deals were gonna get done with Big D because I was gonna be on the phone, come hell or high water, I was gonna be in the halls of the Pentagon making it happen. Because it was too important. It was too important to get technology quicker out that people needed.   Naviere Walkewicz 21:54 Why did you feel that way? Dave Harden 21:55 So many transformative things kind of in my life come back to service. So I remember, I was actually flying in Afghanistan, C-17. I'm sure you know. Afghanistan is a big bowl, so you gotta get over the 24,000-foot mountains, dive in really quickly. And so at the time we would do that with night vision goggles. You try to find a couple little infrared lights in the basin somewhere, coming down really quick and hoping you find them and you're landing in the right spot. And so, pretty intense environment, as you can imagine. And a lot of threats coming in and coming out. So triple-A. Folks, you know, with Toyota pickup trucks with missiles on the back, launching off the shoulders. And so, leaving out of that bowl, we wound up being a target, like sometimes you are. But on this day, as we were kind of turning out, we have kind of a missile warning system that's in the middle and so it starts going off and kinda tells where, in general, it's coming from. But basically, you know maybe it's a false alert, but more than likely not, it's something's coming at you. So what happens next is kind of like super-slow motion, like you're watching a movie, and so it's like, Fourth of July. Because you have a bunch of systems on the plane, so you have flares, and so it's like, boom. So now it's super bright, and you're taking the actions you need and have kind of been trained to do. But there's some additional systems on there. So they have added basically a laser system, and the laser system is trying to find the warhead, mess up the guidance system, because it's looking for your engines, it wants the heat on the engines. So this is all going on but it happens really quick, but it happens really slow when you're in the moment. And so I just remember when it happened, it's super quiet on the flight deck. Because you have load master, you have another pilot, you have the crew. Essentially, you have three seconds between knowing whether you're alive or you're dead. And so you can imagine the moment when all this stuff goes off, and in the back of my mind, it's essentially a three-Mississippi count. So you go “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi,” and you're either alive or you're dead. So that quiet moment in between is quite the reflection of life. I'm here with you today, so obviously all the stuff that was supposed to work, worked. And in the reflection of that moment, that technology, which was developed years before, saved my life. And yet, we were stuck and faced a bureaucracy that took five years, 10 years to get technology to the front that had bloated requirements and just outdated acquisition processes. And so I was motivated to say, “We have to do something different to get that technology to the front line, to save lives and the work that people do every day to transform the way they get to do business.” And so that's always been the driving force. It's been my driving force to this day, was that that technology to our nation quicker must be accomplished, and the way you do that is you identify the innovation superheroes inside our service and in our businesses and in our entrepreneurs that can be brought together to bring about that change. Naviere Walkewicz 26:04 So that's really incredible how a moment in time literally had set the stage for your passion. You were leading AFWERX, you got it across the line, and amazing technology has been made available to our warfighters, to our processes. Why did you then — or maybe it's on a grander scale — move into the private sector, where you're actually doing this, still with the same kind of vision of what you're trying to accomplish, but without maybe some of the red tape? Why did you move on from AFWERX? Dave Harden 26:38 That's a great question. So I love this because I love the concept of the airman citizen. I think it's really important, because I went to pilot training. So in pilot training, we're all competing, like, you know, “You gotta be No. 1. You get the plane you want.” You know, all this stuff. A lot of ego flying around, right? And then there's this group, and they were, like, kind of little bit older. Like, “Oh, I'm in this Guard unit, and as soon as we finish pilot training, I'm gonna fly a C-130. I'm gonna fly this...” They already knew what they were gonna fly. I'm like, “How the hell?” I didn't know about the Guard and Reserve. I knew nothing about it, right?   Naviere Walkewicz 27:20 Wow OK. That's true. Many people don't know…   Dave Harden 27:22 Already in service, right? And it was this amazing discovery. One, they became, like, my best friends. I'm like, these are really cool people. But it was the beginning of this journey. It was like an enlightenment of this airman citizen, like I could still serve our country, right? And so I did wind up going into the Reserve, flying out Charleston, South Carolina, flying C-17s while I did business. So I was able to grow all the stuff I did in business and consult the oil industry and write books and speak around the world and run tech companies while still serving and contributing to the nation. And so I just wound up with a unique skill set — kind of business and military and bringing that all together at a moment in time at the Pentagon. And so that all came together and it was a natural extension. And then say, “OK, we've built this kind of ecosystem. How do we now go on the outside and help cut through the red tape? How do we bring capital. How do we identify the entrepreneurs and take this amazing land and amazing minds that we have and turn them towards our nation's most challenging problems and run towards the fire?” That the nation needs to survive for our children, our grandchildren and the democracy that we hold dear. And so I was grateful for each of those chapters, right? I was grateful for the chapter to build something; I'm grateful for the chapter now in the business world to make a difference. And I see that manifest in different ways. You and I earlier, we're kind of talking a little bit — on the business end there's hardships, there's difficulties, there's fires. And you hear that phrase all the time: “All we do is put out fires all day.” So that's a little bit different context. But sometimes there's bigger fires, you know. I remember we were faced — we lost a $9 million contract. And its people's lives, you know? There are single moms that work for you, and there's, you know, people that you've been loyal to the company for a long time. And sometimes just businesses don't become feasible. So you have a big fire. The landscape transforms. COVID hits. The timing just changes and is off. And so we sat in that moment, and it's emotional, because you're like, “I gotta let 25% of the company off. It's gonna impact families. It's gonna impact lives. And I remember this day, part of our culture was being grateful, being thankful. And you lose track of that because the budget, make payroll, all the all these business things, you know? How's this gonna look? The ego here, right? All these emotions come in, and then taking that moment to take a pause, to look up, to realign, to give thanks, and then to lean into that fire. I remember we kind of gathered up, and I said, “You know what? This is gonna be hard, and people gonna be let go. Can we take a moment just to — there's so many people in here that have stepped up last minute, made things happen, been a part of your life.” And that next hour where people just sat around the table and said, “You know what? John did this for me. Lori did this for me. Man, you know, they stayed up all night and kind of got this proposal done.” Someone's like, “Oh, I needed a surgery and my doctor sucked. They were personally there for me and helped me with that.” It was an hour of gratitude that even in the despair, even in the business environment of having let people go, there was a sense of like culture and gratitude and awareness that doesn't make it easier — you know, you lose your job. It doesn't make some of the fires easier to put out, but we leaned into the fire in a way that helped us get through it from a business perspective. And I always remember that moment, because it really… we just took that step back and it transformed the entire conversation. And so for listeners out there: I say whatever you're going through, you have that same opportunity to take a step back, to have that moment of gratitude, pause and then lean in like hell. Solve that problem. You have an opportunity to really solve what's in front of you, to run into the fire. It might be drastic like 9/11. Like, we're saving somebody's life. But it might be something smaller, but equally as meaningful. Naviere Walkewicz 32:42 I'd like to ask you something because based off of something you said earlier, and I think it was this whole concept of gratitude and having gone through, many hardships in your childhood, in business, etc. How have you been able to stay— and maybe humble is not the right word — but you seem really rooted. It's not about position or title. You seem just really rooted in a humanity and caring about people. Am I right in seeing that? And how do you do that? Dave Harden 33:12 Well, thanks for feeling that energy and then responding to it and asking me that question. At the end of day, it's about relationships and connections. And you're right. That comes from early childhood, right? When you have the experiences that you had, for me, I knew more than anything, that family was important for me. In fact, that was part of my decision, like at the Naval Academy, because it's like, I think I like my time at Naval Academy. I don't know if the Navy would just be a higher negative impact on family.   Naviere Walkewicz 33:43 Because you'd be underway for months. Dave Harden 33:45 Right. For a year, or whatever. So I think, imagine making that decision at 17. Because that thought was always there. I think Angie is swinging by for the 30th reunion here at the studio here in a little bit. So I have a beautiful red-headed wife that we've gone through ups and downs, gone through challenges, right? But here we sit at 30 years…    Naviere Walkewicz 34:13 Congratulations, that's amazing.   Dave Harden 34:14 Yes, thank you so much. It's an inspiration for me, right? Because her parents got married at the Cadet Chapel. A little tie back here to the Air Force Academy. We got married three days after graduation. So, you know, I don't know. Maybe that's cliche, but maybe it's kind of a need and a legacy thing which I lean towards, right? And so my kids inspire me every day. You know my wife inspires me every day. Meeting you and the connections and relationships that I get to get across business, across being in the trenches, being in those fires, forge the relationships, that go across boundaries. And too often times things are transactional. It's like, “Hey, I'm in this position,” and then you have their phone number and their email, and then they change positions, and you never hear from them again. And that's not what life is about. That's not the richness of life. That's not how you inspire people. You inspire people by connecting with them and being thankful for them, right? And so that inspiration comes from my childhood, from seeing death firsthand, from losing people in my life and being able to say, “You know what, if we can transform, if we can pause, if we can look up, right, and see the faith and the ‘what if' and not say, ‘Why is this happening to me? But what can I do with it? What can I do for others? How can I connect in a meaningful way?' you will transform your life, you'll transform your leadership, and you'll transform the people around you, because they'll be inspired to be superheroes in their own right. Naviere Walkewicz 36:03 Well, I certainly believe I could probably foreshadow what you might say in this next one. But I want to ask you this because, you know, there's something about putting into practice what you say, and obviously it has served you well in all facets of your career. What are you doing every day, Dave, to be better, whether it's in leadership, it's in relationships, but what are you doing personally every day to be better? Dave Harden 36:29 You know, I think I have a core philosophy. And you might have heard it before. Can I get better by 1% today? So if you wake up in the morning and you're like, “Can I get better by 1% today?” What does that mean? How do I do that? And I think it starts at the beginning of the day by saying… It's easy to be like, “Oh, I'm running late. My alarm went off. I'm tired. I gotta do laundry. I gotta get this job. I gotta get the kids. You gotta… Stack it up and you're like… You can be overwhelmed. The news. You know, something just happened. Within the first 30 minutes, you're overwhelmed for your day. Your day's done. Naviere Walkewicz 37:16 Right. Go back to bed. Try again. Dave Harden 37:18 It sucks. Why me? Fires are burning all around me. Naviere Walkewicz 37:20 Where do I go? Right. Dave Harden 37:23 So even if you just take a couple minutes and you're just like, “What are the three things that I'm thankful for today?” it recenters your gratitude journey, right? And then throughout the day, I call it the gratitude debrief. And if you're familiar with anything that's like fighter pilots after your mission— what did we learn? And, you know, getting after that, but a lot of people don't have a gratitude debrief. And what I described for you in that business crisis, what I described for you sitting there with your family after — my family after 9/11, it was a gratitude debrief. What went right today? Who did I appreciate that I need to thank? I guarantee if you come at it from that perspective, you're going to see more opportunity. People are going to want to do business with you, because you're the type of person that is grateful, and they want to reach out, they want to network for they want to do that one other thing, right? And when you're in that mental space, when bad things are happening and fires are burning around you, you won't even think for a second “I need to help somebody. I need to do the thing.” And at that moment when it becomes instantaneous, when it's the thing you just do, you know you're centered in that place of gratitude. Naviere Walkewicz 38:55 So Dave, thank you for sharing that — what you're doing every day? What about what some of our listeners, no matter where in their journey they are… You know, we talked about the pause, look up. But what can they be doing every day to be better? Dave Harden 39:08 I think you get back to what we were talking about earlier, which was kind of that stepping into the fire, that leaning in. And I think you know what I've learned, and at the end of the day, what our listeners can take away is, at the end of the day, courage is a choice. I think courage is actually a choice, because you're building all these… I gave you some tools, muscles, and you just don't know what's going to happen in that moment in time. But in that moment in time — there's a great book that I just thought of. It was called Moments of Truth. It's a great book, and it talks a little bit about your brand, your business brand, and it's really built with all these little moments of truth, right? Because it could be your interaction. It could be we came out on the airline today for the 30th reunion So, how did that customer in a certain, you know, interaction? Did they solve my problem? Did they lean in? Did they take care of me? And each of those moments of truth add up to a brand. You, the listeners, have to decide what's their brand going to be. Is it going to be running towards the fire or running away from fires? So whether it's a real fire or proverbial fire, you're going to be ready for that moment. At the end of the day, that's what we believe. Your hardships in life, your Academy experience, your service, your business life, if done correctly, prepare you for and allow you to lead others through. Naviere Walkewicz 40:54 This time together has been… it's inspiring me. I mean, I have just felt the energy and I felt your hardship and how you continue, how you put into practice, your pause, your look up, you know, be grateful. And I want to tell you I'm grateful for you in this time we've had today, because it's been… it really has made a difference, and I'm looking forward to debriefing tonight when I fly home with my son about what went right today. So thank you for that. I think that's really useful.   Dave Harden 41:18 Awesome. Thank you so much. Yes, I appreciate it.   Naviere Walkewicz 41:20 Absolutely. Well, as our conversation with Dave Harden comes to a close, I'm reminded that leadership is often forged in the fire. Dave's journey from the Pentagon on 9/11 to overcoming adversity in his childhood to pioneering innovation in some of the toughest environments reminds us that true leaders don't run away from the fire. They run toward it. Dave's story reminds us that hardship is inevitable, but gratitude transforms hardship into fuel when you meet your next fire, literally or figuratively. Pause, look up, give thanks and step forward. We know that's how leaders grow in the Long Blue Line, and how you become the kind of person others want to follow anywhere. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Long Blue Leadership. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. Until next time.   KEYWORDS Leadership, 9/11, gratitude, innovation, Air Force, personal growth, adversity, private sector, courage, resilience.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation    

Get 83% off PIA VPN - https://www.piavpn.com/lehtofilesIn 2012, physicist Nassim Haramein made a bold prediction about the proton's charge radius that contradicted mainstream physics. By 2018, his prediction became the official scientific standard—proving decades of established science wrong.In this conversation, Nassim explains how he discovered that protons are actually miniature black holes, and that mass itself emerges from quantum vacuum fluctuations rather than being an inherent property of matter. This isn't fringe science—his peer-reviewed papers accurately predicted measurements that mainstream physics got wrong.We discuss:- How he predicted the proton radius with 10-digit accuracy- Why protons are black holes at the quantum scale- How the strong force is actually gravity at a different scale- Why we don't need dark matter—we just misunderstood the coffee- The connection between zero point energy and UFO/UAP propulsion- What consciousness has to do with quantum physics- Why Einstein tried to create particles from mini wormholesNassim Haramein is the Research Director of the International Space Federation and has spent over 30 years working to unify the laws of physics. His work suggests our entire understanding of mass, energy, and reality may need to be rewritten.Chris Lehto is a former F-16 pilot with 18 years of experience in the Air Force. He managed multi-million dollar simulator contracts, was an Electronic Attack SME for the Aggressors (OPFOR), and commanded the US Detachment at TLP for NATO Fighter Pilot Training. Chris fought in Iraq for 5 months in 2006. He spent 3 years in Turkey as an exchange pilot and is fluent in Turkish. Chris is also a certified crash safety investigator, having investigated Air Force accidents for four years. Lehto has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry-Materials Science from the Air Force Academy and a Master's in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle University.Lehto's YouTube channel, "Lehto Files," focuses on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) research, future tech insights, and sharing knowledge. His approach is scientific and aims to illuminate these phenomena and provide informative content.Follow on social:X: https://x.com/LehtoFilesTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lehtofiles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090658513954 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lehto_files/reels/ Support the channel:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/chrislehto Join YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVNKdkLzWuy1oLuCuCv4NCA/joinBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lehto-files-investigating-uaps--5990774/support.

Corruption defines both the perception and reality of government, eroding trust and even threatening national security. Today, the safeguards meant to keep our government accountable are failing. From the mass firing of inspectors general to congressional stock trading and Supreme Court ethics scandals, abuses of power are weakening public trust and raising fears that the U.S. could slide toward kleptocracy.In this episode, host Simone Leeper speaks with Mark Lee Greenblatt, former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Jodi Vittori, Georgetown University professor and expert on corruption and national security; and Kedric Payne, Vice President and General Counsel at Campaign Legal Center. Together, they trace America's long fight against corruption — from the founders' earliest fears to Watergate reforms — and examine how today's failures of accountability threaten American democracy. The episode closes with solutions for restoring integrity, eliminating conflicts of interest and rebuilding trust in American government. Timestamps:(00:05) — Why did Trump fire 17 inspectors general?(07:36) — How has corruption shaped U.S. history?(11:14) — What reforms followed Watergate?(18:22) — Why does corruption feel worse in daily life now?(23:01) — How did Trump weaken watchdog offices and ethics enforcement?(28:47) — Why does congressional stock trading undermine trust?(33:58) — What do Supreme Court ethics scandals reveal?(39:59) — Could the U.S. slide toward kleptocracy?(46:04) — How does corruption threaten national security?(56:57) — What reforms could restore accountability and integrity? Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Mark Lee Greenblatt is an expert on government ethics and compliance, an attorney and author. Most recently, he served as Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior. His work bolstered the integrity of the agency's programs, rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Department's $10 billion in grants and contracts and $12 billion in natural resource royalties. Mark was elected by the 74 Inspectors General to serve as the Chairman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency in 2022. He previously served in leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He also served as an investigative counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Anita Brody and was a litigator in two international law firms. Mark is the author of Valor, which tells untold stories of 21st century American soldiers, sailors and Marines who faced gut-wrenching decisions to overcome enormous odds. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, and he regularly appears in the news media. He graduated from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, and he earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University.Jodi Vittori is an expert on the linkages of corruption, state fragility, illicit finance and U.S. national security. She is a Professor of Practice and co-chair of the Global Politics and Security program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Jodi is also an associate fellow with RUSI's Centre for Finance and Security and was previously a non-resident fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Before joining the Georgetown University faculty, she was the U.S. Research and Policy Manager for Transparency International's Defense and Security Program and a senior policy advisor for Global Witness. Jodi also served in the U.S. Air Force; her overseas service included Afghanistan, Iraq, South Korea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and she was assigned to NATO's only counter-corruption task force. She was an Assistant Professor and military faculty at the US Air Force Academy and the National Defense University. Jodi is also a founder and co-moderator of the Anti-Corruption Advocacy Network (ACAN), which facilitates information exchange on corruption-related issues amongst over 1,000 participating individuals and organizations worldwide. She is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and received her PhD in International Studies from the University of Denver.Kedric Payne leads the government ethics program at Campaign Legal Center, where he works to strengthen ethics laws and hold public officials accountable at the federal, state and local levels. He conducts investigations into government corruption and initiates legal actions against officials who violate the law. At CLC, Kedric has been at the forefront of advancing reforms on issues such as congressional stock trading, Supreme Court ethics enforcement, executive branch conflicts of interest, and state ethics commission autonomy. His legal work and analysis have been featured in major media outlets. He has also testified at congressional hearings on government ethics and accountability. Before joining CLC, Kedric built a broad legal career across all three branches of the federal government and in private practice. He began as a litigator at Cravath and later practiced political law at Skadden. He went on to serve as Deputy Chief Counsel at the Office of Congressional Ethics and as a Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he advised on federal ethics laws. Earlier in his career, he clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.Links: Understanding Corruption and Conflicts of Interest in Government – CLC Holding Government Officials Accountable for Unlawful Conflict of Interest Violations – CLC Ethics Pledges by Trump Cabinet Draw Questions and Skepticism – NY Times CLC Sues to Stop Elon Musk and DOGE's Lawless, Unconstitutional Power Grab – CLC Elon Musk Stands to Gain Even More Wealth by Serving in Trump's Administration – CLC Is Musk Using the FAA to Benefit Himself and His SpaceX Subsidiary, Starlink? – CLC Have Wealthy Donors Bought the Trump Administration? – CLC How a Second Term Introduces More Conflicts of Interest for Trump – CLC CLC's Kedric Payne on Trump's Brazen Removal of Nation's Top Ethics Official – CLC The public won't get to see Elon Musk's financial disclosures. Here's why that matters.  – CBS  Justice Clarence Thomas Should Be Held Accountable Under Federal Ethics Law – CLC Judicial Conference Decision Lowers Ethics Standards for Federal Judges and U.S. Supreme Court – CLC Improving Ethics Standards at the Supreme Court – CLC The Justice Department Is In Danger Of Losing Its Way Under Trump – CLC Congress Has an Ethics Problem. Now It's Trying to Get Rid of Ethics Enforcement – CLC A Win for Ethics: CLC, Partners Succeed in Preserving Office of Congressional Conduct – CLC Crypto Political Fundraising Raises Questions About Senate Ethics Committee Efficacy – CLC Stopping the Revolving Door: Preventing Conflicts of Interest from Former Lobbyists – CLC The Trump Administration Has Opened the Door to More Corruption – CLC Solving the Congressional Stock Trading Problem – CLCAbout CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

   What drives a person with no medical lineage to become a leading figure in military medicine? Join us as we uncover the remarkable journey of Lt Col Theodore Hart, MD, whose path from the Air Force Academy to a celebrated vascular surgeon at Brooke Army Medical Center defies expectations. Discover the pivotal moments that ignited his passion for surgery and medicine, from a transformative research opportunity at the University of Cincinnati to his esteemed education at the University of Chicago and a fellowship at Stanford. Dr. Hart shares the profound influence of mentorship and the bountiful opportunities within military medicine that have shaped his career and commitment to innovative battlefield trauma care.    Prepare to be inspired by Dr. Hart's dedication to surgical training and mentorship within the military. Explore his insights on balancing the complexities of trauma surgery with an elective practice, while passionately advocating for residents and shaping robust training programs. His reflections on the vibrant research environment at Brooke Army Medical Center highlight the nurturing of future surgeons through rigorous mentorship and cutting-edge vascular surgery research. Dr. Hart's stories about witnessing the growth of his trainees into accomplished professionals underscore the core values of education and quality improvement that drive his mission.    In a world where military and medical advancements often intersect, Dr. Hart's insights into collaborative research initiatives reveal the promising future of military medicine. Learn about the ambitious multi-year research programs at Brooke Army Medical Center, supported by the Henry M Jackson Foundation, which are paving the way for breakthroughs like portable dialysis technology. Delve into the strategic partnerships that fuel innovation and the evolving field of military vascular surgery, where minimally invasive techniques are becoming essential. Dr. Hart's vision for aligning military resources with evolving surgical skills presents a compelling outlook on how emerging technologies and specialized training are poised to redefine future battlefields.   Chapters: (00:03) Dr. Hart Background (10:27) Surgical Training and Mentorship in the Military (15:24) Collaborative Research Initiatives in Military Medicine (20:21) Military Research and Collaborative Partnerships (28:55) Advancements in Military Vascular Surgery   Chapter Summaries: (00:03) Dr. Hart Background Dr. Hart's journey from the Air Force Academy to becoming a leader in military medicine, emphasizing mentorship and research.   (10:27) Surgical Training and Mentorship in Military Passion for military medicine and teaching, specializing in trauma surgery, leadership and advocacy for residents, vibrant research environment.   (15:24) Collaborative Research Initiatives in Military Medicine Collaborative research program at Burke Army Medical Center with support from Henry M Jackson Foundation, focusing on non-compressible torso hemorrhage and portable dialysis.   (20:21) Military Research and Collaborative Partnerships Integrating military training and research, collaboration with University of Washington, and passion for improving military medicine.   (28:55) Advancements in Military Vascular Surgery Vascular surgery in the military is evolving with advancements in endovascular techniques, integrated training, and innovation for future battlefields.     Take Home Messages: Pathways to Military Medicine: The journey to becoming a leader in military medicine can be unconventional, with unique opportunities for mentorship and growth available within the military medical system. A pivotal research experience can ignite a passion for medicine, even for those without a family background in the field. Surgical Training and Mentorship: Surgical residency within the military offers a challenging yet rewarding environment, with an emphasis on leadership, teaching, and advocacy for residents. Witnessing the growth of trainees from their initial days to accomplished professionals is a central and fulfilling aspect of military medical education. Collaborative Research Efforts: Successful military medical research relies on robust collaborative efforts and institutional support. Projects tackling issues like non-compressible torso hemorrhage and portable dialysis technology demonstrate the critical role of partnerships in advancing military medicine. Advancements in Military Vascular Surgery: The field of military vascular surgery is evolving, with a focus on minimally invasive techniques and the need for training programs to adapt to these changes. Ensuring that general surgeons retain essential skills is crucial for effective hemorrhage control and blood vessel reconstruction in remote locations. Passion for Innovation and Education: The drive to innovate and teach is fundamental to the continuous improvement of military medicine. Integrating new training and technologies on future battlefields is essential for aligning military resources with the evolving skill sets of newly trained surgeons.   Episode Keywords: Military Medicine, Vascular Surgery, Dr. Theodore Hart, Brooke Army Medical Center, Surgical Innovation, Mentorship, Battlefield Trauma Care, Military Research, Henry M Jackson Foundation, Portable Dialysis Technology, Endovascular Surgery, Surgical Training, Non-compressible Torso Hemorrhage, Integrated Training Programs, Future of Military Medicine, Military Doctors, Surgical Residency, San Antonio, Air Force Academy   Hashtags: #wardocs #military #medicine #podcast #MilMed #MedEd #MilitaryMedicine #VascularSurgery #BattlefieldInnovation #SurgicalMentorship #MilitaryResearch #HenryMJacksonAward #BrookeArmyMedicalCenter #FutureSurgeons #MedicalInnovation #DrTheodoreHart   Honoring the Legacy and Preserving the History of Military Medicine The WarDocs Mission is to honor the legacy, preserve the oral history, and showcase career opportunities, unique expeditionary experiences, and achievements of Military Medicine. We foster patriotism and pride in Who we are, What we do, and, most importantly, How we serve Our Patients, the DoD, and Our Nation.   Find out more and join Team WarDocs at https://www.wardocspodcast.com/ Check our list of previous guest episodes at https://www.wardocspodcast.com/our-guests Subscribe and Like our Videos on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wardocspodcast Listen to the “What We Are For” Episode 47. https://bit.ly/3r87Afm   WarDocs- The Military Medicine Podcast is a Non-Profit, Tax-exempt-501(c)(3) Veteran Run Organization run by volunteers. All donations are tax-deductible and go to honoring and preserving the history, experiences, successes, and lessons learned in Military Medicine. A tax receipt will be sent to you. WARDOCS documents the experiences, contributions, and innovations of all military medicine Services, ranks, and Corps who are affectionately called "Docs" as a sign of respect, trust, and confidence on and off the battlefield,demonstrating dedication to the medical care of fellow comrades in arms.     Follow Us on Social Media Twitter: @wardocspodcast Facebook: WarDocs Podcast Instagram: @wardocspodcast LinkedIn: WarDocs-The Military Medicine Podcast YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wardocspodcast

Welcome to another episode of the Mike Drop podcast, where we dive deep into the stories of warriors, operators, and those who've lived on the edge. Mike Ritland, retired Navy SEAL, dog trainer, and author, sits down with Jeremy Rebmann—a true embodiment of dedication, precision, and service. Jeremy is a retired FBI Special Agent with an impressive 32-year career spanning the U.S. Air Force and the FBI. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he started as a Sortie Generation Officer and later served as a Special Agent in the USAF Office of Special Investigations. Transitioning to the FBI, he spent 23 years in the Oklahoma City Field Office, where he logged 21 years as a SWAT operator and sniper, tackling some of the Bureau's most high-stakes missions—from hostage rescues to counterterrorism ops. Beyond his tactical expertise, Jeremy is a certified pilot, WMD agent, emergency medical technician, and evidence response team member. He's also an accomplished author, with his top-10 bestselling short story "Glass Mountain" and his recent book "Send Me: Chronicles of an FBI Sniper," which pulls back the curtain on the intense world of FBI SWAT operations. In this episode, we'll unpack Jeremy's journey from the Air Force Academy to the front lines of law enforcement, the evolution of SWAT tactics, the mental grit required for sniper work, and lessons from his most adrenaline-fueled deployments. Whether you're in the military, law enforcement, or just fascinated by stories of resilience, you won't want to miss this one. Let's drop in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does leadership look like at the highest levels of service?  SUMMARY In this episode of Long Blue Leadership, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black '85 discusses his journey from cadet to commanding the White House Communications Agency. He reflects on what it means to be a calm, steady presence in high-pressure environments — and how small daily practices can shape a lifetime of leadership. The full episode is now available.   SHARE THIS PODCAST FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   MICHAEL'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Develop a personal leadership philosophy that guides your actions (like Michael's 5F's: Family, Fitness, Flying, Fairness, and Fun). Always be aware that people are watching you and learning from your example, even when you don't realize it. Nurture relationships continuously - they are critical for long-term success and mentorship. Practice empathy and compassion, especially during difficult moments like delivering challenging news Maintain a holistic approach to fitness - physical, mental, and spiritual well-being are interconnected. Take pride in leaving organizations better than you found them and focus on developing future leaders. Be fair and be perceived as fair - understanding different perspectives is crucial to effective leadership. Incorporate fun and balance into your professional life to maintain team morale and personal resilience. Stay connected to your roots and be willing to mentor the next generation, sharing your experiences and lessons learned. Continuously practice self-reflection and ensure you're living up to your core values and leadership principles.   CHAPTERS Chapter 1 - 0:00:00 - 0:08:55: Family and Military Roots   Michael Black shares his background as a military brat and the educational legacy of his family. Chapter 2 - 0:08:55 - 0:12:10: Delivering a Difficult Notification A profound leadership moment where Black sensitively delivers news of a combat-related death to a staff sergeant's family. Chapter 3 - 0:12:10 - 0:18:40: The 5F Leadership Philosophy Introduction Col. Black explains the origin and core components of his leadership framework: Family, Fitness, Flying, Fairness, and Fun. Chapter 4 - 0:18:40 - 0:25:59: Detailed Exploration of 5F Philosophy   In-depth breakdown of each leadership principle, including personal anecdotes and practical applications. Chapter 5 - 0:25:59 - 0:32:21: Family Legacy and Academy Experience   Discussion of his son's Air Force Academy journey and the importance of nurturing relationships across generations. Chapter 6 - 0:32:21 - 0:38:36: Mentorship and Relationship Building Michael shares his approach to mentoring cadets and the significance of maintaining long-term professional connections. Chapter 7 - 0:38:36 - 0:40:13: Leadership in Civilian and Nonprofit Sectors Reflection on applying military leadership principles in private and nonprofit environments. Chapter 8 - 0:40:13 - 0:41:28: Personal Reflection and Leadership Advice  Final thoughts on leadership, self-improvement, and the importance of continuous personal development.   ABOUT COL. BLACK BIO Michael “Mike” B. Black, vice president for Defense, joined the nonprofit Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International in July 2022. He is a senior cyber/information technology leader with more than four decades of experience in cyber operations, communications, project/program management, leadership disciplines and organizational development. As AFCEA's vice president for Defense, Col. Black builds strong professional relationships with government, industry and academia partners to position AFCEA International as a leader in the cyber, defense, security, intelligence and related information technology disciplines. Col. Black leads defense operations in support of planning and executing global, large-scale, technically focused, trade shows/conferences supporting Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Operations, Cyber and Homeland Security.  Col. Black is focused on providing opportunities for engagement between and among government, industry and academia. Prior to joining AFCEA International, Col. Black served as chief operating officer at Concise Network Solutions for four years, directly supporting the CEO in developing, executing and managing CNS's master business plan. Prior to joining CNS, he served as the COO and chief corporate development officer at JMA Solutions for two and a half years, working in concert with senior executives to lead operations and the planning and execution of strategies. Prior to joining JMA Solutions, he served as the COO at Premier Management Corporation for four years, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations, all business units and the company's profit and loss. Prior to joining the private sector, Col. Black spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force holding various communications and leadership positions at many levels. He culminated his distinguished military career as a colonel, commander, White House Communications Agency, leading a 1,200-person team of selectively manned military, then-Department of Defense civilian and contract personnel to provide “no fail” telecommunications services for the president, vice president, named successors, first lady, senior White House staff, National Security staff, U.S. Secret Service and the White House Military Office. Col. Black holds a Bachelor of Science in basic science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was a Distinguished Military Graduate. He holds a Master of Science in national resource strategy, with an information operations concentration, from the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces; a Master's Degree in military arts and science from the Army Command & General Staff College; and a Master of Arts Degree in management from Webster University. He is a published author, including writing several leadership articles for The New Face of Leadership Magazine as well the thesis Coalition Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence Systems Interoperability: A Necessity or Wishful Thinking? BIO EXCERPTED FROM AFCEA.ORG   CONNECT WITH MICHAEL IG: @chequethemike FB: @michael black LinkedIn: Michael Black   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS   TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black '85 | Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, where transformative journeys of Air Force Academy graduates come to life. There are moments in a leader's life that leave a permanent mark. For my guest today, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black, USAFA Class of '85, one such moment came when he was actually sent to deliver news of a combat-related death. It was the first time he'd ever been tasked with that duty, and knew he only had one chance to get it right. As he sat with the widow, Michael found the strength to guide the family through their grief. That part of Michael's story speaks to the depth of his empathy and the calm steadiness that defines him as a leader. We'll explore much more of Michael's journey, from leading the White House Communications team to mentoring cadets at the Academy to daily practices that ground him and the framework that guides him today, what he calls the five Fs of leadership: family, fitness, flying, fairness and fun a guide not only for his life, but for the leaders he inspires. Michael, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Michael Black Naviere, thank you for having me, and thank you for that very kind introduction. I'm so happy to be here, and I'm just thankful for what you guys do, the AOG and putting this together and telling stories. I think this is amazing. So thank you for the opportunity. Naviere Walkewicz Well, we're grateful you're here. You got your silver on. You got your ‘85 Best Alive, you know, I mean, I'm just blown away here. The class crest… Michael Black Yeah, got it all, you know, the crest and the two squadrons that I was in. I'm just excited, back here for our 40th reunion. Yeah. So that's amazing. So fellowship and fun with your classmates, and just seeing the mountains, you know. Getting off the plane and looking west and seeing the mountains and seeing God's creation is just amazing. And then, of course, the Academy in the background, you know, pretty excited. Naviere Walkewicz Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we're going to jump right in. And actually, the topic is a bit sensitive, but I think it's really important, because we know that when we all raise our right hand, some are prepared and they give all. But not everyone has to actually give the news to the family when their loved one is lost, so maybe you can share what that was like. Michael Black Thank you for allowing me to talk about that. You hit the nail on the head when you said you only have one chance to get it right when you're talking to the family. And so I had a young staff sergeant that was deployed down range at the Horn of Africa, and he happened to be a radio operator in a helicopter supporting the Marines. And there was a mid-air collision that happened while he was deployed, and he was one of the people that perished. So the first notification that I had to make was duty status: whereabouts unknown — to say that to the family. And of course, you can think about the range of emotions that are associated with that. They don't know. We don't know.   Naviere Walkewicz There's still hope. There's not hope.   Michael Black So that was the first day. So going over there with my first sergeant, a medical team, chaplain, you know, that kind of thing, to support us and the family.   Naviere Walkewicz And what rank were you at that time?   Michael Black So I was a lieutenant colonel. So I was a squadron commander of the 1st Comm Squadron at Langley Air Force Base. And I like to say, you don't get to practice that. You have one time to get it right. At least back then, there was not a lot of training to do that. It doesn't happen that often, and so having to make that notification was a tough thing. It was one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing, I had to do in the service. Two young boys. He had two sons, and at the time, his spouse was military as well, so I go over there to do that the first day. You can imagine, you know, knocking on the door, right, and I'm in uniform, and just the emotions that they can be going through. So we're sitting on the couch in their house, two young boys. I believe their ages were 3 and 5 at the time, they were very young. And I explained to Michelle what we knew. And again, it's scripted. I can't say more or less than that, because 1) don't know, right? And 2), you just don't want to speculate on anything. And then we're waiting to find out his status. So then I have to go back the next day to make that notification, and you're representing the chief of staff of the United States Air Force, and that's kind of something that's scripted for you. “I'm here on the behalf of the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and I regret to inform you of the untimely death of your spouse.” The part that was even more heartening for me was after I told her, and with the boys sitting, I believe, on either side of me, she said, “And now Col. Black is going to tell you what happened to your dad.” That was a tough thing to do. And I would say it was the hardest thing that I had to do in the Air Force, in my career, and reflect on “you have one chance to get that right.” I believe we got it right, me and my team, but that was tough. Naviere Walkewicz Wow. Have you kept in touch with the family? Michael Black Yes, I keep in touch with Michelle, just from — just a personal because I'm very personal, outgoing, as you know. And so I've kept in touch with Michelle and the boys. But we're forever bonded by that, and I think that's important to stay in touch. And that's kind of one of my things I think we'll get into a little bit later in the conversation, but that's what I do. Naviere Walkewicz Well, it touches, certainly into, I think, that the family aspect of the five Fs, and because it seems like you even take in them as your family. And I'm curious about your family, because when you're going through that, I mean, you have at least a son — you have son, right?   Michael Black Yes, and two daughters.   Naviere Walkewicz Two daughters. So were you thinking about — did you put on your dad hat in that moment?   Michael Black I certainly did put on my dad hat and, and I think that helped in things. And I think all of the training that I got along the way about dealing with tough situations, and being a leader, it helped. But I took it upon myself after that to talk to other commanders. And in fact, my wing commander at the time, Burt Field, Gen. field was a '79 grad, and we talked, and that also brought him and I closer, because he also asked me to brief the other squadron commanders on that process and how I handled that. And I know when — to this day, Gen. Field and I are still very connected, and he's pretty engaged right now with the Air Force Association's birthday and all that. But a great mentor of mine who also helped in dealing with that. But he was extremely supportive and, and I think that had a factor in just how he evaluated me, right, how I handled that situation?   Naviere Walkewicz Well, it sounds like you certainly picked up some of those traits of taking care of your people recognizing empathy within processes and sharing it. I'm curious, were you always like this, or did you see some of this emulated from your family? Michael Black No, it's a great question. I am a military brat. My dad was in the Army. My dad went to Tuskegee — it was called Tuskegee Institute at that time. My mom went to Alabama A&M, so two schools in Alabama. They're from a very small towns in Alabama. My dad's from Beatrice, Alabama — which is less than 200 people today — and my mom is from Vredenburgh, Alabama. It's about 15 miles away, and it's even smaller than Beatrice. But they went to the same elementary school and high school, so high school sweethearts, and then they went off to college. And then dad got a direct commission in the Army, the Signal Corps. Well, he started out Medical Service Corps, but getting back to your question, so yes, family with that, and even take a step further back to my grandparents, on both sides of the family, but particularly with my paternal grandparents, they went out and visited the Tuskegee Institute at that time, and they saw the statue of Lifting the Veil of Ignorance there, and they decided at that point that they wanted their kids to go to that school. And so there's seven kids within my dad's family, and six of them went to Tuskegee. Naviere Walkewicz   Wow. So I want to fast forward a little bit, and you can certainly share whether it was during the Academy or after graduation, but you have kind of had this great foundation from your family. Let's talk a little bit about the Academy or after-Academy experience, where you had seen additional time where you had grown as a leader. Was there a particular experience that can come to mind, where another shaping of this leadership journey that you've been on? Michael Black Yeah, I think there's multiple throughout my career. I mean, I went to the Army Command and General Staff College for my intermediate professional military education. And there's a story there too. My dad was in the Army, and so I wanted to experience some of the things that my dad did, even though I was Air Force. And so one of my mentors, now-retired Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, was instrumental in me getting selected for Army Command and General Staff College. And so I went there, and I think that was a big portion of my shaping, although had mentors and folks and coaches in my life leading up to that were, you know, helped shape me, but going to that school… And what I noticed when I got there that the Army was very serious about leadership and leadership philosophy, so much so that we took a class on that where we had to develop a leadership philosophy. And so in taking that class, before the Christmas break, I found out that I was going to be a squadron commander. So I was a major, and I was going to be a squadron commander. And so in that leadership course, I said, “Well, I'm going to go be a squadron commander. I'm going to the fifth combat con group in Georgia. Let me make this philosophy that I'm doing in class be my philosophy, so that when I get there…” And that was really the first time that I thought very serious about, “OK, what is my leadership philosophy?” And I had been a flight commander before, and had people under my tutelage, if you will. But being a squadron commander, you know, being on G series orders. And you know, we know how the military takes the importance of being a commander. And so having that so I did decide to develop my philosophy during that time. And you mentioned the five Fs earlier. And so that was — that became the opportunity to develop that. So family, that's what it was. That's when I developed that — in that course. So family, fitness, flying, fairness and fun — the five Fs. I worked on that when I got there. And so then when I got to take command, I had prepared all of that stuff in this academic environment, and I used it to a T and I briefed the squadron after I took command. I think this is my command philosophy, the five Fs. I subsequently had the opportunity to command two more times after that, another squadron, and then at the White House Communications Agency, which is now wing command equivalent. So had the opportunity to tweak and refine, but the foundation was still the five Fs. And so in doing that, and I can go into a little detail. So you know, family is your immediate family, your your blood family, and that that kind of thing. But family also encompasses your unit, your extended family, you know, and part of that. And so I always tell people you know, your family, you don't want to be the only one at your retirement ceremony because you neglected your family. And I've done many retirement ceremonies. In fact, I've done 25-plus since I retired. Well, that shows you really made no so family is, is important, take care of your family. And I, you know, one of the things I said about that to the folks was if you in your unit, if folks are getting assigned unit, permanent changes, station, PCS to your unit, and they haven't found the place to live in the due time and whatever the house hunting days are, I always gave my folks the option of give them some more time to find a place. They may be looking for schools, I mean looking for a place that just fits the environment that they need. And let's give them that time now, because they're not going to be effective in the organization if they're worried about where they have to live, where their kids are going to go to school and that kind of thing. So take care of all of that, and then get them to work, and they'll be that much more effective because they won't have to worry about where they're living, where the kids are going to school. So take care of your family fitness. You understand physical fitness and what you do and all of that, and I admire all of your accomplishments in that. And so physical fitness in the military kind of goes without saying. You have to maintain certain standards and do that, and do a PT and take a test and that kind of thing. But fitness is more than just physical fitness. It's spiritual and mental fitness. Now I would never be one to tell somebody this is how you need to nurture your spiritual and mental fitness. I think that's personal. But if your spiritual mental fitness is not being nourished, you're not going to be doing yourself any good, your team any good. And honestly, you would be able to tell if an individual is struggling with their spiritual or mental fitness, particularly as a leader and just kind of looking and observing characteristics and the behavior of folks. So I basically told my team, I want you to do whatever it takes to nurture your spiritual and mental fitness, whatever you need to do — if it's meditating, if it's praying, if it's walking, whatever is personal to you, but make sure that it's nurtured. But I also told my folks that if you think my spiritual fitness and mental fitness is out of balance, I want you to tell me, because I might have blinders on. I could be focused on things, just like they could be focused on things, and I would tell them. And I think folks really appreciated the candor and the openness of the leader, the commander, you know, saying that, yes, I want you to tell me if you think my spiritual mental fitness is, you know, is out of balance.   Naviere Walkewicz Did you ever have anyone tell you that?   Michael Black I did. I had strong relationships with my first sergeant, or my command sergeant major, the senior enlisted adviser. So we were, you know, we're hand-in-hand and all the places I was at. And so, yes, I've had them. I've had my wife tell me that. So I think that's important. I just — like I said, you can easily have blinders on and maybe just not see that or have blind spots. And speaking of that, I've written a leadership article on blind spots. I've kind of studied that and understand that. Flying — at the time the primary mission of the Air Force was flying. And so I'd always say, “What is your role in supporting the primary mission, or what is our role in supporting the primary mission of the Air Force?” So make sure you understand that. As a communicator, how do you contribute to the primary mission, or as a logistician, or as information management? But understand what your role is in the primary mission of the Air Force. Fairness, as a leader — it is so important for the leader to be fair, right? It can affect good order and discipline if you're not fair, but equally important is to be perceived as being fair. So I could think I'm being fair, I could think that I'm being fair, but if the perception of the unit, the team, is that I'm not being fair, that's just as detrimental to the mission as actually not being fair. And so I think perceptions are important, and you need to understand that. You need to be aware of the perceptions; you need to be ready to receive the information and the feedback from your team on that. And so I stress the importance of also the perception people have different management. I could be looking at something over there, and I say, “OK, yeah, sky is blue over there,” but somebody's looking at it from a different you know, they may see a touch of some clouds in there, and so they see some light in there, and from their vantage point. And it's just like that in life: Respect everybody's vantage point in things. And so that was the fairness aspect. Then finally, fun. I'm a person that likes to have fun.   Naviere Walkewicz You are?!   Michael Black Yes, I am. I'm a person that loves to have fun. And so for me, I grew up playing sports. And so I played sports throughout my Air Force career. So that was kind of one of the things I did for fun, intramurals.   Naviere Walkewicz What was your favorite sport?   Michael Black My favorite sport was baseball growing up. I mean, I dreamed about trying to play in the Major Leagues and that kind of stuff. And I played on a lot of baseball teams growing up, and then when I got into the service, played softball, and I played competitive softball. Back in the day, they have base softball teams, and so you would, you know, try out for the team, and I would try out, and I played on base team at probably at least four or five bases that I was at. So I was, these are my own words: I was good. So I played and was very competitive in intramurals. That's another way to bring your team together — camaraderie. They see the boss out there playing. And I always would tell folks that on the squadron team: They're not playing me because I'm the commander. They're playing me because I'm good. I can contribute to the wins in a game. But so it's very competitive. I wasn't a win at all costs, but it wasn't fun to lose. So being competitive and fun. So that's one of the things I did for fun. I also follow professional sports. San Antonio Spurs is my basketball team; Washington Commanders, my football team. So I would go to those events, those games, those contests and stuff like that. Music, concerts, still do that kind of stuff with my kids and my family incorporate fun into — so it's not all work and no play. I think you do yourself justice by, winding down relaxing a little bit and having fun and that kind of thing. And so I encourage my team to do that. Wasn't gonna tell people what they needed to do for fun. I think that's personal, but having fun is important and it helps strike that balance. So that's really the five Fs. And I carried that, as I said, every time I command, every time I've, you know, unit that I've been associated with, particularly after the 2000 graduation from Army Command and Staff College. And I still carry that five Fs today And incidentally, I think the if you bump into somebody who was in one of my units, they're going to remember the five Fs, or some portion of it. In fact, I have a couple mentees that commanded after me, and they adopted the five Fs as their command philosophy. And that's kind of something that's very satisfying as a leader to have somebody adopt your leadership style. They think that it was good for them while they were in the unit. And it's very flattering to see that afterwards. I mean, so much so that I've had people that were in my unit, and then they got assigned to one of my mentee's unit, and they would call me up and they'd say, “Hey, Col. Black, you know, Col. Packler says his command philosophy is the five Fs.” Yeah, I said Marc was in my unit at Langley, and he probably felt that. But that's, that's a true story. Naviere Walkewicz That's a legacy, right there; that's wonderful. Well, speaking of legacy, you have a son that's also a graduate. So talk about that. I mean, you were expected to go to college. It wasn't an if, it was where? How about your children? Was that kind of the expectation? Michael Black So my wife is a college graduate. She's a nurse as well. And so we preached education throughout. And just as an aside, shout out to my wife, who just completed her Ph.D.   Naviere Walkewicz Wow, congratulations!   Michael Black Yes. Wilda Black, last week, in doing that. And so between my family, my immediate family — so my wife, and my two daughters and my son, there are 15 degrees between us.   Naviere Walkewicz And you?   Michael Black And me. So five us, there are 15 degrees. My wife has two master's, a bachelor's and now a Ph.D. My oldest daughter has a bachelor's and two master's. My son has a bachelor's and a master's. My younger daughter has a bachelor's and a master's, and I have a bachelor's and three master's degrees. So I think that adds up to 15.   Naviere Walkewicz I lost count. Social sciences major here.   Michael Black So yes, education. And so my son — he really liked quality things, likes quality things growing up. And so he was looking at schools and researching and looking at the Ivy League, some of the Ivy League schools, and some other schools that, you know, had strong reputations. I purposely did not push the Air Force Academy to him because I didn't want him to go for the wrong reasons. I didn't want him to go because I went there and that kind of thing. But late in the game, you know, in his summer, going into his senior year of high school, he came to me and said, “Hey…” and I'm paraphrasing a little bit, “Dad, you know, your alma mater is pretty good, you know, pretty, you know, pretty has a strong reputation.” And I said, “Yeah, you know, you know, strong academic curriculum and everything else there.” So that summer he said, “Well, I'm thinking I might want to go there.” And I'm thinking to myself, “That's a little bit late in the game, like the summer going into senior year.”   Naviere Walkewicz Did you recruit your mom again?   Michael Black Mom got involved. And then I think you know Carolyn Benyshek. So Carolyn was the director of admissions. I reached out to her and just said, “Hey, I got my son that's interested.” They were actually coming to Baltimore, I believe, for a…   Naviere Walkewicz The Falcon Experience. Right.   Michael Black And so we went to see her, and I'll just kind of say the rest is history. Through her help and guidance, through my son's qualifications — he was able to get in. He went to the Prep School, which is great, and I just want to give a shout out to the Prep School for that. I did not attend the Prep School, but I saw the value of my son going to the Prep School and then coming to the Academy. So I just to this day, thankful for our Prep School and how they prepare folks.   Naviere Walkewicz We feel similarly about that.   Michael Black So, yeah. So he went. And so, of course, a proud dad, right? Your son following in your footsteps, and that kind of thing. So Clinton, Clinton Black is in the Space Force now, and he's assigned to Vandenberg. But my son, he was a soccer player growing up, played a lot of competitive soccer, came here and decided that he wanted to do Wings of Blue, and so he was on Wings of Blue parachute team. And the neat thing about that is that the jump wings that my son wears are the jump wings that my dad earned at Airborne School in 1964, '65 — sometime in the early ‘60s. And so my dad was still living at the time and so he was able to come out here and pin the wings on Clinton. So it skipped a generation because I didn't jump or anything. But my son jumped, and he has mid-500 number of jumps that he's had. And so my dad was able to see him jump, and that was even though Airborne is a teeny bit different than free fall, but still, you know, parachuting, and all of that. So getting to see Clinton excel and do that and see him jump into the stadium, and that kind of thing. He jumped with some of the former Navy SEALs in the X Games, you know, in the mountains. So that was just a proud parent moment. Naviere Walkewicz Wow. That is very exciting. And so, through all of these experiences that you had, I keep wanting to go back to the five Fs .yYu had mentioned earlier that you did some refinement to it. So where you are now, how are you using them? How have they been refined? I mean, flying. What is that? Michael Black So, I asked people to take a little bit of a leap in that, understand where it came from, in my 5s but that aspect refers to the mission, right? And so the Air Force mission has evolved to include space and that kind of thing. But even on the private side, the civilian side, I still use the five F's. And so the flying aspect just refers to the mission, or whatever the mission of your organization is. And so there was some refinement as we brought in space into our mission, but it really reflected on the mission. And so I had different AFSCs that worked for me in in the different units that I was at, and also different services. And so understanding the service aspect of things also was something that I had to take into consideration as far as keeping and refining that, at the White House Communications Agency, about 1,200 military — more Army than Air Force, more Air Force than Navy, more Navy than Marine Corps, and more Marine Corps than Coast Guard. And so being an Air Force commander of a joint unit that had more Army folks in it, you have to understand that lingo, and be able to speak cool and that kind of thing. Dad loved that. And so going to the Army Command General Staff College, and, getting some of that philosophy and understanding that. And then I went to what's now called the Eisenhower School, now ICAF, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, which is another joint school. And so being around that helped me in those aspects. But really applying that throughout and after I retired, I did 10 years in the private sector with a couple of different small businesses that were government contracted focused, providing professional services, but still, as the chief operating officer of each one of those, it's a pretty high leadership position within the company and so I talked about the five Fs in some terms that my team could understand that, and so still apply that. And then now, with three years working for the nonprofit, the AFCEA organization, where we bring government, industry and academia together to do IT, cyber kind of things, machine learning, artificial intelligence — I still have that philosophy to buy that and what I do, I think it's something that's applicable across the board, not just military. At least I've made it applicable. Naviere Walkewicz I was just gonna ask that, because talk about the private sector and — some of our listeners, they take off the uniform, but they still have that foundation of the military, but they're working with people who maybe don't have that foundation of the military. So how did you translate that in a way that they could feel that same foundation, even though they hadn't gone through a military family or through the Air Force Academy? Michael Black Yeah, no, that's a great question, Naviere. And I think, as a leader, you have to be aware of that. You have to be aware of your team and their background and their experiences. You also you have to speak their lingo, right? I mean, I can't talk just Air Force or military lingo. We talk a lot in acronyms. Naviere Walkewicz Like AFCEA. And I'm sure many know it but would you mind spelling it out? Michael Black Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association. And even though we have that we are more than the armed forces now, so we really are known by just AFCEA, even though that's what that acronym stands for. So I mean, I work with Homeland Security, VA and that kind of thing. But to your point, getting folks to understand where I'm coming from, and I need to understand where they're coming from, you have to take the time, put in the work to do that, so that you can communicate with your folks, and so that they understand where you're coming from, and also, so that they feel valued, right? That you understand where they're coming from. And I think all of that is important. And I tried to make sure that I did that, and I had coaches, mentors and sponsors along the way. So I learned when some of my mentors transition from the military time, and so when they went to go work in the private sector, I still lean on them. “OK, how did you make this transition? And what is it about? And what are the similarities and what are the differences? What do I need to consider in doing that?” And I'm thankful, and that goes back to one key point that I want to make about relationships and nurturing that relationship. I mentioned Gen. Field, worked for him in the early 2000s. But here we are, 2025, and he's in my contacts, he will take my call, he will respond to a text, and vice versa. You know, building that relationship. And so he's with a nonprofit now, and so I still stay in touch with him. The director of the White House Military Office was a Navy admiral that I worked for when I was at the White House. He is now the president and CEO of the United States Naval Institute — Adm. Spicer. You know, 20-something, 15 years ago, worked for him and now we're working together on a big conference. But those relationships are important in nurturing those relationships. And I learned about nurturing from my family. You know, my grandparents, who did that. My grandfather was a farmer. He had to nurture his crops for them to produce. So the same thing, analogy applies in relationships; you have to nurture that relationship. And you know, it circled all the way back to, you know, our 40-year reunion now, and my classmates that are here and nurturing those relationships with those classmates over the years is important to me. I'm the connector within my class, or the nucleus. I mean, those are two nicknames that my classmates have given me: the Col. Connector and Nucleus, and I embrace those. Naviere Walkewicz Yes, that's wonderful. I know that you also mentor cadets. And I think my question for you, from the aspect of some of our listeners, is, did you seek out the cadets? Did they seek you out? How does that mentorship relationship start? Because you talked about how, like, for example, Gen. Field, you had that relationship years ago. That's kind of carried through. But how do you know when that mentorship is beginning? Michael Black I think both of those aspects, as you mentioned. Do they seek that? There are cadets that seek that based upon just what they've experienced and what they've learned. And then some of the cadets know people that I know, and so they've been referred to me, and all that. Some were — like their parents, I worked with their parents. I mean, particularly in the Class of 2023 there are three young ladies that I mentored in the Class of 2023 one whose father worked with me on the White House Communications Agency, one whose mother babysat my kids OK. And then one who's ROTC instructor in junior in high school was my first sergeant. So in those three instances, I was connected to those folks through relationship with either their parents or somebody that worked for me and that that kind of thing. And that was a neat thing to, you know, to be here. I did the march back with those young ladies, and then I connected those three young ladies who did not know each other at the march back, when we got back on the Terrazzo, I found all three of them and explained my relationship with each of them. And they were able to be connected throughout and two of them I actually commissioned, So that was really, really nice. And so, you know, seeking mentorship is, well, mentorship has just been important to me. I benefited from mentorship, and I want to return that favor. I am the chairman of the Air Force Cadet Officer Mentor Association, AFCOMA, whose foundation is mentorship, fellowship and scholarship, and so I'm passionate about mentorship and doing that. I've seen the benefits of it. People did it for me, and I think you can shorten the learning curve. I think you can just help folks along the way. So I'm very passionate about that. Naviere Walkewicz Well, this has been amazing. I think there's two questions I have left for you. The first one being — and I think we've learned a lot about this along the way — but if you were to summarize, what is something you are doing every day to be better as a leader? Michael Black I think every day I take a deep look inside myself, and am I living and breathing my core values? And what am I doing to help the next generation? You know, trying to put that on my schedule, on my radar, that's important to me. And whether I'm at work with AFCEA, whether I'm out here at my 40th reunion, whether I'm on vacation, I always take the time to mentor folks and pass on that. I think that's something that's passionate for me. You mentioned, when we talked about the retirement ceremonies. I mean, I've done 20-plus since I retired. In fact, I have one in November, but it will be my 27th retirement ceremony since I retired. And those things are important to me. And so I reflect, I try to keep my fitness — my physical, spiritual and mental fitness, in balance every day so that I can be effective and operate at a peak performance at the drop of the hat. You know, being ready. And so that's important to me. So there's some self-analysis, and I do live and breathe the five F's. I think that's important. And I think I've proven to myself that that is something that is relatable, not only to my time in the military, but my time in the private sector, and now my time in a nonprofit. And I just continue to do that so self-reflection and really practicing particularly the fitness aspect of the five Fs. Naviere Walkewicz Wow, that's outstanding. And then you probably share this with your mentees. But what is something that you would help our aspiring leaders — those who are already in leadership roles in any facet of it — but what is something that they can do today so that they will be more effective as a leader? Michael Black So I think being aware that people are watching you and your actions. Even when you think that somebody is not watching, they are watching. And so they are trying to learn what to do next, and to be aware of that. And so I think, again, that goes with what you asked me first: What do I do every day. But also being aware of that, so that you can be that example to folks. And then take the time, have some pride in leaving the organization better than it was when you got there. I mean, it's a cliche, but I think I take a lot of pride in that. And then, when the team does good, everybody does good, so you shouldn't necessarily be out there for any kind of glory. That's going to come. But do it for the right reasons. And provide… give the people the tools, the resources and the environment to be successful. And in… I just take satisfaction when I see one of my mentees get squadron command, go do something like the current commander of the White House Communications Agency, Col. Kevin Childs. He was a captain and a major in the organization when I was there. Nothing makes me happier than to see my mentees excel. And then, in this particular instance, he's holding a job that I had, and we still talk. I mean, he had me come out there to speak to the unit about a month ago. And those things give me a lot of pride and satisfaction and confirmation that I am doing the right thing. And so I'm excited about that. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I can say, from the time that I met you a few years ago, you are living what your five Fs. I see it every time you help champion others. Every time I'm around you I'm  energized. So this has been a true joy. Has there been anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to share with our listeners? Michael Black Well, I do want to say personally, thank you to you for all that you do and what the association is doing here. This Long Blue conversation, Long Blue Line — I think this is important to share. There's a Class of 1970 that's in the hotel with us, and I don't know, really, any of those folks, but when I see them walking around with their red hat on — that was their color — and I think about, “OK, 15 years before me.” And so I'm 62. These guys are, if I did the public math, right, 77, 78, maybe even older, depending upon what they did, and still out there doing things, and some of them here with their spouses and that kind of thing. I was just talking to one of the classmates this morning, I said, “You know, I wonder if we're going to be like this when our 55th reunion is,” and they were walking around, and most were in good health and able to do things. So that gives a lot of pride. But, what you're doing, what the rest of the folks here are doing, I think this is amazing. I love the new building, the studio that we're in. This is my first time in the new building, so I'm thankful for this opportunity, and just excited about what you guys do. Naviere Walkewicz Well, thank you so much for that. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on Long Blue Leadership. Michael Black Well, I appreciate it. It's been an honor, and I'm glad you guys timed this for my '85 Best Alive reunion and in the new studio. Naviere Walkewicz Yes, wonderful. Well, as we bring today's conversation to a close, Michael left a reminder for us that stands to me. As a leader, you're always on, you're always being watched. You know your steady presence and deep empathy were forged in life's hardest moments, from guiding a young family through unimaginable loss to breaking the barriers at the highest levels of service to mentoring cadets who will carry forward the legacy of leadership. And then there's that framework he lived by, the five Fs of leadership. It is practical as it is powerful, family, fitness, flying mission, fairness and fun, each one a reminder that leadership is about balance grounding and the courage to keep perspective no matter the challenge. His story reminds us that true leaders create more leaders, and when we anchor ourselves in purpose, faith and these five Fs, we leave behind a legacy that lasts. Thank you for listening to Long Blue Leadership. I'm Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz. Until next time. KEYWORDS Michael Black, Air Force leadership, 5F leadership philosophy, military mentorship, leadership development, combat communication, White House Communications, Space Force, veteran leadership, empathetic leadership, military career progression, leadership principles, professional growth, organizational effectiveness, cadet mentoring, military communication strategy, leadership resilience, Air Force Academy graduate, leadership philosophy, team building, professional relationships.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation    

John's soon to be published book 'THE ABDUCTION AMNESTY KNOT'In a time when governments admit the reality of UFOs and whistleblowers risk everything to testify about encounters with non-human intelligences, The Abduction Amnesty Knot dares to ask the hardest question of all: what now? Drawing on decades of military experience, behavioral science, and firsthand accounts from PRP-qualified service members, Dr. John G. Blitch, LTC, USA Retired, uncovers disturbing patterns of abduction, concealed technologies, and deep trauma—with evidence that's physical, not just anecdotal.Part memoir, part manifesto, and part psychological reckoning, this book blends high-level military insight with deeply personal stories to challenge the limits of belief and open a case for something radical in the age of disclosure: forgiveness. With dark humor, unflinching analysis, and compassion for the abducted and the unaware alike, Blitch doesn't just document the hidden truths of our past—he charts a course for the kind of future humanity may still be worthy of.BioDr. John G. Blitch (LTC USA RET) is a retired cognitive scientist and former DARPA Program Manager with a career spanning nuclear weapons delivery, Special Forces, and artificially intelligent robotics. In addition to his many military deployments, Colonel Blitch's field experience includes a multitude of disaster response activities—most notably in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing (1995), World Trade Center attacks (2001), and Hurricane Katrina (2005). Holding a doctorate and multiple master's degrees in cognitive science and engineering, he has taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and led pioneering research programs in robotics and human-machine teaming.Dr. Blitch's work has taken him from war zones and classified laboratories to rubble piles, ski slopes, and mysterious mountain bike trails. Along his journey, he has accumulated a wealth of personal and professional experience that has compelled him to confront uncomfortable truths about artificial intelligence, hidden trauma, and institutional silence. Known for his unconventional thinking and sharp skepticism—often turned inward—he now dedicates his voice to advocating for truth, accountability, and above all, forgiveness in the face of unthinkable terror.https://www.fearfighter.org/ https://www.pastliveshypnosis.co.uk/https://www.patreon.com/alienufopodcastMy book 'Verified Near Death Exeriences' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXKRGDFP Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyber Risk and Regulatory Practice, Sloane Menkes, shares her story of how non-linear math helped to shape her life and career. Sloane credits a high school classmate for inspiring her mantra "What is the 2%?" that she employs when she feels like things are shutting down. She talks about her experiences in calculus class at the US AIr Force Academy that helped to enlighten her and inform the intuitive problem solving skill or way of thinking that she'd been employing in her life. She joined Office of Special Investigations and working with Howard Schmidt is where Sloane first started to get interested in cybersecurity. She shares what she loves about the consulting role is that the environment is constantly changing, and she offers some advice for women interested in cybersecurity. We thank Sloane for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyber Risk and Regulatory Practice, Sloane Menkes, shares her story of how non-linear math helped to shape her life and career. Sloane credits a high school classmate for inspiring her mantra "What is the 2%?" that she employs when she feels like things are shutting down. She talks about her experiences in calculus class at the US AIr Force Academy that helped to enlighten her and inform the intuitive problem solving skill or way of thinking that she'd been employing in her life. She joined Office of Special Investigations and working with Howard Schmidt is where Sloane first started to get interested in cybersecurity. She shares what she loves about the consulting role is that the environment is constantly changing, and she offers some advice for women interested in cybersecurity. We thank Sloane for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part two of Dylan Borland's blockbuster interview just dropped on Weaponized with Jeremy Corbell & George Knapp — and it's huge.Dylan Borland, a decorated USAF imagery analyst with TS/SCI clearance, alleges crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering programs, says parts of his sworn testimony were classified by AARO, and describes a striking 2012 Langley triangle sighting. In this episode, I give a clear, respectful summary and my reaction — including the reported risks, alleged retaliation against whistleblowers, and what responsible disclosure could look like. ▶️ Watch the original Weaponized interview on YouTube:• Part 1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H51UT2gs2g&t=31s• Part 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U2u43Vdt_g Episode Chapters 00:00 – Intro & Borland's background04:20 – The 2012 Langley triangle encounter08:20 – Reverse-engineering programs & the “power source”12:40 – Retaliation and psychological pressure17:00 – Testifying to Congress & AARO classification21:40 – What it means and call to action Disclaimer This podcast discusses allegations and personal accounts already shared publicly. I'm offering commentary and analysis in good faith. I do not speak on behalf of any government, military branch, intelligence organization, contractor, or agency. Listener discretion for mental-health topics. About Chris Lehto Chris Lehto is a former F-16 pilot with 18 years of USAF service. He managed multi-million-dollar simulator contracts, served as an Electronic Attack SME for the Aggressors (OPFOR), and commanded the U.S. detachment at NATO's Tactical Leadership Program (TLP). He fought in Iraq in 2006, spent three years in Turkey as an exchange pilot (fluent in Turkish), and worked as a certified crash safety investigator. Chris holds a B.S. in Chemistry-Materials Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Master's in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle University. His Lehto Files channel investigates Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), alternative physics, aviation safety, and future tech — aiming to foster open, uncensored discussion. Connect & Support X / Twitter – https://x.com/LehtoFilesTikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@lehtofilesFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090658513954Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lehto_files Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/chrislehtoYouTube Membership – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVNKdkLzWuy1oLuCuCv4NCA/join NFT project – https://opensea.io/collection/uapeez Tesla referral (500 € off) – https://www.tesla.com/referral/christopher39105 ETH donations: chrislehto.eth(0x26E3c9b2A5E5b6B7FB54f5F0120B0E4840EB7B24)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lehto-files-investigating-uaps--5990774/support.

Are the most important breakthroughs in physics deliberately hidden? In this deep, unfiltered conversation, Prof. Simon returns to explore how advanced physics may have been locked away since WWII — from zero-point energy and plasma stealth to the classified “black world” of defense research. We revisit legendary test pilot Dan Isbell's extraordinary UAP encounters and the physics they suggest, and we ask: Has mainstream science been steered off course for decades? Topics we explore: – Why WWII and the Manhattan Project may have shifted physics into secrecy – Test pilot insights on exotic craft, plasma sheathing, and zero-point energy – The quantum vacuum vs. the old “ether” — and why the words changed – Suppressed experiments from Faraday to Tesla to Chris Chiba today – Passive radar, Gorgon Stare, and citizen-built detection networks – The real split between mundane UAPs and the 5% that defy known physics – Consciousness, remote viewing, and the idea of a connected universe This is a rigorous but open-minded discussion for anyone serious about UAPs, advanced propulsion, and the future of physics.

Send us a textJustice should not depend on who's most afraid of a headline. We sit down with nationally recognized trial lawyer and former Air Force JAG Davis Younts to examine where military justice goes off the rails—and how to bring it back on track. Davis shares the moment a 15‑minute acquittal at the Air Force Academy changed his career path from prosecution to defense, revealing what happens when allegations gain momentum and no one can find the off‑ramp.We dig into the uneasy balance between command authority and legal oversight, why the Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) is slowing cases while pulling commanders away from discipline, and how political risk trains leaders to push weak cases to court rather than make hard calls. You'll hear specific, practical fixes: raising the evidentiary bar to open administrative investigations, creating an affirmative defense for leaders who are strictly enforcing published standards, and finally training investigating officers to recognize bias, weigh credibility, and document decisions with rigor.On the UCMJ side, Davis makes the case to restore Article 32 preliminary hearings as a real evidentiary gate that protects true victims from re‑traumatization and the innocent from trials doomed by thin evidence. We also spotlight the “titling” trap—when simply being investigated can plant a damaging FBI record without charges or notice—along with common‑sense safeguards like notification and appeals. The through line is standards: physical readiness, professional conduct online, and the moral clarity to seek peace through strength without rewarding victimhood or punishing honest leadership.If you care about due process, warrior ethos, and a military that can command trust at home and deterrence abroad, this conversation is for you. Listen, share with a teammate, and tell us where you think reform should start. And if this resonates, follow the show, leave a review, and pass it to someone who needs to hear it.

Gary talks about the Hawaii victory over the Air Force Academy, and John Veneri joins the show to talk more about the game, what it means for the rest of the season and to explain his take on the final Hawaii possession of the game. Brennan Morioka joins the show as well to talk more about the NASED project as the state and AHDP have finally signed off on most of the contracts needed to begin the deconstruction process of Aloha Stadium.

Kanoa and Billy talk Hawaii football after a victorious trip to Colorado Springs and taking down the Air Force Academy, football guru Rich Miano joins the show to break down what he saw on Saturday morning. Mark Rolfing from The Golf Channel talks about the Ryder Cup and the amazing performance from Team Europe and how he and the guys took major issues with the class-less US fans in Long Island.

Former Hawaii football coach June Jones talks about the Rainbow Warriors' chances against the Air Force Academy. And, Spectrum News' Brian McInnis helps preview the upcoming UH men's basketball team.

As a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet, now-Capt. Garrett “Kap” Kauppila '19 experienced a life-changing moment involving his older brother. SUMMARY That trial taught him success doesn't involve rank — it's about being present, showing gratitude and supporting others. Hear his powerful story on Long Blue Leadership. Listen today and be a better leader tomorrow!   SHARE THIS PODCAST FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   "KAP'S" LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Never take moments with loved ones for granted - cherish every interaction. Treat everyone with equal respect, regardless of rank or position. Find your authentic leadership style - don't try to imitate others. Root yourself in gratitude to increase your overall happiness. Fill your own "glass" first before trying to pour into others - self-care is crucial. Wake up early and accomplish tasks to get ahead of your day. Pursue what truly matters to you, not what others expect. Be willing to invest in yourself and sometimes work for free to prove your value. Ask "why" to understand the root cause of people's challenges and needs. Leadership is about showing genuine care, being consistent, and helping others increase their opportunities.   CHAPTERS 00:00: A Life-Changing Moment 01:04: Lessons from Adversity 08:30: The Importance of Gratitude 11:07: Finding Purpose in Leadership 11:28: The Journey to Teaching 17:57: Building Authentic Relationships 24:50: The Power of Self-Discovery 33:47: Investing in Yourself     ABOUT CAPTAIN KAUPPILA BIO Capt. Garrett “Kap” Kauppila '19 is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he distinguished himself both academically and athletically. A native of Rocklin, California, he played defensive back for the Falcons and maintained strong academic performance throughout his time at the Academy. After graduation, Capt. Kauppila has served in the Air Force in various capacities, including as an instructor. His leadership approach is informed by both the discipline of his military career and his commitment to continual self‑improvement. One of the pivotal moments in Capt. Kauppila's life was when his older brother, Kyle, suffered a near‑fatal motorcycle accident leading to a stroke. During that time, Garrett balanced intense emotional and physical challenges—on top of his duties and studies—taking time off, helping with his brother's care, and eventually returning to finish strong at the Academy with a 3.85 GPA. This period deeply shaped his philosophy of leadership: the idea of the “glacier theory,” which emphasizes looking beneath the surface to understand people's motivations and struggles, and recognizing that many uphill battles are won by small, consistent adjustments.      CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS   TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Capt. Garrett "Cap" Kaupilla '19  |  Host, Lt. Col. Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz As a cadet, Kap had just began his first season as a defensive starter for Air Force football when his world was turned upside down by a crucible moment.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Sept. 17, 2017, will forever stay with my family. I ended up getting a call that my brother, that he's not breathing, and it appears that he's no longer with us. I had about 45 minutes to an hour window where I thought that was completely the case. Again, the last I heard he was evacced on a helicopter. He got in a motorcycle crash and didn't know the extent of the details. Was in the Sierra foothills in northern California, and that's all I knew. That changed the trajectory of our entire lives. Naviere Walkewicz My guest today is Capt. Garrett “Kap” Kauppila, United States Air Force Academy Class of 2019 — a man whose leadership journey was shaped in a way few of us can imagine. Kap learned about the fragility of life, the danger of taking even a single conversation for granted, and the importance of showing up with passion and gratitude every day. That perspective now defines Kap as a leader and as a mentor to our cadets at the Air Force Academy. In this episode, he shares the lessons learned in the hardest of circumstances, the power of authenticity, the discipline of not taking life's moments for granted, and the conviction that true leadership begins with respect for others, no matter their title nor rank. So stay with us, because Kap's story is more than a testimony of persistence and staying power. It's a call to live and lead with purpose. Kap, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Capt. Garrett Kauppila Thank you very much.   Naviere Walkewicz We're so excited to have you. We want to go right to the moment your brother was in a motorcycle crash. Tell us about it. Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah. So, Sept. 17, 2017, I ended up getting a call that my brother was dead. That was the simple phone call — that he's not breathing and it appears that he's no longer with us. I had about 45 minutes to an hour window where I thought that was completely the case. Pretty surreal moment. You know, I can't say that I remember every detail of that feeling, but time had passed. I was trying to call people and figure out who could be there, who could be around. My uncle was the first one to arrive at the hospital. And again, the last I heard he was lifeline evacced in a helicopter. He got in a motorcycle crash. They didn't know the extent of the details. He was in the Sierra foothills in northern California, and that's all I knew. Lifeline evacced, unconscious, not breathing. He ended up surviving. He woke up in the hospital. My uncle was there. I end up getting a phone call, and I got the chance to speak to my brother on the phone, and I talked to him, and at first, I mean, I'm just in panic, you know? “Oh my God, he's calling. He's actually alive. Oh my gosh.” I got to get on the phone with him, and he seemed normal, beyond normal. And I had this realization that results matter less than expectations sometimes. If I expected that he was alive, I don't, they would have the same relief. But because I had the thought that he wasn't, that feeling will live within me forever. So, you know, I get the chance, we're talking on the phone. He's actually telling me about my game, and he was so excited to watch him play. Ask him about his day and his accident, what happened. He had no idea, right? When traumatic things happen in your life, sometimes it creates just a blackout. Even before, he didn't remember, you know, sometime before the accident happened. So he couldn't tell you what happened, how it happened, any of those details. But we went back and forth, kind of talking and exchanging a couple laughs, in fact. And I actually got a phone call then from Coach Calhoun who was kind enough to reach out to me just to tell me that, “Hey, you know, Kap, if there's anything we can do, I know there's a lot going on.” When he called me on the phone, it's not typical for a player to just get a rogue phone call from the head coach. So in that moment, I'm on the phone  with my brother, we're laughing, we're enjoying time. It feels normal for all intents and purposes. I think I took it for granted. I think you go from this feeling that he is not with me to he is completely normal, and that dichotomy, that strong polarization of feeling that I had led to, I guess, complacency. I took him for granted in that moment, I perceived, and, you know, if I could have gone back, I never would have answered the phone call. I appreciate and love Coach Calhoun for calling me, but I just would have soaked in that moment with him. And I didn't even think twice, like, “Oh yeah, Kyle, Kyle, I'll call you right back.” I called my brother's name. “I'll call you right back.” He's “OK, no worries. Just call me back. Cool.” Hung up, you know, answer the phone with Coach Calhoun. He was so lovely, just supportive, just saying, “Hey, we're all here for you. Anything you need, just let us know. You, your family. Anything.” You know, wonderful. I go to call my brother back. OK. “Hey. You know, he's asleep.” “OK, no worries.” You know, it's been a long day. He's exhausted. Little did I know that that was the last conversation that I would have with him for a year. He had a stroke. He then was induced into a coma. My brother was in a coma, for, if I remember, right — I don't remember if it was a day, two days, it was a couple of days, and that was the last I spoke to him. And then it was, is he gonna survive? And I just hung up the phone. I did not say “I love you,” which is something I always think that I say to my loved ones, and I didn't say it in that moment, and I'll forever regret that, because I never knew if I'd say it again. And so that was very, very difficult. I was here at the Air Force Academy now, and I was, you know, I guess I was ecstatic after my first start, preparing for my second. And then life came at me quickly. It was, “What am I… I need to go home. I need to be gone.” Process the paperwork for administrative turn back, you know, thankful for people in my life that helped support me in that, namely, Col. Harding, Coach Calhoun, were pivotal. Also Col. Pendry was pivotal in that process for me. But we processed that paperwork and then I called my parents. I'm like, “Hey, I'm coming home. That's what we're doing?” My parents said, “He can't do anything here. He's…” for lack of better word, I hate this term, but he was vegetative. There was no movement, no speaking, there was nothing. So there was nothing I could necessarily do to support them in that exact moment. So my parents were like, “Hey, continue your dreams. That's what he'd want for you right now.” So that's what I did. And I spent the next couple of days still trying to exist and be normal. You know, it was actually near prog, you know, tests are ramping up. I'm pulling all-nighters. I can't sleep. I don't know how he's doing. We end up playing a game the next Saturday against San Diego State, who's actually ranked No. 22 in the country at the time. And it was at home. I dedicated that game, you know, I remember posting something on my Instagram saying, “This game is for my brother, with my brothers.” And so it was kind of that moment I realized that it's OK to play for the name on the front of the jersey and the name on the back of the jersey — both matter. And I'm really thankful we have our names on the back of jersey, because at the end of the day, that's part of the reason we do what we do. It's part of what keeps us motivated. And in that game, things are going up and down. The game was crazy. It was a monsoon. We had a two-hour delay. My parents are watching from the hospital bed, in fact, and I end up blocking a punt in the fourth quarter. And on that play, I snapped my collar bone clean in half and I thought, “OK, maybe I'm just being weak. Let me keep going. I'll keep playing. Try to tough it out.” I kind of play the next series. In fact, I do something that harms our team. I'm not fully there. I'm in a lot of pain. I can't really tackle the right way. Ended up coming to the sideline and I remember telling the coaches that are the medical trainers, I was like, “Hey, I snapped my collarbone.” But he was, “OK, don't be dramatic.” He knows what that looks like when people traditionally do that. He felt under my shoulder pad and was like, “Oh my God!” We're talking nearly compound, like the corner of my bone is up in my trap situation. That moment, life was like, “All right, time to go home.” You know, call it what you want. Call it bigger purpose, whatever that may look like. It was time for me to go home. It was a difficult time. It was a very, very difficult time. And I couldn't be more thankful to have had the opportunity to go home and handle what I needed to handle. Sometimes nothing makes sense until the bones are right. Not to make that pun, right — the bones are right. My collarbone had everything to do with the core of my family. There's no way I could have succeeded in my life as a cadet… when the big things are wrong, none of the little stuff is gonna matter. So had that opportunity. You know, I became my brother's, his word, not mine — he called me his parrot because I knew him so well that I knew what he was thinking and feeling. He didn't speak, my brother, when he got out of the coma. They didn't know if he would speak again. He didn't speak, in fact, until the next the next spring, so not quite a year, but it still wasn't conversational at that point in time. So I was his parrot, as he would say. Yeah, not his parent. My older brother would never let me claim that title. But yeah, I was his words. People would look at him and ask him a question, and he would look at me and give me a demeanor, and I was like, “You know, here's what's going on, here's what he's feeling, thinking, etc.” He doesn't have memory of those about three months of his life, which is pretty surreal to think. So that was a moment that turned my world upside down.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes. I mean, literally, I just, I'm thinking through all of that you shared. It was a series of things that happened. I mean, my goodness, I guess the first question that comes to my mind as I was listening to you and soaking in that story is, how did you change in that moment? Because you went on a phone call, from being on a high to a low, complacent to like — what literally changed in you because of this? Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, the moment that I realized that could be the last conversation I ever had with my brother, I didn't say I love you — that made me never take another moment for granted. And it's the littlest things in life that it's so easy to take for granted. And that's a cliche statement, but genuinely, I don't take for granted the ability to use my right hand. I don't take for granted ability to write my name. My brother can't use his right hand, right? He's my older brother. He turns 30 here in a couple weeks. Actually, he's still working on reading and writing. Those are things we take for granted every single day that I no longer do, and I hate that it came at his expense. I don't believe everything in the world has to happen for a reason. I don't think that he had to go through this at his expense for me to learn these lessons, but I know that I can find a reason for why everything happened, right? I can take a positive away from things about our relationship, about our family, but I don't believe it had to happen at his expense. It happened to happen at his expense. So with that, we have to take in our sphere of influence what is now in my control, something I talk to cadets about all the time. There's a lot of things happening in life. There's a lot of things happening around you that aren't necessarily what you wanted. They're not in your control either. But the reality is, where are you at now? Where are your two feet? And how can you come to play? What can you do with your present resources, your tools, your current situation? And so in those moments, I went home, and my mom would always tell me the Air Force Academy impacted me. I didn't realize it, but in her eyes, my ability to come home and step into the figure that I became for my family in that role, while I didn't feel like it was in shambles, unfortunately, after my brother's accident, a couple weeks later, my grandfather passed to a heart attack. It was just like one thing after the next, between his accident, my injury, and then my grandfather passing. My dad was with his father, now I was with my brother. My mom is trying to provide for our family and still make sure our house doesn't get foreclosed, while also trying to support all of us. And so she's always appreciative of my presence and being able to do that. I'm always thankful that the Air Force Academy supported me in being able to do that, because those moments, I will say, stay with me for the rest of my life, and I never would have been the man that I am if I hadn't had those experiences with him. He then proceeded to live with me for three years in Los Angeles. My brother and I are very, very close. So, again, it happened at his expense and I'll never be grateful for the fact that it took that experience for me to learn these things. So I asked for everybody to hear that story, or hear others like it, and try not to take the loved ones, the people in their life for granted, no matter how big or how small the moment they feel. But also take for granted the ability to do the littlethings you do in your life.   Naviere Walkewicz Talk me through — how did you end up at the Air Force Academy now as one of the management instructors?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, so the GSP slot was with the intention of — the department releases you from your assignment. You do grad school, and I would do one operational assignment, intervening tour, as they like to call it, and then come back to the Academy to teach.   Naviere Walkewicz Talk about when you knew that this was your passion — teaching.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, that started long before. It didn't happen when I was here. I had a teacher that greatly influenced me. His name was Mark Hardy. He was my AP microeconomics teacher in high school. As a 17-year-old, I had never had someone that influenced me so much in terms of, just like the charisma that he had, the consistency, the man that he is every single day. It inspired me to want to be the same for other people's lives. And I think it's easy to not appreciate that, the weight that someone can have, especially as a teacher, right at the high school level, how many lives it's actually impacted. And he had like 240 students that year. He's been there for decades, right?   Naviere Walkewicz And he still made that influence on you, where you felt a connection.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, 100%. And I remember, every single day I came into the classroom, he had music on. He would shake your hand and he knew all of our names. He'd have us all switch seats. Ask my students — to this day, that is still what I do. And every single time there's test, I play The Final Countdown. That came from Mr. Hardy. So, that's my thing. I make them all move seats, know each other, know each other's names. I know all their names on Day 1 when they show up. It really freaks them out at first, but I think it's something special. It says you care. I know in life, people do not care about what you know unless they know how much you care. Another cliche, but my way of doing that is by the first day of class, I shake all their hands and say hello to them by name. They're like, “Have we met?” I'm like, “No, we have, not, but now we have.” And I think that they'll remember my name too, right? And so oftentimes, when you're the teacher, it's easy for them to remember you. It's not as easy for you to remember them. So you make that initiative, you show that that's your intention on Day 1, and it resonates with them. To me, that's a style of leadership. I think it establishes — I look power structures, and there's kind of a couple core power structures. There's five main ones. There's legitimate power. There's like, reward-based power, coercive power, there's expert power, and then there's reverent power. So then the ones I really focus on, I fixate on and I think about all the time, is this idea of expert leadership and reverent power. And this idea is that if you're an expert, people listen to you because you're knowledgeable. That's worth something, to have you on the team, right? You're the expert of a topic. What's even more powerful than that is if someone follows you, believes in your message for the sole purpose that they admire you. There's something about you that exhibits, you know — they see themselves in you. They want to be like you.   Naviere Walkewicz Like you did for your AP economics teacher.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Absolutely. Mark Hardy, he had reverent power to me. He was someone that I looked up to, and now I hope I exhibit some of his traits of caring about people first. If you can show people you really care — you're gonna make mistakes — but if you stay consistent in your path, you have a motivation, you have a North Star that you're going towards and you do so with conviction, early on, you're gonna threaten people. Early on, you're gonna get haters. But as time goes on, as people are looking for that guiding North Star, if you're unwavering in who you are, I do believe people would want to join that train. If your tracks stay true, people eventually look and say, “You know, you get what you expect. What he says is what he does. And I believe it.” And eventually, that's the path that I want to lead others down. And so I think if your morality is guided the right direction, along the way, people are gonna hop off board, but you're gonna get a lot more people joining. And so that reverent power, that true leadership that says if we took the uniform off, this person would have respected you the exact same, that is what I put weight on. It's not a matter of rank. In fact, generally speaking, what is a captain at the Air Force Academy? There's not a lot of legitimate power, right, if we're being frank. So we're not at a normal base around the main squadron where that may be a significant leadership role. So I think that what it comes down to is treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Respect all, fear none.   Naviere Walkewicz Wait, say that again.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Respect all, fear none. And the idea is that I genuinely don't believe I treat a four-degree different than I would treat my boss, who's an O-6. They walk by my office, it's, “Yes ma'am, how can I help?” “Yes sir, how can I help?” You know, “What's going on?” It's absolute respect, but it's not… You know, you're not treating people as though they're different than, less than, etc. They're all the same. If you treat everyone — you have a standard to hold everyone… You know, hold yourself to the level of responsibility that you treat everyone with respect but not fear. I remember sitting down — we actually, you and I… You did the run back from...   Naviere Walkewicz Oh, march back?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila I did the march back. You did the run back with Arden. And I wasn't willing to run at that moment, but I remember we got back and got to go to Mitchell Hall with the basics, and they asked me for a piece of advice. And it sounds too light hearted, but it's just true. You know, the basics, they're being led by our rising two-degrees. Do the rising two-degrees actually believe that they are in a place where they should have that much power over people? They kind of laugh about it. They know, “Whoa, this is weird that I have so much control over human beings.” Here comes the two-degree, which was me, right? I was the 19-year-old. And there I am leading a flight and basic training. It's almost comical to them that they have the ability to do that. So what I told the basics is, I was like, “Hey, guys, just so you know, guys, gals, right? Respect them. Be respectful. Never waver on that, but you don't need to fear them. They too struggle with things. They too have pain, have life happen to them.” And by the way, same with me, I'm a captain. What does that mean? I promoted twice. Woohoo. I promoted twice and didn't get in trouble. I mean, I'm not that different from them, right? They're all gonna graduate from here too. They're gonna end up in the same shoes as I am. So, no, anyway, my perspective is just that I'm a captain. Whoopty doo. I too have things I'm struggling with in my life, that I'm I'm working on every single day, trying to be a better version of myself. So I ask for their respect, but hopefully don't have to ask for it, because I'm already showing them that, reciprocating that. And so I think it becomes a natural state of your existence in the rooms that you're in.   Naviere Walkewicz So I have to ask, have you had a cadet that you've seen or has come to you and basically views you as having that reverent power? Have you had a cadet share a story, or have you actually witnessed someone kind of taking on things that have come from you? Capt. Garrett Kauppila It's a great question. I've had a had an interaction yesterday that meant a lot to me. Incredible, incredible person, leader. And we were talking about, you know, she was preparing for GSP interviews. She's a stellar student. She's a great military leader.   Naviere Walkewicz And what does GSP stand for?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Graduate School Program. We're very creative, as you know, at the Air Force Academy. Graduate School Program, but for the Management Department, which is the same slot that I earned in December of 2019. And so she came in to talk about it, and they're going to teach the department something about leadership, right, about their experience that they're having, and how they would use that experience to reflect on their cadets as if they want to be an instructor. At the end of the day, it's a grad school slot, but we're hiring someone to be our colleagues, right? Work with us to inspire the next generation of cadets. And we sat there and we talked about this idea of how much she cares, and she talked about a story. She was the squadron commander in basic, right? Which is not the flight, but like the whole, the five flights. So she was leading the squadron, and this year — I think it was the first time they actually were six weeks in that role. It wasn't three weeks and then transition. They wanted to create some cohesion.   Naviere Walkewicz OK, so putting a lot of effort and the focus on the sponsor, or excuse me, squadron.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila So the squadron commander and the director of operations stayed for all six weeks of basic. So she was the person for those five flights of basics. That was their leader for the whole six weeks. And she's not a large presence; she's not an intimidating person. But she's a caring, charismatic leader, and because of that, when she says something, people listen and it carries weight. And she told me she came to me because she felt as though I exhibited those same things that she feels within herself. It's funny because sometimes presence, like someone has a larger presence or a smaller presence by stature, they utilize that to try and create coercive power, legitimate power. I try to drop the sword and shield as soon as I meet anybody, right? Try to make it as calm, as comfortable as you can. And so when we were talking about that more, she told me a story that she was actually on the obstacle course trying to do everything with her basics. That's the type of leader she is. She tore her ACL and her basics watched her fall off the equipment in pain and struggle. I was like, “Gosh, were you not thankful that you are a kind, charismatic, caring leader — that's your leadership style?” Because they reciprocated that immediately. Could you imagine if she was just demeaning, demoralizing.   Naviere Walkewicz Right. They'd be like, “Ha ha. She got what…”   Capt. Garrett Kauppila That's how it would feel. It would absolutely feel that way, if that was the way that she led. And she remembers going back, she said she went back to the lightning shelter and sat there with other basics that were broken, and sat down and said, “How are you guys feeling?” They felt out of place. They felt bad. They weren't able to contribute and support their classmates and whatever. She goes, “I get it. I really get it.” You know, it's so easy for us to think we know someone's story, to call someone an F-18 pilot. I don't know if that term existed, right? That idea that you are skipping out of things. Do you really know? Do you really know what's going on? You probably don't. I know I was fresh out of knee surgery, actually, when I showed up to basic training. I  had gotten knee surgery my senior year of high school and it's probably the reason I ended up here. You know, end up, you know, some other things fell by the wayside, and I came to the Air Force Academy. You know, people can say anything they want, but I don't want to connect them to my office to work with me. They say, “Hey, Capt. Kap. Can we do this, this, this, or can we change this class and change this major?” So I can. And sometimes I just want to say, “No, you can't do that.” But instead, I don't, I don't say that. I say, “Why? Why do you want that?” And what I learned by asking why, and asking why again, is there is a root cause of these things. And when we address the root cause, because you actually care enough to ask them, we can actually fix the problem, and we don't need to do any of those things. And so you get to the root of what something, what someone really has going on in their lives, and it's just proven to be so worth it for me. Every single time I get the chance to do it, I've learned that if I can pour a little bit into someone's glass — OK, first of all, don't pour from empty glass if you're empty within yourself, right? Like I was when I left to go home and be with my family — I didn't have energy for everybody else in that moment, trying to pour from empty glass is — that's not a sustainable effort. Fill your glass, make sure your people, your family and yourself are squared away and good to go. At that point when you have an abundance of water in that glass, pour from it, it's the most rewarding thing in the entire world. And I realized this. And you know, I think everything in my life getting up to that point created this, whether it was the highs of life, the opportunities presented to me through the Air Force Academy, through travel, through football, whatever that may have looked like, but then the lows of life that rooted me in gratitude, what I realized is happiness, and this is my little theory, that happiness is a box. I consider it a box of happiness. The amount of happiness you actually feel in your life is the area of that box. So, many people are predicated, they're so focused on raising the ceiling of the box. Raise the top. The problem is, if your gratitude dissipates along the way, the area never increases. So what happens is, oftentimes, people create more opportunities for themselves in their life and they take for granted all the places they've been and all the places they were. And so because of that, the gratitude dissipates as your opportunities increase, you never become happier. And they wonder why it's not so happy at the top and cheery…  Because they weren't rooted in gratitude. If they never leave the ground and they keep the base of their box, in fact, they continue to drive that base of the box down into the ground while they create more opportunities, you will have more height to your box. What about the width   Naviere Walkewicz I was gonna say, what about your gratitude being wider?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Now I've got a long, skinny box, right? That's not a lot of area. This is the people you get to share with, the friends and the family, the people you get to support and give back to. Right? You create opportunity. You root yourself in gratitude so you understand the people to your left and right. And now I believe it's your job to share it with them, expose them to it, so they can increase their opportunities. So they never leave their feet on the ground and they keep their gratitude. My job, I believe in — I'm a utilitarian, right? It's a philosophy concept. Increasing the ultimate world happiness — if there was some world happiness meter, an arbitrary meter in the world, if my actions are going to raise it, I want to do that. If they're going to diminish it, I'm not going to do that. So if it benefits me and hurts five others, I'm not going to do it. But if it benefits five others and it may take time out of my day, that sounds like a win, right? So I realized in every moment I'm with a cadet at a highly adaptable state of their mind — high brain plasticity. They're thinking, they're growing. They don't know quite yet who they are. They haven't lived on their own, haven't cooked their own meals, right? I was the same. I was no different. There was a moment that you realize how precious this moment in time is, they are. And I'm teaching firsties right now. They are about to go create everything that they are. But, I mean, you've met people you haven't seen five years, 10 years, 20 years since graduation. You're such a different person, right? At that time, when the leave the Academy, they really find themselves. So I don't take for granted conversations that I have, the moments I share with them in the classroom. I tell them my gratitude every day: “Thank you for letting me do what I love.” I say that to them almost every single day: “Thanks for allowing me to be here.” They're like, “I have to be here,” but that's not the demeanor that I dress it with, right? So root myself in gratitude and I just pour into them as much as I physically can. Maybe it's selfish of me. In fact, maybe I do it for myself. Think about it this way. I realize that pouring into people actually makes me happy. It really does. So maybe I pour into some people because it makes me happier. What if everyone was that selfish? If they actually knew what makes them happy? How many people go create massive success in their life, but they don't ever give back? And they find out, later on, they create these companies, they see all these things, and then they come back and go, “I really want to give back to my Air Force Academy. I really want to come back and teach in the classroom.” Heck, I remember sitting the NextGen Advisory meeting, you and I were in there with individuals highly successful, far more successful than I, and many of them were saying, “All I want to do is come back to the Academy and teach.” Gosh, what a moment for me to realize and to be introspective on the fact that I can't take this for granted. They can do all these things of all this success. People are oftentimes trying to chase someone on a ladder and try to be like them and have their success. And really, they're just trying to do what I do every day, and they want to do it for free. I get paid to do this job. What a blessing that is. And so those are the moments that help you to sink your — or dig your heels in and say, “I'm here.” Gosh, imagine me as a two-degree. You told me you're gonna get the Air Force Academy teaching the exact subject you want to teach, finance and investments. I bet that's a dream come true. Well, I can't be here now and forget about that, because then I'm gonna miss this moment. I'm gonna move on and wish I had it back. Don't put yourself in that position. Naviere Walkewicz You said something really interesting. It was about — I think it was something to the effect of you can't have something extrinsic, like chasing some kind of like opportunity and make you happy, right? It won't fulfill in like an intrinsic unhappiness or a hole or something. So how do you — how does that translate, I think, as you're helping to lead others and help others to think that way, as they progress? I know you talked about being rooted in gratitude, but is there more to it than the gratitude piece, right? Like, how do you also make sure that you're thinking about the intrinsic pieces? Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, so I think that I have a great opportunity while I'm here. I get the opportunities to work with and see a lot of our recruits coming into the campus, and I get to speak with them and families. Get to see the excitement they have to eventually, one day, hopefully, arrive at the Air Force Academy. I get to work with a lot of cadets every single day, thankful to do it, and I get to see a lot of cadets. Sometimes that attitude changes. The gratitude they once felt, they become skeptical, it becomes challenging. They can't see the forest above the trees. They're caught up in that moment. But I also work with a lot of grads. I'm thankful to work with the Bolt Brotherhood and thankful to work with the NextGen Advisory Council, and have a lot of touch points to our grads. And I've never yet met a grad that is not grateful that they had gone through the Air Force Academy, that they graduated from the Air Force Academy. I've never met one that regretted that experience. I know a lot of recruits that are excited as hell to be here. I know a lot of cadets that are questioning their decisions at times. I know a lot of grads that would do anything to ensure that their loved ones or other people know about the Air Force Academy and what it did for them in their lives. And so what I asked of them is just to reflect back and remember themselves and how excited they were to have the opportunity to earn that appointment to be one of the, you know, 10, perhaps, you know, applications that had the opportunity to say that they were accepted and that they were gonna attend the Air Force Academy. Remember that pride they felt when they got their congressional nomination right? Imagine the feeling that parents feel when they drop them off at IDay, right? All of those feelings, they're real. You can't let them dissipate so quickly. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I mean, Kap, this has been amazing. There's a couple more questions I want to ask you. The first one is, because you're so passionate, and obviously you take care of yourself, how do you how do you feel your glass every day so that you can pour into others? What does that look like?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, for me, I have to stay busy. And that's the part of me that, you know, when I was younger, I was smaller, I think that's never changed. I have to remain busy. I tell people all the time, if they apply — because we've all had that experience of leaving the Air Force Academy and realizing, “Wait the people at the Air Force Academy are really fantastic. There are such high-quality people, intellectually, emotionally. In all ways. You go into society, it can be a little sobering, a little like, “ Whoa. We are not the Air Force Academy anymore. These people don't operate on the same frequency." That's not within our service, that's just in life, that's going around day to day. So I tell cadets all the time, “You have proven yourself that you can do this. You can commit to your goals. You can complete these long hours, these long days. Life will only get easier in terms of your time commitments.” Now, kids and things like that could change that, but at the end of the day, they prove themselves they can do it. I challenge them to continue on that trajectory when they graduate — not to let off the gas and continue to find things that actually make them passionate. OK, it's so easy for me to wake up every day with this passion, with this desire to do what I do because I love what I do. It doesn't feel like work. So biggest things for me in order to stay ahead, whether that be health, whether that be my sleep, whether that be my accomplishments, whatever it may look like — your leadership ability — I have to wake up and accomplish something. Wake up in your day and accomplish a task. I like waking up before everyone else. I did start doing that as a cadet; I'd finish ball practice and realize I have no mental capacity. I cannot do homework. It is 8 p.m. and I'm exhausted. So what did I do when I was exhausted? I went to bed. I put on my eye mask, my earplugs and slept like little baby angels, right? My hands crossed over my chest, right? And people always make fun of me. “Why are you always in bed at 8 p.m.” “Well, why are you always in bed when it's 4 a.m.?” What I realized was there's a time of day that no one can schedule anything on my schedule. No one's scheduling anything from 4 to 7. Just the reality. So if you wake up early in the morning and you accomplish tasks, now, I'm not getting up at 4 in the morning, usually it's about 5, but I accomplish tasks early in my day. I get ahead of my day, and I prioritize fitness, I prioritize my health, I prioritize my sleep. We can't possibly learn, lead, network, meet people, accomplish. I mean, we're gonna get injured. We're not helping ourselves.   Naviere Walkewicz For less money, though, we can do an eye mask, because I also sleep with an eye mask. It's a game changer. Capt. Garrett Kauppila Read reviews on Amazon. Like is this easy stuff, right? I love classical conditioning, the idea that earplugs, eye mask mean sleep; earplugs, eye mask means sleep. Eventually you put in your ear plugs, your eye mask, whatever does your body do? It goes to sleep. Your brain turns off and stops thinking, because that's your routine. So I go to bed early, I wake up early, and I love to accomplish tasks early on in my day. By the time I arrive in the classroom, we're a couple hours in, right? The brain is operating. We're fully awake. We're ready to go. So I challenge people, if they want to achieve more in their life, they need to learn how to achieve more in a day, and once you learn how to achieve more in a day, learn how to achieve more in a week. And now can you make it sustainable. Some people have — they're 75 hard. They can do these things for a period of time. Their new year's resolutions — we love the gym in January, the first week of January. March…   Naviere Walkewicz Everyone gets the gym back.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah. And then all of a sudden, the gym is empty by February, right? You know how that goes. So it's like, do you actually mean this, or do you think that you want to do it? So I think if you can accomplish — learn how to accomplish more in one day, do it again the next day, and then repeat it the next day. But in order to do that, you have to be pursuing something that is yours. It can't because my family wants me to. It'll never be sustainable. It can't because someone else thinks it. It can't because I saw it on the internet. It has to be because Naviere Walkewicz wants to do this right. She wants to do this for her life. And so Kap wants to be this person. I want to strive for more and be the best version of myself. My mom tucked me into bed every single night when I was a little kid, you know — 4-year-old, 5-year-old — and she always said, “Hey, Garrett, the only thing you can do is be the best person you can be.” That's all you can do. That's your sphere of influence. So I try my best to be the best person I can be every day. That way I can be consistent, and people can always look to me and know what you see is what you get. You know that if I hop on the call, if I show up in the classroom, you know exactly what you're gonna get from me. I'm not gonna waver on that, and I think that's worth a lot so that someone can look to you and be admired by you, and hopefully you can exhibit reverent power. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I would ask you, what would you recommend to others and what they can do to be better leaders every day? But it sounds like you might give them the same example you just gave, because you're gonna practice what you preach. Is there anything else you might offer then for our — I mean, you do this with the cadets regularly, but just for anyone listening as they're trying to develop themselves as a leader or be a better, more reverent leader. What else might you offer that they can do each day themselves just to turn that dial a little bit? Capt. Garrett Kauppila Find who you really are. You can read all the books. You can read all the headlines. You can hear from me right now. You can hear from everyone else in this podcast. But if it's not you, it won't be true. You won't be able to make it sustainable. It won't be consistent. You will not be able to replicate those actions. OK, I love football so I love football analogies. You can be Nick Saban and Bill Belichick and have success by not being a player's coach or being a little rough around the edges. Or you can be Sean McVeigh and Dabo Swinney, who, if you don't know any of those people, they are younger in personality and in age. They have handshakes with their players, that's who they are trying to be. Don't try to be the other one, though. If Nick Saban tried to be cool with his players and have handshakes, now you're fake. Now you're just fake. Either one can prove to be successful, but you need to find who you are. And so if you don't know who you are, stop telling other people who they are, right? You have time to go. Your glass isn't full yet. Stop pouring it out. Right? Fill this thing at the top. Doesn't mean be selfish. It's the most selfless thing you could ever do is to pour into yourself, fill your glass so you have an abundance to give to others. If you give yourself a full glass and learn how to make it, you know, replenishing — this is some… we're talking like Red Robin fries here, like truly bottomless glass that we can pour from…   Naviere Walkewicz Do you eat Red Robin fries?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila I actually have not. But I'm not opposed to eating unhealthy in there, right? It's all aboutcalorie deficits. I just gotta work out more, I guess. But anyway, so my point is, if you don't know who you are, go find that first. That's the most important thing. Naviere Walkewicz How do they start? What's the first step in that? Because you just said you can read all the books, but if you're not this person, that's not you. How do you find out who you are?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila You find out who you are by finding out what you actually care about. Learn what you really care about. Think about the times you're at peace. Think about the moment, if you could do anything in the world, money didn't matter, what would you be doing? OK, it sounds really cliche. The reason I teach finance, I teach investments, is to provide I believe that finance is a tool to allow you to be happy. I would never subsidize happiness for money. I believe that you have your finances together and they're squared away, and you are investing properly, doing all those things to take care of you, your life, your family, your stability. You can be present where your feet are, and you can make decisions based off what you really want to do. If you find what it is that you are passionate about, we'll find a way to monetize it later. I truly believe that. I think that we have a role for everyone in this life. Whatever it is that you really care about, find a way to be the best at it. Stop being complacent with being, you know, average. I don't care what it is, I don't care what your job is. Be the best at it, and you will find a way to monetize it. This is a silly story, but I learned so much from it. There was an individual who reached out. He's a content creator, does videography. I actually don't remember the gentleman's name, but he was reaching out every single day to Tyreek Hill. He wanted to video — now, Tyreek Hill is not someone we'll resemble for leadership qualities. That is not what I'm saying in this conversation. However, he was reaching out to Tyreek Hill because he's his biggest fan and he wanted to film videos, take videos of Tyreek Hill to create cool content videos, hype videos, etc. One day, Tyreek Hill's manager saw the message and told him, he said, “I'll come out for free. I will come out for free and do this for you.” What I learned in my life, throughout my time so far, and I have so much more to learn as I go forward, is if you're willing to invest yourself for free, the person that does more than they're paid for will soon be paid for more than they do. If you are willing to put yourself out there and prove to others that they need you, once they realize they want you, now you can charge them for it. So, what he did is say, “I'll come out for free on my dime.” Nothing to it. “Well, OK, sure. This guy wants him out for free and work with me and create videos for me. It sounds fantastic.” Well, then he does such a good job, he's like, “I want to hire you.” Oh, well, now it's gonna cost you, right? That individual ended up being contacted by the NFL because Tyreek Hill took his phone out of his hand, did it back up with him, created one of the coolest videos ever seen on, you know, terms of a game day touchdown celebration. That individual has now gone on to make tons and tons of money. He runs a company. Only happened like two years ago. The point in that story is he offered himself for free to show off his talents, but first you have to invest in yourself. You have to get great at something. Get great at something. Figure out what it is you really want to do and offer yourself for free. And once people realize that they want you, now you can charge them for it. Charlie Jackson, football coach, Air Force Academy grad, Class of 2000. He told me stories in Los Angeles Air Force Base. He was at Los Angeles Air Force Base. His dream was to coach in the NFL. He wanted to coach at the highest levels. And you can go coach a high school, get paid a little bit of money, and then spend decades to work your way up. Now that wasn't what Coach Jackson wanted to do. So he offered to be a free intern at UCLA. “I'm gonna work for free.” And he happened to just sit next to a couple of unpaid interns, one named Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the 49ers. The other is the current GM for the Washington Commanders. Those were the three unpaid interns in UCLA's office. Well, he offered himself for free. He tried to show him that they needed him. Once they realized they wanted him, now, they needed to hire him. He ended up on a quick path coaching at the Atlanta Falcons. He's now coached many other places here. He's now come back to Air Force. How do they always come back to Air Force? It's because they love it here. Something about this place is special. The same reason you're back here, same reason I am too. So I really, I really challenge everyone to find what is their truly love and find a way to be the best at that. Whatever it may be, there's a way to monetize it. Naviere Walkewicz This is amazing. Was there anything that we didn't touch on today that you want to share with our listeners?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Thank you. I appreciate it.   Naviere Walkewicz Thank you. Thank you.   Naviere Walkewicz As we wrap up today's conversation, I keep coming back to Kap's reminder, don't take for granted the things that matter most. That lesson first struck him in the hardest way when he thought he lost his brother, and it's become the driving force behind how he lives and leads today. Kat also shared another truth worth carrying with us be the best version of yourself, not someone else's version of you. That conviction shows up in how he teaches cadets, how he respects others, regardless of rank, and how he purchase every day with passion and gratitude. So here's the takeaway, Leadership isn't about chasing titles or timelines. It's about showing up authentically, valuing every moment and lifting up the people around you. The question we can all ask ourselves today is, what or who am I taking for granted, and how can I choose to lead with more gratitude and authenticity, starting right now. Thank you for joining us for this edition of lovely leadership. If Cap's story resonated with you please share it with someone who might need it and don't forget to subscribe, you'll find longer leadership on all your favorite podcast platforms we don't want you to miss what's ahead this season. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99.   KEYWORDS Leadership, gratitude, authenticity, adversity, Air Force Academy, personal growth, mentorship, self-discovery, resilience, life lessons.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation      

This episode features Chris Inglis, former U.S. National Cyber Director and longtime Deputy Director of the NSA.With over 40 years in national security, Chris was at the center of one of the most high-stakes breaches in U.S. history: the Edward Snowden incident.In this episode, Chris shares what really happened inside the NSA during those critical months, and how siloed systems, password sharing, and missed signals allowed Snowden to operate undetected. He unpacks key lessons on preparing for low-probability, high-impact events, defending against identity misuse, and why trust must always come with verification.This is a behind-the-scenes look at the Snowden breach, and what every cybersecurity leader needs to learn from it.Guest Bio  Chris served as the first national cyber director of the United States, and as deputy director of the NSA for eight years. Chris has spent more than four decades in public service shaping the future of national cybersecurity.His career includes serving as a commissioner on the US Cyberspace, solarium Commission, and as as an advisor to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Chris has received numerous honors for his service, including the President's National Security Medal and the DNI distinguished service medal.A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, he holds advanced degrees in engineering and computer science from Columbia University and the George Washington University. His military career includes over 30 years in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard, retiring as a brigadier general. Most recently, he served as a U.S. Naval Academy Looker Distinguished Visiting Professor for cyber studies and as a commissioner on the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission.Guest Quote " The thing that you practice, whether it's one or a million things you're going to practice will never happen, but the thing that does will be informed by the muscle memory you've developed over that practice period. And you'll know that you either can or cannot weather the storm with your own resources.”Time stamps 01:29 The Snowden Incident: A Deep Dive 06:07 NSA's Internal Challenges and Lessons Learned 07:29 Organizational Silos and Technical Blind Spots 13:42 Crisis Management and Response Strategies 16:56 Public Perception and Trust 23:22  Misunderstandings of Snowden's Allegations 28:15 Lessons from the Snowden Incident 29:44 Cybersecurity in the Business World 29:57 How the Snowden Incident Reshaped NSA's Threat Monitoring 36:49 Strategic and Tactical Approaches to Security 42:35 Final Thoughts and TakeawaysSponsor Identity Breach Confidential is brought to you by Semperis, the leader in identity-driven cyber resilience for the hybrid enterprise. Trusted by the world's leading businesses, Semperis protects critical Active Directory environments from cyberattacks, ensuring rapid recovery and business continuity when every second counts. Visit semperis.com to learn more.Links Connect with Jeff on LinkedInDon't miss future episodesRegister for HIP Conf 2025Learn more about Semperis

Born and raised in Colorado Springs and growing up on the U.S. Air Force Academy base, Nicole Nicoletta has always had deep roots in the community. With a passion for connecting people through the arts, she took on roles in music and film. Nicole now runs the Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival – the longest running women's film festival in North America. Tune into this episode to learn why she encourages everyone to catch at least one film screening, and how the power of a film could even change your life. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss our next episode! Send any questions or inquiries to Media@VisitCOS.com.  Episode links:  @RMWFilm RMWFilm.org VisitCOS.com/areas

In this groundbreaking interview, retired U.S. Air Force test pilot Dan Isbell breaks 45 years of silence on his close-range UAP encounters, including a pivotal 1980 sighting at Upper Heyford that aligns with the Rendlesham Forest incident—often called England's Roswell. With a career spanning over 70 aircraft types, from F-111s carrying nuclear payloads to U-2s at the edge of space, Isbell offers a credible, engineering-grounded perspective on anomalous craft that defy known physics.Major themes explored include: Isbell's first UAP sighting—a silent, triangular craft with plasma-like lights hovering instantaneously, observed near nuclear storage sites. Subsequent encounters involving directed beams, expanding plasma orbs, and tracking phenomena, raising questions about non-human intelligence. Deeper implications for fringe science, including plasma cosmology, zero-point energy, and challenges to mainstream physics like Big Bang theory and gravity-centric models. Connections to remote viewing, reverse engineering, black projects, and consciousness, blending high-level aviation stories with revelatory insights.00:00 Intro 03:26 Aviation Career Beginnings 10:34 F-111 Missions & Terrain Following Radar 19:15 F-16 Blocks & Functional Check Flights 30:26 U-2 Challenges & High-Altitude Flights 41:27 Directed Energy Weapons & Pentagon Roles 57:54 Upper Heyford & Alert Duties 64:58 The 1980 Upper Heyford UAP Sighting 76:21 Rendlesham Forest Connection 87:25 Subsequent UAP Encounters 97:39 Plasma Cosmology & Fringe Science 112:49 Tracking, Disclosure & Final Thoughts Watch Professor Simon's Dan Isbell take here:    • Dan Isbell - Kept UFO Secret - 45 Years  Chris Lehto is a former F-16 pilot with 18 years of experience in the Air Force. He managed multi-million dollar simulator contracts, was an Electronic Attack SME for the Aggressors (OPFOR), and commanded the US Detachment at TLP for NATO Fighter Pilot Training. Chris fought in Iraq for 5 months in 2006. He spent 3 years in Turkey as an exchange pilot and is fluent in Turkish. Chris is also a certified crash safety investigator, having investigated Air Force accidents for four years. Lehto has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry-Materials Science from the Air Force Academy and a Master's in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle University. He was stationed in various locations worldwide, including South Korea, Italy, Alaska, Turkey, and Spain. Lehto's YouTube channel, "Lehto Files," focuses on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) research, future tech insights, and sharing knowledge. His approach is scientific and aims to illuminate these phenomena and provide informative content. He also shares his expertise on aviation safety and accident analysis. Lehto believes in the power of open dialogue and the importance of a censor-free internet. Lehto covers a range of topics, including: • Analysis of aviation accidents, such as the collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. • Identification of drones, drawing on his Air Force security forces experience. • Insights into Alternate Physics - promoting his Fractal Holographic Universe Theory • Discussions of UAPs and related topics. • Insights into space exploration, including his experience at the launch of SpaceX's Starship SN25.Join this channel for exclusive access:    / @chrislehtof16  Follow on social X: https://x.com/LehtoFilesTikTok:   / lehtofiles  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...Instagram:   / reels  Support the channel and get exclusive content at   / chrislehto  Invest in UAP Society NFTs! https://opensea.io/collection/uapeezSharing my referral link for when you order your Tesla. You'll get 500 € off the purchase of a Tesla product. https://www.tesla.com/referral/christ...Donate eth to: chrislehto.eth full ETH address is 0x26E3c9b2A5E5b6B7FB54f5F0120B0E4840EB7B24Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lehto-files-investigating-uaps--5990774/support.

Colonel James "Fangs" Valpiani knows a thing or two about flight test because he's seen a thing or two: first an Air Force Academy graduate, then a combat-tested F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, a graduate of the French Test Pilot School, and most recently Commodore of the USAF TPS.On this episode, Fangs shares his expertise on the various schools he has attended or led and the aircraft they test, including the X-62 VISTA.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations

Utah State football coach Bronco Mendenhall joined DJ & PK to talk about the Aggies' win over the Air Force Academy and how they have found their way to a 2-1 start.

Retired Brigadier General Christopher S. “Mookie” Walker joins Mike Shanley to discuss U.S. and allied readiness in the Arctic and Antarctic, the evolving role of the National Guard, and the future of America's service academies. The conversation covers NATO's approach to polar security, how industry can better engage with Guard modernization and appropriations, and the innovative resilience training programs shaping force readiness for the next generation of warfighters RESOURCES: https://www.defenceiq.com/events-arcticsecurity/speakers  https://www.ngaus.org/about-ngaus/board-directors-committees/corporate-advisory-panel/corporate-advisory-panel-information  https://www.patriotgroup.company/  https://evenpulse.com/ https://starrs.us/  https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/04/what-are-chinas-long-term-antarctic-ambitions.html BIOGRAPHY: Brig Gen (Ret) Christopher S. Walker was the Assistant Adjutant General and Commander of the West Virginia Air National Guard. The West Virginia Air National Guard has over 2,100 members and consists of two flying units, the 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston, West Virginia, and the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg, West Virginia. General Walker's former federal dual assignment was ANG Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Manpower and Reserve Affairs. General Walker began his Air Force officer career as a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He served as a C-130 navigator in tactical airlift squadrons throughout the world, flying combat operations into the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In 1997, General Walker left active duty to join the Air National Guard and serve as a C-130H3 evaluator navigator, and has commanded at the squadron, group, and JTF level. He served as civil aviation advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation with the Coalition Provisional Authority. He has served as the ANG Deputy Director of Air and Space Operations. In 2019, he served as Dual-Status Commander of Joint Task Force- World Scout Jamboree (JTF-WSJ), commanding approximately 1000 soldiers, airmen, sailors, and DoD civilians charged with security, logistics, medical, and aviation support of over 45,000 Scouts and support staff from over 150 countries operating in Glen Jean, WV. General Walker was the inaugural recipient of the West Virginia “Trailblazer Award” for exhibiting a life of excellence. He served as an expert witness for Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) in their lawsuit against the U.S. Naval Academy against race-based admissions criteria. He was also a 2024 GOP candidate the West Virginia 2nd Congressional District primary. LEARN MORE: Thank you for tuning into this episode of the GovDiscovery AI Podcast with Mike Shanley. You can learn more about working with the U.S. Government by visiting our homepage: Konektid International and GovDiscovery AI. To connect with our team directly, message the host Mike Shanley on LinkedIn. https://www.konektid.com/  https://www.govdiscoveryai.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gov-market-growth/ 

Send us a textPeaches and Aaron are back swinging at the nonsense. From Special Warfare's assessment model to Air Force Academy cadets racking up predatory loans, this episode rips into leadership fails, lazy commanders who hand out paperwork like candy, and the lost art of spot corrections. We go from stories of LOCs, LORs, and mustache games with Rangers, to watching Army football drop a quarter million dollars just to get smoked by Tarleton State. Oh, and Peaches gets dragged through camp in just a towel because Rangers can't handle beards. Add in college football meltdowns, fantasy league punishments, and some blistering hot takes on what “leadership” actually means—you've got a mix of cringe, comedy, and brutal honesty that only Ones Ready delivers.⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro & Special Warfare assessment truth bombs 01:15 – Operator Training Summit Nashville & gear talk 03:10 – Booties in the pool: stop training slick 04:45 – AOCs gone wild with paperwork 07:00 – Progressive discipline vs lazy leadership 10:20 – Why real mentorship beats LOR inflation 12:50 – Spot corrections, life problems, and actually helping airmen 17:30 – Setting boundaries and predictable leadership 23:10 – Smoke sessions, “don't tell dad,” and better discipline tools 25:30 – Peaches' LOC story that turned his career around 29:30 – Pushing boundaries vs working the system 33:00 – Rangers, beards, and the towel walk of shame 36:00 – Mustache game rules and how to win (or lose) 40:00 – Always rebuttal your paperwork (and call ADC, not your buddy) 41:30 – The insane $416K Academy disenrollment bill 47:00 – The infamous Manitou Incline & OTS candidate pain fest 54:00 – Army football pays $250K to lose to Tarleton State 56:10 – Air Force uniforms: actually fire this year 01:02:00 – Bama gets stomped, SEC fan tears taste delicious 01:03:50 – Peaches unveils the Fantasy Loser Belt 01:04:55 – Wrap up & call-to-actions

When I first connected with Jason Trew (callsign: TOGA), I knew this conversation would challenge some assumptions about where design thinking belongs. Jason is an Air Force fighter pilot and strategy leader turned professor. What emerged from our conversation wasn't just another story about design thinking adoption, but a deeper exploration of what he sees happening when we distinguish between capital-D Design Thinking and lowercase-d design thinking, and why that distinction matters for everyone trying to create meaningful change. Jason's journey from F-15 pilot to design educator reveals something crucial about how design thinking transforms not just what we do, but who we become as problem solvers. His work with thousands of Air Force officers, his deployment experiences in classified operations centers, and his current role (*at the time of recording) teaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) offer unique insights into how design thinking functions when the stakes are genuinely high. Listen to Learn About: What's the critical difference between capital-D Design Thinking and lowercase-d design thinking, and why does this distinction matter for practitioners? How can design thinking principles function effectively in highly structured, high-stakes environments where traditional approaches dominate? What role does psychological safety ("feeling safe, supported, and stretched in meaningful ways") play in enabling creative problem-solving? How do we balance the need for systematic approaches with the emergent, integrative nature of actual design work? When should leaders prioritize conditioning people into a "ready stance" versus teaching specific design methods? Our Guest Col Jason "TOGA" Trew (US Air Force, retired) represents a fascinating intersection of military leadership, academic rigor, and design practice. After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy and flying F-15s, Jason spent his final military decade revolutionizing how the Air Force approaches strategy education and leadership development. He earned a PhD in the history of technology, served as Dean and Vice Commandant of the Air Force Leadership School, and led design teams for Space Force education initiatives. Now a Professor of Design* Management at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Jason brings a unique perspective on what happens when design thinking meets organizational realities where failure isn't an option. (*At the time of recording.) Episode Highlights [02:10] Jason's journey from F-15 fighter pilot to design educator through strategy school and a PhD in technology history [03:30] Discovery of a book dedicated to Icarus as hero rather than cautionary tale, sparking interest in playfulness complementing practicality [04:20] How design thinking became curriculum at Air Force Leadership School serving 4,000 students annually [05:10] Jason's certification in Lego Serious Play for facilitating innovation sprints and strategic thinking workshops [07:20] The crucial distinction between capital-D Design Thinking and lowercase-d design thinking [09:00] Capital-D focuses on activities and checklists; lowercase-d develops embodied sensibility for knowing what to do next [11:40] Design thinking as conditioning people into a ready stance for handling surprise rather than teaching linear processes [13:00] Why Jason believes design thinking changes the people involved, with problem-solving as bonus rather than primary goal [14:40] How design thinking shifts perception to see multiple options beyond binary choices [15:30] Jason's approach to ambiguous assignments that allows students to surprise him with creative solutions [17:30] Learning design principles that avoid constraining student intelligence for the sake of rigid academic standards [18:50] Design thinking's spillover effects on leadership and education beyond formal design practice [22:40] Design thinking as fundamentally human activity connected to living well and building better communities [25:10] Coffee shop door story illustrating how design changes your eyes to see problems everywhere [26:40] Design as integrative discipline that's undisciplined in the best academic sense [28:40] Framework of design as expedient - practical, opportunistic, and contextual rather than optimal [30:00] Why expedient design requires ethical sensibility to guide this human superpower responsibly [32:30] Jason's faith that if we designed current systems, we can design something better [36:40] Deployment story of creating psychological safety in classified military operations center [38:30] Using Lego as thermoplastic polymer strategic thinking tool to overcome initial skepticism [39:00] Daily check-ins asking team members if they feel safe, supported, and stretched in meaningful ways [41:10] Danger of treating organizational roles as reality rather than abstractions of actual people [43:30] Failed redesign of Air Force Leadership School and lessons about empathy work threading through entire processes [46:00] Dawan's diagnostic questions about organizational readiness and past innovation attempts [48:30] Strategy for identifying key voices—influencers, critics, curmudgeons, and creators—in organizations [49:00] Power of storytelling as diagnostic tool and method for strategic thinking [50:40] Interest in story casting and narrative intelligence using physical artifacts like Lego Serious Play [51:00] Connection to UN Principles for Responsible Management Education and sustainable development goals [52:40] Jason's call for partnership in bringing design skills to local and systemic governance challenges Questions to Help You Go Deeper Learning What surprised you most about Jason's distinction between capital-D and lowercase-d design thinking, and how does this change your understanding of design thinking's role in organizations? Which aspects of Jason's "expedient" framework for design seem most valuable for your context — the practical, opportunistic, or contextual elements? How does Jason's experience with ambiguous assignments challenge your current approach to giving direction or defining success criteria? Leading Where in your organization would Jason's "safe, supported, and stretched in meaningful ways" framework create the most value for team performance? How might you help your team understand the difference between learning design methods and developing a design sensibility? What would success look like if you implemented Jason's approach to activating the full diversity already present in your team? Applying What's one small experiment you could run next week with leaving an assignment or challenge more open-ended? Which current organizational challenge could you address by focusing on conditioning people's "ready stance" rather than teaching them specific methods? How could you adapt Jason's storytelling diagnostic approach to better understand your team's readiness for change? Practicing How will you build the habit of distinguishing between roles/responsibilities (abstractions) and the full capabilities of people in those roles? What support or resources do you need to practice Jason's approach of setting conditions rather than controlling outcomes? Who could you partner with to practice the kind of empathy work Jason describes as threading through entire processes? Resources Books We Discussed Experiencing Design - Jason's top recommendation for understanding how activities yield experiences that yield ways of being in the world. Liedtka, Jeanne, Karen Hold, and Jessica Eldridge. Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey. Columbia Business School Publishing, 2021. Creating Wicked Students - About giving students practice with authority and ambiguity in classroom settings. Hanstedt, Paul. Creating Wicked Students: Designing Courses for a Complex World. Stylus Publishing, 2018. Tools We DiscussedLego Serious Play - Certification and facilitation methods for strategic thinking workshops The Archipelago of Design - Security professionals using design approaches.  COM-B Behavior Change Model - Capability, Opportunity, Motivation framework for behavior change. Michie, Susan, et al. "The Behaviour Change Wheel: A New Method for Characterising and Designing Behaviour Change Interventions." Implementation Science, vol. 6, no. 1, 2011, pp. 1-12. Keep LearningResearch Nigel Cross and Bryan Lawson's work on how designers think.  Cross, Nigel. Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. Academic Press, 2011. Lawson, Bryan. How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified. 4th ed., Architectural Press, 2005. Explore participatory design and co-creation methodologies. Schuler, Douglas, and Aki Namioka, editors. Participatory Design: Principles and Practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1993. Simonsen, Jesper, and Toni Robertson, editors. Routledge International Handbook of Participatory Design. Routledge, 2013. Investigate narrative intelligence Mateas, Michael, and Phoebe Sengers, editors. Narrative Intelligence. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003. (Advances in Consciousness Research, vol. 46) UN Principles for Responsible Management Education and sustainable development goals. United Nations Global Compact. Principles for Responsible Management Education. UN Global Compact Office, 2007. Deepen Your Learning Design Council UK + Systemic Design + Design in Government with Cat Drew — DT101 E78 Complements Jason's insights about bringing design to structured environments Cognitive Bias + Ethics + Dreaming the Future of Design with David Dylan Thomas — DT101 E112 Works with this episode to understand different approaches to design education Instructional Design + Adult Learning Experiences with Holly Owens — DT101 E134 Builds on Jason's themes about creating conditions for creative problem-solving

In this episode, we sit down with Chef Ken Butler, Executive Chef at Hotel Polaris, to explore the art of hospitality, the evolution of food and beverage trends, and the behind-the-scenes dedication that makes guest experiences unforgettable. From rooftop sushi to locally sourced Colorado flavors, Chef Ken shares his insights on how culinary innovation and health-conscious choices are shaping the future of dining.Topics covered in this episode:The rise of health-conscious dining: cutting seed oils & prioritizing natural ingredientsHotel Polaris' six diverse food & beverage outlets (from rooftop Aviator Bar to Pamela's Americana restaurant)Creative dishes blending sushi, steak, and fresh seafoodCulinary connections to the Air Force Academy and community engagementThe “Polaris Pour” program: bourbon, tequila, wine, gin, and more signature tasting eventsWatch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kDmybYEqVSA Join the conversation on today's episode on The Modern Hotelier LinkedIn pageThe Modern Hotelier is produced, edited, and published by Make More MediaLinks:Ken on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-butler-687939a0/Hotel Polaris | A Colorado Springs Hotel: https://www.thehotelpolaris.com/For full show notes head to: https://themodernhotelier.com/episode/209Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...Connect with Steve and David:Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E...David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mil.

Ltt Gen. Marc Sasseville was born into an Air Force family and that played a significant role in his decision to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy and become an Air Force officer. After 14 years on active duty, Sasseville shifted to the Air National Guard in 1999 and also became a commercial airline pilot.On September 11, 2001, Sasseville was serving with the 113th Wing of the District of Columbia Air National Guard at Andrews Air Force base when Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners. Once the second plane struck the World Trade Center, Sasseville and everyone else on base knew it was a terrorist attack. But would there be more planes? And would they be headed for Washington, D.C.?In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Gen. Sasseville tells how that day unfolded. He explains what development required pilots in the D.C. Air National Guard to scramble their F-16's and be ready to confront any other other planes being flown by terrorists. But they had a big problem. None of their F-16's were armed with missiles and there was no time to wait for that. The reality soon hit home: if they needed to stop an airliner, they'd have to hit it with their own planes. If that was required, they would not be coming home.Sasseville takes us through his thinking on the most effective way to strike an airliner with an F-16. Ultimately, that would not be necessary due to the heroism of the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93. Sasseville honors them and he tells us what it was like flying near the Pentagon not long after it was attacked.He also reveals the unexpected assignment he received later in that day on 9/11 and details his time as commander of the 410th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron in the early days of the Iraq War. Finally, he reflects upon what was really asked of him on 9/11 and his instinctive willingness to put his life on the line to protect our nation.

In this episode, we sit down with Curtis Bova, General Manager of Hotel Polaris in Colorado Springs, located right outside the U.S. Air Force Academy. Curtis shares the inspiring journey behind the hotel's creation, its deep-rooted connection to the Academy, and how it has become a true neighbor within the local community.From its mid-century modern design inspired by the Academy to the service philosophy built on integrity, service, and excellence, Hotel Polaris stands as a one-of-a-kind property. Curtis reflects on the challenges, history, and vision that brought this project to life after decades in the making.What you'll hear in this episode:The special connection between Hotel Polaris and the U.S. Air Force Academy.How 9/11 shaped the vision for the hotel and visitor center.The hotel's design philosophy rooted in mid-century modern architecture.Behind-the-scenes stories of a project nearly two decades in the making.How Hotel Polaris is building a reputation for excellence and modern luxury.This conversation is a deep dive into hospitality, community, and vision—showing what it means to create not just a hotel, but an experience that embodies pride, service, and connection.Watch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mwKrQlkkPpE Join the conversation on today's episode on The Modern Hotelier LinkedIn pageThe Modern Hotelier is produced, edited, and published by Make More MediaLinks:GM Curtis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtis-bova-3bb1828/CoralTree Hospitality: https://www.coraltreehospitality.com/For full show notes head to: https://themodernhotelier.com/episode/206Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...Connect with Steve and David:Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E...David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mil.

People matter more than position, and leadership starts with taking care of others. Doing that right means a million acts. SUMMARY Those are lessons Lt. Col. Steven “Meathead” Mount '08 shares with listeners in the Season 4 premier of Long Blue Leadership. For Col. Mount, becoming a pilot was a major milestone, but becoming a husband and father had the biggest impact. Don't wait, listen today and become a better leader tomorrow.   SHARE THIS PODCAST FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   COL. MOUNT'S TOP LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Adoption shaped my understanding of support and love. Leadership is about lifting others to achieve their best. Mentorship plays a crucial role in personal and professional growth. Balancing family and career is a continuous challenge. It's important to have tough conversations as a leader. Resilience is key to overcoming setbacks in life and career. Listening more than talking is essential for effective leadership. Recognizing the importance of support systems can enhance leadership effectiveness. Leadership is defined by consistent, everyday actions. The military community thrives on teamwork and mutual support.   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Leadership Lessons 06:43 The Impact of Adoption on Leadership 14:53 Navigating Challenges at the Academy 22:49 Career Path and Opportunities in Aviation 33:31 Balancing Family and Military Career 44:18 Continuous Improvement as a Leader     ABOUT COL. MOUNT BIO Lt. Col. Steven “Meathead” Mount is a decorated officer in the United States Air Force with a career marked by leadership, operational excellence, and a deep commitment to mentoring the next generation. A command pilot with thousands of flight hours, he has served in a variety of demanding roles across multiple aircraft and theaters, bringing a wealth of experience in both combat and peacetime operations. Beyond the cockpit, Lt. Col. Mount is widely recognized for his ability to lead diverse teams through complex challenges, foster innovation, and develop leaders at every level. His career reflects not only technical expertise but also a people-first leadership philosophy that emphasizes accountability, resilience, and service. Known by his call sign “Meathead,” he brings both humility and humor to the serious business of leading Airmen. His story is one of dedication to mission and country, but also of shaping culture, inspiring others, and leaving a lasting impact on the Air Force community.   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Lt. Col. Steven Mount '08  |  Host, Lt. Col. Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz Welcome to the first episode of Season 4 of Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. We're kicking off this season with a story that shows how our earliest experiences can shape the kind of leaders we become. Lt. Col. Steve Mount, Class of 2008, call sign “Meathead,” didn't fully realize that truth until later in life. Adopted as an infant, he came to understand that love and support aren't guaranteed. They're gifts. Over his 17-year career, Col. Mount has flown missions across a wide range of aircraft, from the C-130 to special operations to the U-2. And today, he's in command. But through every stage, one belief has stayed with him: People succeed not only through their own efforts, but because someone believed in them. In this conversation, we'll talk about how those early lessons have shaped criminal mom's approach to leading airmen, mentoring the next generation of pilots, balancing mission and family and building teams that are rooted in trust. His story is a powerful reminder that leadership isn't about the me game, it's about lifting others so they can achieve their best. So what better way to start our new season? Col. Mount, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Lt. Col. Steven Mount Thank you so much, ma'am for having me. I really do appreciate this opportunity to at least try to share some of my stories, experiences and honestly, if anything touches base with those who listen in and resonates, that's why I'm glad to be here. Naviere Walkewicz Well, let's start right with a way for them to connect with you. You mentioned your call sign is Meathead. Let's start there. Lt. Col. Steven Mount OK, I'll do my best to tell the story as quickly as I can. And the fun thing about being a pilot — but also I think this plays true in any type of storytelling environment — is, you know, only 10% of the story has to be true when it comes to your call signs. So to start… Oh my gosh— I know there's some friends out there who are going to laugh at this, especially of mine. Going through pilot training… The last part of the pilot training, when I was in the T-1s, when you get to that last part, you know, after you've gone through all the ups and downs, you kind of celebrate a little bit more. And that's what I've done. I had gone out with a couple of my rugby brothers that I played with at the Academy, and we'd gone out to just a country, a little country dance hall, and, you know, we're just enjoying and celebrating. And one of my rugby brothers introduced me to one of his friends through his wife, and this individual, who I didn't know much about at the time, had said— I said, “Yeah, I'm starting T-1s here and all that good stuff. And I immediately, immediately — especially in the celebratory mood I was in — thought, “Oh, this is another awesome student that's coming through. Like, hey, let me start giving you the tidbits. Let me start laying out what to expect.” And that's how I treated this individual for the rest of that evening. You know, we're dancing and having fun and just talking it up. And it was a good evening. It was really good evening. Come Monday morning, I get the word I'm flying with this new instructor in the T- 1s. And I had no idea who this individual was. I did not recognize the name at all. And I asked our flight schedule, like, “Who's this?” Is like, “Oh, it's a new person coming in. I think you're one of his first flights back in the T-1s training wise.” And I was like, “Well, OK, I'm ready to go.” And I sit down, and then this instructor sits down right across from me, and it's a major and sure enough, it's this, the person I thought was a student at the Texas dance, the country dance hall that we were at.   Naviere Walkewicz Oh boy!   Lt. Col. Steven Mount He looks me up and down. Oh, it was one of those moments of shock, of like, “What do I… Where do I go from here?” And he looks me up and down, he goes, and he laughs, and he goes, “Man, you are just such a meathead.” And so that's where it started. And call signs and nicknames— sometimes, some people like, wanna try change it throughout their careers and try to like, “No, that's not who I am. I don't want that to define me.” So as I'm leaving pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, I'm heading towards my first assignment in Tucson, Arizona for the EC-130 and I'm like, “OK, here we go. I'm gonna start fresh. I'm not that meathead that went through the Academy playing rugby. I'm not that meathead in pilot training to I just like to have fun. Just like to have fun. I do my own thing, and I'm gonna start fresh.” And I get out, and one of the very first meetings I had in the new squadron was with the DO, Lt. Col. Reimer. He sits down with me, and he says, “Come on in, because I'm in blues. He goes, come on in. Sit down. And then he's just quiet. I'm like, this is interesting. He looks me up and down and goes, “Yeah, you definitely look like a meathead.” And I'm like, “Whoa.” So sure enough, the major that I flew with was really good friends and had flown with this squadron, told this DO about me, and the DO got through his spiel, introduced me to my first flight commander before I deployed in Afghanistan, and goes, “Hey, this is Meathead. Take care of him. He's a good one.” I was like, “No, no, everyone, please, let's stop.” And then throughout the years, things kept happening that just reinforced the call sign, Meathead. I got into U-2s, me and a buddy, also pilots. We popped both tires on a T-38 at Long Beach Airport, and we closed down the airport for about five hours. It was on the local news. Not happy about that. And then there were multiple times where I tried to, like, get rid of the Meathead persona, the callsign, but I think it was finally solidified on a CNN interview on one of my U-2 deployments, where the lady interviewing us goes, “OK, we can't use your real name. So what name should we use? And before I could even say anything, one of my buddies just pops up and goes, “ It's Meathead.CNN lady, use Meathead.” And I was like, “OK.” And then international news in that interview, I am Capt. Meathead. And I never got away from the call sign, Meathead.   Naviere Walkewicz We are gonna find that clip of Capt. Meathead.   Lt. Col. Steven Mount It is out there, just U-2… I think the article under CNN: “U-2 spy plane carries out the mission against terrorist organizations.” You know, not that I didn't remember what it was called.   Naviere Walkewicz Well, I would say you heard it here first, but you didn't. You heard it maybe, if you heard it in the U-2 world or what have you. But we're gonna find it again. And so we're gonna resurrect here first, but we're so glad you're here. Yes, yes, this is awesome. And you know, I think one of the things I really enjoyed in our early conversation, and what we're gonna share today is how you kind of look back and you are very grateful and thankful for the upbringing you have. And so let's kind of go back to the fact, you know, not a lot of our guests share kind of their background, and the fact that you share that you were adopted. What did that kind of, what role did that play in your life? And, you know, was it insignificant? Or, you know, what did you glean from that? Lt. Col. Steven Mount Yeah, I really appreciate that question. And honestly, I really appreciate you giving the opportunity to kind of share that. It has played a huge role in my life. Adopted 11 months. And what it did for me is set the foundation of the family. It may not necessarily be one you have, it's the one who who's there for you, who supports you, who loves you. And then, honestly, the other part about being adopted, which I kind of— there were struggles, like, it wasn't perfect, but there were struggles in my mind where I wanted to show that those who adopted me, I wanted to show them that I could be more and thank them, you know, on a daily basis, for everything they had done for me, supporting me. So that drove me, that motivated me to get into the Academy, or even— back up, even like, do well in high school, get into the Academy, become a pilot. All of that was the basis of— I want to show that in a weird way, I want to show that your investment was worth it. You know, you found me, you gave me the love and support. So I'm going to give back to you by showing you what you were able to, you know, give a second chance, small, little child. And then the— but the other side of that, and I don't know how many of those who are adopted, who feel like this sometimes. Can't be the only one, but I can at least convey it here. There's a sense of, you know, “Why? Why was I adopted?” You know, what really happened in the sense that those who biologically brought me into this world, was I not worthy enough? Was I just a bad situation. And so there's that part I keep motivational wise to be like, “Well, I'm going to show them what they're missing out on.” And I know that's more of the negative kind of side of the whole internal conflict of being adopted. But I would be lying if I didn't say that that was part of the drive that kept me going throughout those years.   Naviere Walkewicz Something that came to my mind when you were saying that was, you know— when did you find out? And how old were you to kind of start having those, those thoughts and questions, you know, not only why, but how do I show that I am worthy?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Yes, so my mother and father did an amazing job of, I remember, I can't remember the name of this particular book, but there was a book that she had given me that she read to me, and that, throughout the years, as I she utilized, helped me start reading and whatnot. And the basis of the book was, you know, cartoon with a little bit of words, is, “You were not purchased, you know, you were not bought at a store. You know you were, you were brought in and chosen and to be a part of a family.” So she, she wanted to have this idea that I always knew, that was adopted. She never wanted to surprise me, or she never wanted to be like, one day, like, “Hey, just so you know…” She did an awesome job of leading into that, Hey, you were adopted. But don't look at it as this, ‘We went to the store and we picked out the one we liked.' It's more of a, ‘We wanted you in our family.' And that's where it started.” It started, “We wanted a bigger family.” Whether they were, at the time, not able to grow or have themselves, they decided that, “We still want to grow a family. So let's look through adoption as a means.” So she had that book, I remember that book, and then the other book, which I still love to this day, and I got a copy for my kids, I Love You Forever, and how she would read that book to me every single night with the words, “…and I love you forever, like you for always. As long as you're living, my baby, you'll be.” That showed me that it didn't matter where I came from. This was my mom, you know, this was my family. So she did a really good job laying that foundation for me, for who I've become to be.   Naviere Walkewicz So would you put your parents in that bucket of inspirational leaders for you that have shaped you? And are there others?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount One-hundred percent. Like I said, the foundational piece of being that inspirational leader, to me in the sense of working on it all the time, right? It's not simple but accepting people for who they are. Where they're at in life. Accept them for their faults, accept them for the things that they don't like about themselves, but just accepting them and giving them the support, giving them the love that they need to show them, that they can do anything, I like to think for the most part, I'm an example of that because of what my parents did for me.   Naviere Walkewicz So, as a young boy, and you talked a little bit about this, you wanted to prove to them. So Was that something you feel over time, you continue to develop this desire to show your worth? And where have you seen that show up I guess even throughout your going— maybe even at the Academy, how has that kind of formed you as a leader individually?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Yes, yes. So the showing the worth, the showing the value, or paying it back and showing my parents, once again, I use the word “investment” like it was good— I was good investment. Like I was a good return on investment. But it's helped when I've gone through those struggles, when I've gone— because the first time I put in for the Academy and… back up just a little bit. My dad likes to tell a story that I even told my fifth-grade teacher that she was, you know, “What do you want to do?” I was like, “I'm gonna be a pilot.” I said nothing else. Like, I want to be pilot. I want to fly. And then I had had an awesome mentor whose son, at the time, was going through the process of the Academy, sophomore year in high school, and she helped me with that. Good ol' Mrs. Williams, amazing. When I first initially applied for the Academy, I did not get it. I got a “Sorry, you are not competitive at this time.” Here starts some of those moments in your life to where, like, “OK. How can I bounce back? Do I accept the rejection, or do I find another means?” And even when that happened, that first time, my parents, they were like, “It's OK, it's OK. You don't need to…” They were always like, “You don't need to prove anything else. We love you, regardless.” I was like, “No, I need to prove this.” So I found other means, and I was, I will say, blessed in the sense that at that time, my running back coach for the high school reached out to the Academy. This happened early my senior year, and reached out and was like, “Hey, we have, I have someone who I think might do well for your program.” And then, sure enough, I got invited to come out for a football recruiting visit and I sat down with Fisher Deberry, and he just goes, “Would you like to play for this program?” And once again, I was like, “Wait a minute. No, no. I already got rejected. You know, I already gotten the…” But obviously I was going through my head, but all I said was, “Yes, sir, I would love to play for this program. I'd love to go the Academy.” And he made it happen. And I got recruited, and I got the invite to come out, to go the United States Air Force Academy. Wow. And once again, that only happened because my parents, they said, “Hey, we don't care what happens. We love you. Support you. You make the decision and we're here behind you.” And then I had a coach who was like, “I got you. I've seen what you do. I support this.” And went out on a limb for me. And then, in a sense, I guess Fisher DeBerry was also like, “I'm taking this football recruit, I hope he makes it through the Academy. So the love and support is, was there throughout.   Naviere Walkewicz What a path, I mean, that is quite unique. And, yeah, that's something to just kind of sit in a little bit, right? You know, the path of to your point, it just comes from support. And obviously you have to do the things to make sure that when the opportunity presents itself, you're ready to take that step, but what an incredible story of those who have supported you. Let's talk about a little bit before we kind of get into I think, what I think is the next real moment in your life — when you talk about becoming a father in your family. But while you're at the Academy, I'm just curious what more you learned about yourself as a leader, because you no longer had to prove to your parents that you were worthy of their investment, right? Like this is investment, right? Like this is a new season of your life. What did that look like for you as a leader?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount The challenges and the experiences I had the Academy — and I know I talked about this in one of my interviews previously with the foundation — was that I had to I went through my sophomore year and the rigors of academics, of the military side, of sports. It was taking this toll. I will say this many times. I'll continue to say I'm not the smartest crayon in the shed.   Naviere Walkewicz Wait, did you say crayon in the shed?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount I did. A little mixture of the sharpest tool in the box, exactly. I love it! I'm glad someone caught it. That's perfect! But yes, hard work was probably the foundation of what the Academy taught me was you persevere by hard work. You do the day in; you do the day out. You get after it. Because I was not getting after it after sophomore year. My GPA was not the best, and I had to approach my sophomore year, which very fortunate, because I had done my best to put in the time with the football program. But obviously I was losing ground in the academic side and that came back to almost biting, in the sense that I could have failed out. So I had had one of those— Once again, my father being an amazing mentor himself, whether he knows it or not. And I talked to him, and I said, “Dad, I think I have to quit football. I don't think I can continue with this, the rigors of all of this with the Academy.” And he goes, “Well, what was your dream?” I was like, “My dream was to fly.” He goes, “Well, did you go there to play football? Or did you go there to fly?” And that was an easy answer. But then I was thinking about all those coaches and mentors and those who helped me get to where I was, and I never really quit at something, and that's what it felt like. It really felt like I was quitting. I was quitting my teammates. I was quitting my coaches. And that weighs heavy on your soul, for all those out there who just are struggling, like, “Should I continue?” But my dad was right. My priorities weren't to become a football player, because I wasn't gonna be. I wasn't going to be. I wasn't going to become, you know, some — who can I name drop? — Chad Hall, you know, going to the NFL, doing amazing things. I wasn't going to be out there starting on, maybe third if they still have fourth string… maybe fourth string. So my dad helped me with those priorities by, once again, just being supportive. He never said one way or the other. He said, “What do you want to do?” And so I had that hard conversation with him, and went down to the Field House, and I said, “I apologize. I have to quit so I can concentrate on what I want to do for my dreams.” And once we had that was hard, that was very difficult. So that was one of the challenges at the Academy presented, and how I bounced back from that was you always go two ways. You always go into the woe is me and you know, just kind of beat yourself up and just hold on to that, that pride and ego being shattered. Or you can find a community, a support group, that will be there with you. And I found that almost immediately with my rugby brothers. They're just like me. They're like, “Hey, we just like to hang out at our own little table at Mitchell Hall. We like to just come out, play the sport, do what you love to do, athletic wise, and you'll have some more free time, obviously, for academics.” Not that I'd utilize that correctly still, but that's what it took to get me through those next couple years, that and my amazing roommates. I think all of us Academy grads and those who are going through right now, a support of a good roommate is huge. I that, uh, I appreciate the question, because now it's just dawning on me how much I just really appreciate my roommates at the Academy for their support as well. Very similar to my parents, it's like, “Hey, I don't care what you do, but I'm here to support you, love you regardless.” So I got a lot of that the Academy, and that's what helped get me through.   Naviere Walkewicz That's amazing. I think there's a couple of things I want to dig into a little bit. The first one is, you know, I think deciding to have that tough conversation where, one, you felt like you're already prideful, and you're having to, I'm putting in air quotes, “quit.” Can you talk about how you approached that, other than, I know you went and did it. But I think sometimes one of the most challenging things we can do as leaders is have a tough conversation when it involves us either stepping back or taking a step down from what seems to be the trajectory of what's next. And so I'm just— if you could just share a little bit more about that, I think that would be helpful.   Lt. Col. Steven Mount So, and I just want to clarify: As leaders, we have to recognize and we have to have the courage to have the tough conversations, because that wouldn't be the first time that I'd have to make a decision in that regard, or have the tough conversations to where it was gonna affect me personally or those around me. You deal with it understanding, one, give yourself a little bit of grace. Give yourself a little bit of grace in the sense that whatever tough decision you have to make, you're not alone. And I imagine you might not always be the first person who had either to make that decision or was going through something like that. I was not the only one going through something at that time like that. I didn't know that. And so I've had other conversations where others were like, “Yeah, I also, you know how to make that type of call to not play anymore or give up something, because my priority was this...” You know, what was driving me to succeed was something else, and that followed me well throughout my career, because I've had many, many tough conversations. I've had the tough talk as a leader. I've had to tell someone that, “I'm sorry, your dreams to become a pilot…” It's not going to happen because of their performance. I've had conversations on how to get through those tough moments and said how to get on the other side. And I know it's like a broken record, but it just comes through with the support of being there for that individual or being there to guide them to the next step. And I had that. I had that when I made that tough decision. I had someone want to give myself grace. Two, I realized I was not alone. And three, I had the support to get from this side of that tough decision bridge to the other side. And because that support was there, I learned that, and I learned to pass that on from all my leadership opportunities, to be like, “Let me be the one who guides you over this bridge. It's not gonna be fun. There's gonna be parts are gonna hurt. It's gonna be painful. But I will be next to you to get to the other side, to where we can get back to a good place. We get back to what really matters and get back to succeed in maybe another sense.” So the tough convos as leaders, you have to have those tough convos. Do not shy away from them. They're gonna happen, whether you like it or not.   Naviere Walkewicz I'm really glad you shared it that way, because I think it created a pathway to how to approach it, to your point. You know, it they're not comfortable, they're not designed to be that way. But if you start it with, you know, being that support in mind, and how to get someone, even if you're giving the worst news, the worst news where, “This was your dream, you're not gonna be able to do it because of this. And here's now where we're at, and how can I help you succeed through that?” I think that's what a wonderful lesson you just shared. And so I want to dive now into your career, because you had a really broad career, one that's not a traditional path, and I want to understand why it looked that way. So C-130, EC-130, Special Ops, you— talk a little bit about how you navigated that and what was the driving reasons behind that navigation?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Yes, ma'am. So something you said earlier, which I really liked, I really love to try to convey to those around me, and actually, I've gone through some of these conversations over the last month and a half with younger instructor pilots. Luck is just the crossroad of opportunity and being prepared, and I'm pretty sure someone super smarter than me said that. I barely remembered. But the opportunities that present themselves to me for what I wanted to do, for my goals in the Air Force. So thankfully, even getting through pilot training, that was, in itself, amazing, transformational. Getting those wings, right? Getting those wings because pilot training, just like my Academy career, I had some ups and downs and some challenges but was able to get through because the sense of me becoming a pilot was first and foremost to fly. I want to be up there in the sky. I want to rush past the clouds. I want to touch the highest point I can. I want to be a pilot's pilot. And then right behind that was I want to accomplish the mission for whatever platform or whatever weapon system I'm given, aircraft wise. So those are my two biggest priorities. And that helped me understand that I had some failures of pilot training when I got to my first assignment, EC-130s. But that was perfect for me. That was— I never knew that. I never knew that in pilot training, that the EC-130 would fulfill me in that sense of my sense of purpose as much as it did. And I'm and getting out there, like said, four or five deployments to Afghanistan, as well as multiple TDYs. I was doing the mission, and I was happy, because I was— that's exactly what I wanted to do. That's exactly what young Meathead Mount was built for. But there were parts of me that still wanted to do more. Like, I felt like I could do more. I could be— I could help out more. I could— it's just itching, or not itching, but just burning in the back. It's like, “Hey, you are built for so much more. You can do more. Let's look for those opportunities.” So, funny enough, the first opportunity I had at that time, or I thought I had, was I reached out to— it's no longer around — but the 6th Special Operations Squadron at Duke Field. It was a combat aviation advisory mission. These individuals got to travel the world. I got to learn languages. Literally, they were sent to school to learn languages, to embed with other nations, to build those relationships, to be on the ground but still flying multiple different aircraft. I was like, “That's awesome. That sounds like me. That sounds like something I can do, and I can bring value to the table, and all the above.” So I put in my application; it was immediately rejected. In their eyes, I did not have the experience yet. I did not have what they were looking for, understandable. So here I am in another situation to where, like, “OK, well, what do I— is there any other means or ways that I can continue to fulfill my purpose as a pilot and get after the mission? Because that's what I really wanted to do, get after mission, whatever that looks like. I thought the sticks was an opportunity. They had said no to me, that's fine. And then I had an amazing friend reach out. He goes, “Hey, I heard you're getting a little long winded out there at EC-130s. You should put an application in for the U-2.” And I was like, “What are you talking about? I have no jet experience, other than the T-1. I don't have that background to be that type of caliber pilot.” He goes, “Nope, nope. They're looking for good guys and girls. They're looking for those who are motivated to do the mission. And if you could fly, you can fly, if you can't, well, you know, they'll figure that out, and they'll send you home.” And I was like, “OK.” And so I submitted for the U-2, put my application in, they call me out, and it's a two-week interview. The first week they have you in service dress, and you meet all the leadership, and you meet all the other pilots, and just have conversations. That's all, they just wanna get to know you. You know, “What's your true motivation for being here?” And I explained it, just like I've explained to you: “I wanna fly. I wanna do the mission. I wanna be a pilot's pilot. I wanna do all the cool stuff.” And they go, “OK.” Well, week two, they put you in U-2, a two-seater. They have two-seater trainers. They put you in a U-2. They give you all the weekend prior to study, and they say, “Cool, let's see what you got.” And they have an instructor, he instructs, he does his best to give you tidbits on how to safely land the U-2. And you have three days. You have two training flights and then a sort of assessment evaluation flight on that third day, and oh my gosh, did I ever humble myself as a pilot when I realized how horrible I truly was. I felt like I could not land the U-2 safely. I felt like I was messing everything up. I felt like— as soon as we got done with that third day of flying, and we got back into the squadron, and I remember the IP just being like, and then, you know, walks away because they have to talk to the squadron commanders. They have to go talk to the other leadership there. And once again, I find myself like, “OK, I 100% failed. I mean, I gave it my best. I gave it everything I had. But, you know, here I am gonna fall short again.” And they do this. And I realized this afterwards, that they do this, they do that like wait game, you know, they keep you in suspense for a reason. And I waited, it felt like hours and hours and hours. I imagine it probably might only be like hour, hour and a half. And a squadron commander called me in. He goes, “Yeah, the IP definitely didn't like some of this, some of these, these type of landings, some of this airmanship you're showing. I didn't really like this. But overall, he says you're a nice enough guy, so do you want the job?” And I was like, “Whoa.” And it blew my mind. And that was awesome. That was awesome because once again, leading up to that moment, it was the support of my friend who reached out. It was the support of my wife being like, “Yeah, I think you can do this.” And I had even called, my parents were like, “I had this opportunity to fly this really unique aircraft. It's going to be challenging. What do y'all think?” They're like, “Hey, we love you. Go get it.” And I was like, no other words of advice, no other like, inspiring — you know, my dad, a Florida farm man, was just like, “No, I think he'll do fine. We love you and just let us know how it goes.” I was like, man, I'm really missing out in motivational speeches. But you know what? The sentiment is there, and that's all I need. So I got that position, did a few years with the U-2. And then towards the end of the U-2 career, I got word from another friend saying the 6th Special Operations Squadron is growing. “We are looking for readily qualified and experienced people.”   Naviere Walkewicz And this is the one that rejected you.   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Yes, ma'am, I got rejected last time. He goes, “It's OK. Put in another application. You know, you're a little more experienced now, you've got a little bit more under your belt.” And I said, “OK,” and I put in an application, it got rejected again, and here I am, like, “What is going on?” My buddy reached out to me—   Naviere Walkewicz Your name is blacklisted in that group across the board. Like, “Oh, there's that Mount guy. Cross it out.”   Lt. Col. Steven Mount But I think that ended up being somewhat of a blessing. It was like, “Wow, This guy is motivated to come out here.” Because they had seen the last application years ago. They'd seen this one. And I think the word finally got around that's like, “Hey, he's actually really motivated to come try out, at least for this mission.” And so once again, from good mentors, they're like, “Go ahead, try it out. Put the application in one more time, see what happens.” I did, got picked up for assessment selection. It's another week, week and a half interview. They challenge you mentally, they challenge you physically. They put you in situations to see how you react. I don't wanna give too much away for that process, even though, you know, unfortunately that process is not there anymore. But after that grueling week, they once again, here I am in front of another squadron commander, and here they are opening my life in front of them, and they're saying, “Well, we don't like this. We definitely don't like this. Tell us a little more about this,” you know. And that was about an hour interview, sit down, and it's not just the squadron commander. It was leadership — four or five individuals. It was an Army lieutenant colonel's flight doc behind them, you know, kind of doing that very watching, waiting, assessing, and another one of the situations, I'm like, oh, “Here we go. I don't think it's gonna happen.” But then at the end of that interview, they sit down, squadron commander stands up and goes, “Welcome to the 6th.” And the only things I can think of — and I know a lot of listeners or viewers out there do the same thing, and I tell this to my young when they get their wings, I tell them this as well — think of that first person, or persons, that when something amazing happens to you, you immediately reach out to them and you tell them, “Thank you for the support, thank you for the love, thank you for believing in me when others didn't.” And that's exactly what I did after that one. I called my wife, and I called my parents. I said, “It happened. We got it. I got it,” you know, because it wasn't just me, and I know those experiences going from one mission to the next, and those setbacks have— I get to share these stories all the time with these young instructor pilots that I'm with, as well as students, because I get to utilize it as a leadership tool to be like, “Don't give up on yourself. That's first and foremost. And then even if you believe you might give up on yourself, trust me, there's someone like me or your family members or your squadmates, they won't give up on you. And just remember that.” And that's why I get to share these stories throughout my career, of like, “Hey, I failed at this. Look where I'm at now, because I had the support and because I kept going, Hey, I failed at this. Look how it played out. I'm here.” So a lot of my transition from different platforms and different experiences has helped shape that leadership side of me to say, simply put, “It's OK to fail, all right?” I mean, you're never going to succeed if you have this tried and failed a couple times, right? So, right,   Naviere Walkewicz Wow. Well, I want to go into— because you've mentioned this a couple times. We've talked about your parents, but you know, to have a career that's successful and to navigate that, you talked about your wife. So I'm curious if you can share with listeners who have to maybe the word is not choose between. But how do you navigate the importance of your marriage and that relationship with your profession, and trying to succeed in that trajectory, whatever that trajectory is for you. So maybe you can talk a little bit about how that, how that worked throughout all of those transitions.   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Oh, OK. I usually do better at this from a better half nearby, which she is, in a sense. She's trying to work out and give me her working space right now, which I love. I'm gonna start with this. It's not easy. It is work. It is reps, the day in, the day out. It's not easy. I don't believe I've ever had a convo with someone when they're trying to balance the work and family life to where it's like, “Oh, that was easy, you know, I just do this and they do this, and we're good to go.” No, it is constant conflict of schedules. It is sharing what's going on. It's the ups and downs. So I'd like to start with that: It's not easy. And if anyone ever tells you it is easy, please ask them how they're doing it, and then spread their wise words of wisdom to all of us. Because that's probably the first thing: It's not easy. Once you recognize that you can get past understanding like, “OK, I'm not alone in this, that this is not easy, and I can start talking and sharing my experiences and seeing from those who seem to have it together. What are they doing to make it work? So I start there. It's not easy. Second, you have to be a team. I think there's a lot of us that think that, and my wife definitely did initially, and that was on me, that she thought that my career was the most important, that what I did and how I executed the mission and where I was going, that that was the No. 1 priority. And I found it that's not the case. I found that's not the case, because, sure, when we didn't have kids yet, and we were in Tucson, it's a little easier, because I would go on my deployments, and she would go to the job, she would go to work, and she had and she supported that, because I was out there, you know, fighting the good fight, accomplishing a mission, doing everything the Air Force needed me to do. And that's what she knew was important for me. So she supported that through and throughout, and she supported it to where I imagined, to the sense of she didn't feel like she could speak to say things that maybe I would like in the sense of me doing my mission, or coming home from Afghanistan with some of my experiences. Ahe felt that maybe sometimes, that she didn't have a word to convey to like, “Hey, this really scared me.” Or, “Hey, when you were gone, I saw the news and I was frightened. And you know, when I saw this happen, I just wanted to reach out to you, and I just want to make sure you're OK.” And she never felt initially like that she could convey those feelings, because it might affect me. It might affect my, you know, mentality while being overseas and down range. So she held that in, she held it in. She kept strong. She put on the “I'm here to support you” and I feel bad, you know, thinking back on that, that I should have given her the space to like, “Tell me what you're feeling. Tell me what you're going through. I don't want you to, I don't want you to struggle in silence. If you know you see something or there's something that scares you, let me know.” And unfortunately, I didn't learn that lesson until way, way later in my career, because she'd always kept that strength in and even when we started having kids, she still did. I kick myself all the time now that— we got to California, in the U-2s, we had an incident down range to where they needed me to bump up my deployment out there, to get out there to take care of the situation. And I'd asked, I was like, “Well, how much sooner do you need me?” Because we had just had our first son. You know, the dynamic's changing. The family dynamic is changing, and especially with your first born. And they said, “We need you to leave in about a week.” Here I was once again. And I know we have kind of kind of mentioned that I was I was in the mean mentality I was in. I was gonna be a pilot's pilot. I was gonna get the mission done. I was going to do everything I could to prove myself, and if my country needs me to be out there in a week to take care of this mission, that my family and my wife will understand. And that was that was not the way I should look at it. It really wasn't. But because I was not seeing her as a teammate, and she held it in — and thank goodness we had her mother-in-law. We had some family come out and support with a new baby. But I could tell that was one of the first times to where looking back on it now that maybe I could have said, “Can you find someone else?” You know, maybe I should have what I'm doing, hopefully you're doing now and teaching others. You have to balance that family with mission and the prioritize what is truly important at that moment. And that's something I failed to do at that time. It would happen again later on, but thankfully— so when I got to the 6th Special Operations Squadron, and at this time, especially after we had our second child in California, the wife had mentioned more. She started coming out of the shell like, “Hey, I do need you a little bit more now. I need you, and I need to be able to express and convey what I do and don't like.” And I was listening, but I was not listening the way she needed me to listen. I was not being that teammate on my side. So I heard, “Hey, I just need more support with the family. So whatever career decision we make next, let's align that.” And I was in my head, I was like, “Yes, you're absolutely right.” That's why the 6th Special Operations Squadron, when I got that interview and I picked up, it was so important, because I had family in that area, and family could get to us easier. So I was thinking, “Awesome. I have the support system for you there. I got the assignment. You're going to be taken care of.” I can tell that's not yet what she was wanting. And I will credit good old Col. Valentino. I was spinning up to go to Lebanon with the team, and we're about to have our third child. And here I was once again, like, “Yep, gotta get back to the mission. Gotta show my value. Gotta get in there, do it.” And the wife understands. We have two kids already. We're gonna have a third. So we've already had two. We kind of know how this goes. We're good to go. But I could tell, once again, looking back, everything's— that she wasn't happy, but she was ready to put up that wall again, to be like, “OK, I have to support him. Have to support what he does, and I have to, because that's what the military is asking me. That's what this new community…” And then Col Valentino, he came down. He goes, “Hey, are you about to have another child?” And I was like, “Yes, sir.” He goes, “When?” And I gave him the date. And he goes, “Your deployment date is like, a month after that.” I was like, “Yes, sir. This is our third child. We'll be good to go. I have the support system for the wife now, and she'll be taken care of. Good to go.” And he goes, “No, you're staying home. I don't need you.” He goes, “Did you want to ask me if there's anyone else wants to go so you can be there for your wife and your family?” And that blew my mind, that just, I don't know. It came out of nowhere for someone in a leadership role to say, “No, I'm not gonna send you on this deployment. I want you to be there with your family.” And that held in tight, and from then on, everything changed, and how I led and how I would push the mission. But I wouldn't do it to the extent of, could I not help someone balance their family life with their mission? And that took too long for me to realize. So what I say to everyone out there, it's not easy, but you come home from a long day and you're mentally exhausted and the mission is not going good, or you're getting ready for deployment, take a moment, sit down and just talk with your teammate at home. You have to look at it as teammates. They are your partner. They will be just like I mentioned before. They will be your support system through thick and thin, because they've probably seen you at your worst, and they want you to be at your best. But you can't do that unless you take care of that home front and treat them as your teammate. Because I am still, to this day, trying my best to become the man that I hope that she sees in me and that she wants me to be one day, but I had to fail in seeing it back then so that could see it now. And I think that's one of these things I want to convey. Not easy, and they have to be your teammates.   Naviere Walkewicz Thank you for sharing that. And I think to have a leader that showed you that, which is, now you've imprinted that in your leadership style. You're thinking about the airmen that you come across and how to help them navigate some of those tough choices, but doing it with a, you know, a bigger view of not just the mission, but, like, how do you fit in that with your family? I think that's so powerful, and I'm really glad you shared that, because I know that some of our listeners and our viewers, that's gonna resonate with them as well, because they're gonna remember a time when, “Wow, I didn't even ask if I didn't have to go, or if I didn't have to do this, just because I'm so used to jumping when you say, jump,” right? And I think sometimes it's OK. It's OK. Just a question, like, I'm willing and ready to jump. I just want to make sure is someone else able to do it too because of these reasons, right? So I love that you share that.   Lt. Col. Steven Mount And those leaders have to know their people enough in that regard to also know because ultimately, when you get the mission, then yes, that's what we signed up for, yes. But those leaders know their people, and they know what situation they're in. For example, there's a few times in Special Operations to where we're going on another deployment. But we knew our people, and we knew that some did not have the balance at home, and things were not looking the best they could. “Hey, we can help you out. We can give you all the resources you need. We don't need you on this deployment.” But that takes good leaders, recognizing and taking care of their people and understanding that these individuals cannot be effective down range or where they go if their home life is not taken care of. So, I know that is something that's been talked about for all my leadership training for all the years, but actually applying it is going to start with our future leaders coming up to realize, know your people, know where you can take care of them so that they can take care of the mission.   Naviere Walkewicz That's right. That's right. So this has been incredible. I think the underlying lesson that you shared with us is, obviously having belief in yourself and doing the work and proving your worth, so to speak. But I think it's also recognizing that support network. So if I may ask, you, I have two questions. The first one is, what are you doing to be a better leader every day? Yourself, like, what is something you are actually doing to be a better leader?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Oh my gosh. Well, I'm recognizing I know I'm not doing it right. Knowing that I'm about taking command already has the underlying nervousness and anxiety, and I realized taking command, why I have these emotions is because I'm afraid to fail, which that makes sense. That makes sense to any logical human being out there. That's like, yeah, I get that. But I have to realize, in that same token, it's OK to fail. It's OK to make mistakes. It's OK that some days you go in there, you're not gonna get it all right. This last year as a director of operations, I've walked out of that building, and there's days been like I didn't accomplish anything. I've messed things up. I didn't do this right. Why am I here? They could have found someone better. And then there were days where, like, yes, I did it, right? I got something accomplished. And on those days, I realized it's because I was taking care of the people and people's needs. And once again, when that happened, they were able to take care of the mission. And that's one of the things that every day I go into work and I ask myself, “Who can I help out? Who needs the motivational kick? Who needs someone to just talk with them? Who needs to share their story?” Because that's what leaders, ultimately, are. We take care of the people. And if I can go in there and just help one person every single day, I would like to think that that's a small success. So that's one thing I'm constantly working on. And it is an effort. It's not easy. It's not easy because you are taking so much and leaders, I don't care what level you're on, all the way from your very first flight command, all the way to your mission command, aircraft commander, all the way to where I am now. You're going to take a lot on your shoulders. You're going to bear, you know, the burden of others, pains, their grief, their successes, their failures. So I guess that's also answer that question. Get ready for that. OK? Because a good leader will do that. They will bear they will help hold the weight. They will support those who need it the most. And we got to do it day in, day out, the reps they have to. So I think I answered the first question, I apologize, was it was.   Naviere Walkewicz The second question is coming. So you're good, you're good. OK. What's something that you know now after having your 17-plus years in the in the military, but also just your life experience — but what's something you know now that you would share with a leader to kind of shorten that timeframe of, like learning those painful things to be better, right? So what would be something you'd share?   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Something I'd share to close that learning gap? Because once again, my call sign is Meathead— I learned lessons the hard way. Do your best to listen more than you talk. Do your best to just take the experiences of others, talk to others, but just listen. Just hear them. Just hear them. I believe that a lot of the things that I could have prevented may have already been told to me, or may have already been, you know, mentored to me, but I just didn't listen. Maybe they said something and “I was like, well, that doesn't jive with being cool or being a pilot, so I'm not gonna listen to that.” I'm pretty sure all of these lessons that hopefully either conveying or passing on, in a sense, I think I learned them early on. I just, I just didn't listen. So for all the leaders out there, do your best to listen, listen more than you talk. It will be wonders. Naviere Walkewicz Oh my gosh, that's just outstanding. And I what I really appreciate about that is, you know, you talked about how you're doing things to get better every day, but even just in the moment, you recognize like that's such an important piece of that is taking the time to listen and reflect so that you can actually really pick up on those cues, maybe, that someone needs your support. So yes, well, this has been incredible. As we wrap up today's episode, I keep coming back to something you said, which was all someone needs to do is just support you. Yeah. So here's the takeaway, leadership is found in how we show up for our people and how we believe in them, and how we remind them that they are capable for more than what they think they are. The question we can always ask ourselves today is, who needs me to believe in them right now? And you actually said that really well. So Col. Mount, I just want to thank you for joining us for this episode of Long Blue Leadership. Is there anything else you want to leave with our listeners today? Lt. Col. Steven Mount Yes. I don't think I'll ever be that leader that does one great act, and everyone's like, that's a great leader. I don't think I'll ever be that leader that gives like, one great speech, like, that's it. He nailed it. He's a great leader. No, if I'm gonna leave something with all of those you know at the Academy and the leaders in the Air Force now — which, by the way, thanks all of you. Me too, man, thank you for your service. You have no idea how much the world needs us right now, so you get out there and see it. So sorry. That was an aside. But thank you to everyone who's at the Academy now, who have served, whose families have served and will continue to serve. But one thing I'll leave to all those young leaders: Your leadership is defined by the acts, the million acts every day, not just by one act, not just by, like I said, not just by one amazing thing that you do. It's defined on you being there, and a million acts per day over a lifetime of your career, of showing up, showing that you care. That's huge, showing that you're fair and consistent. And they will see that your people will see that that those million acts day in day out, of how you treat them, and how you present yourself as a leader. And they will watch. They will watch, and if they can see that you care, and if they can see that you are doing those million acts day in, day out, and you're in there and you're in the grind and you're in the mud with them, they will give you everything, they will, and it's amazing to see, it really is, but that starts with you as the leader. So yeah, that's it, it's those million acts every day of a lifetime career that shows that you're a leader.   Naviere Walkewicz Well, we are so glad that you're out there leading and influencing so many. We're grateful for all of your years and more that you will do. Thank you so much.   Lt. Col. Steven Mount Thank you so much for the opportunity. I really, really enjoyed this. Thank you.   Naviere Walkewicz Good. Thank you for joining us for this edition of Long Blue Leadership. The podcast drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on all your favorite podcast apps. Send your comments and guest ideas to us at socialmedia@usafa.org, and listen to past episodes at longblueleadership.org.   KEYWORDS Leadership, Resilience, Mentorship, Adoption / Family Foundation, Support Network, Perseverance, Tough Conversations, Mission & Family Balance, Trust, Listening       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation      

A life's trajectory derailed by a single night, a textbook case of injustice unfolding at one of America's most prestigious military academies. This urgent special episode of Stories of Service brings to light the troubling case of Joseph Fernau, a wrestler and former Air Force Academy cadet fighting to save his military career and avoid crushing debt after being falsely accused of sexual assault.When a devastating ankle injury sidelined Fernau from his beloved wrestling team, he made a mistake while heavily medicated - fraternizing with a freshman cadet. What followed defies belief: months later, after he began dating someone new, came an accusation of sexual assault that threatened everything he'd worked for. Despite text messages clearly showing consent before and satisfaction after their encounter, and despite OSI investigators finding the assault allegation unfounded, Fernau now faces disenrollment and $240,000 in debt while his accuser transferred to Stanford without consequences.The episode reveals disturbing inconsistencies in how military discipline is administered, with numerous examples of cadets committing similar or worse violations receiving far lighter punishments. Captain Adam DeRito, himself a veteran of a 15-year battle with the Academy over his own case, provides crucial context about potential bias and command influence affecting the proceedings. The conversation raises profound questions about who receives second chances in our military, and whether factors like identity politics might be corrupting the process of justice.Whether you're connected to military service or simply care about fairness in our institutions, this case demands attention. As Fernau's appeal reaches the Secretary of the Air Force, the fundamental question remains: Should one mistake, immediately self-reported and followed by exemplary conduct, end a promising military career? Listen now and decide for yourself.Support the showVisit my website: https://thehello.llc/THERESACARPENTERRead my writings on my blog: https://www.theresatapestries.com/Listen to other episodes on my podcast: https://storiesofservice.buzzsprout.comWatch episodes of my podcast:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheresaCarpenter76

09/03/25: Joel Heitkamp is joined by the President of UND, Dr. Andrew Armacost, to talk about enrollment, the campus, athletics, and more as their new school years starts. Dr. Armacost took over as the University of North Dakota’s 13th president on June 1, 2020. Prior to UND, he served as the Dean of the Faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. (Joel Heitkamp is a talk show host on the Mighty 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. His award-winning program, “News & Views,” can be heard weekdays from 8 – 11 a.m. Follow Joel on X/Twitter @JoelKFGO.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alex Wagner, the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower & Reserve Affairs, joins Mike Shanley to discuss the Future of the National Security Workforce and how it's being shaped by rapidly evolving trends. The conversation covers the role of technology in defense, diversity and inclusion within the Department of Defense (DoD), how Silicon Valley is connecting with the DoD to drive innovation, and what these changes mean for the defense industry. RESOURCES: GovDiscovery AI Federal Capture Support: https://www.govdiscoveryai.com/ Opinion: "Actually there's not much DEI in the DOD" https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/29/hegseth-dei-defense-department-military/ BIOGRAPHY: Alex Wagner served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower & Reserve Affairs from 2022 to 2025. Nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was responsible for the entire human capital enterprise of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, including recruiting and retention, talent management, compensation, health care and dependent care, discipline, oversight of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Air Force ROTC detachments, and reserve component affairs impacting nearly 700,000 Airmen, Guardians, and civilians. Previously, as Vice President at the Aerospace Industries Association, Alex led talent and workforce policy efforts on behalf of America's most prominent aerospace and defense companies. During the Obama administration, he served as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Army, spearheading creation of the Army Rapid Capabilities Office and the Army Digital Service. Over the course of several prior appointments in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he shaped the development and implementation of DoD policies on nuclear and conventional weapons, including emerging autonomy in weapons systems. He earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, an A.B. from Brown University, and is currently an adjunct professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. LEARN MORE: Thank you for tuning into this episode of the GovDiscovery AI Podcast with Mike Shanley. You can learn more about working with the U.S. Government by visiting our homepage: Konektid International and GovDiscovery AI. To connect with our team directly, message the host Mike Shanley on LinkedIn. https://www.govdiscoveryai.com/  https://www.konektid.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/gov-market-growth/

Rock talks with 2 Rays players with interesting backgrounds, relief pitcher Griffin Jax and 1st baseman Bob Seymour. Jax is the son of former Cowboys and Cardinals linebacker Garth Jax. Griffin was traded this season from the Twins and talks about the transition, his Dad, playing at the Air Force Academy and still being an […] The post Rays Reliever Griffin Jax & Rays 1st Baseman Bob Seymour & Rock’s stories appeared first on Radio Influence.

The aerospace doctor who witnessed reverse-engineered craft technology at NASA returns to answer your most challenging questions. Dr. Gregory Rogers, former Chief of Aerospace Medicine at NASA, sits down for an in-depth Q&A session following his viral LehtoFiles interview about witnessing an advanced craft in a Cape Canaveral hangar in 1992. This follow-up addresses the physics, the implications, and the deeper questions surrounding his extraordinary testimony. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction & US Air Force Markings Reveal 00:02:36 The 20-Foot Craft: Size, Shape & Electromagnetic Effects 00:07:33 Umbilicals & Defense Contractor Theory 00:16:53 Why He Was Shown the Footage & Security Analysis 00:25:05 NASA's UAP Silence Policy & Decision to Stay Quiet 00:34:46 Bob Lazar Sports Model Comparison 00:39:47 Space Medicine: Genetic Changes & UAP Health Effects 00:47:22 1992 Digital Technology & Moon Landing Defense 00:57:28 Congressional Testimony: "I Saw It with My Own Eyes" 00:59:00 Corporate Secrecy vs National Security 01:06:00 Carrier Landing Dreams & Final Thoughts KEY REVELATIONS EXPLORED:The electromagnetic discharge patterns and what they reveal about propulsion systemsWhy umbilical connections suggest this was reverse-engineered technologySimilarities to Bob Lazar's "sports model" description and US Air Force markingsThe absence of security protocols that would normally surround classified UAP technologyDigital recording capabilities in military systems that the public didn't know existedSPACE MEDICINE INSIGHTS:Genetic changes observed in astronauts after long-duration spaceflightHealth effects of proximity to advanced propulsion fieldsSpace motion sickness patterns from Mercury through Shuttle programsReal-world examples of radiation exposure during EVAsTHE BIGGER PICTURE:Why corporate advantage and national security both drive UAP secrecyHow contractor proprietary information blocks Freedom of Information Act requestsWhat Dr. Rogers would tell Congress if called to testify about reverse engineering programsThe technological implications if this knowledge became publicDr. Rogers brings decades of aerospace medicine experience, security clearances across compartmentalized programs, and firsthand witness testimony to these critical questions about UAP technology, government secrecy, and the future of disclosure. SUBSCRIBE for more high-level conversations about UAPs, consciousness, and fringe science with credentialed witnesses and researchers. Chris Lehto is a former F-16 pilot with 18 years of experience in the Air Force. He managed multi-million dollar simulator contracts, was an Electronic Attack SME for the Aggressors (OPFOR), and commanded the US Detachment at TLP for NATO Fighter Pilot Training. Chris fought in Iraq for 5 months in 2006. He spent 3 years in Turkey as an exchange pilot and is fluent in Turkish. Chris is also a certified crash safety investigator, having investigated Air Force accidents for four years. Lehto has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry-Materials Science from the Air Force Academy and a Master's in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle University. He was stationed in various locations worldwide, including South Korea, Italy, Alaska, Turkey, and Spain. Lehto's YouTube channel, "Lehto Files," focuses on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) research, future tech insights, and sharing knowledge. His approach is scientific and aims to illuminate these phenomena and provide informative content. He also shares his expertise on aviation safety and accident analysis. Lehto believes in the power of open dialogue and the importance of a censor-free internet. Lehto covers a range of topics, including: • Analysis of aviation accidents, such as the collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. • Identification of drones, drawing on his Air Force security forces experience. • Insights into Alternate Physics - promoting his Fractal Holographic Universe Theory • Discussions of UAPs and related topics. • Insights into space exploration, including his experience at the launch of SpaceX's Starship SN25. Join this channel for exclusive access: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVNKdkLzWuy1oLuCuCv4NCA/join Follow on social X: https://x.com/LehtoFiles TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lehtofiles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090658513954 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lehto_files/reels/ Support the channel and get exclusive content at https://www.patreon.com/chrislehto Invest in UAP Society NFTs! https://opensea.io/collection/uapeez Sharing my referral link for when you order your Tesla. You'll get 500 € off the purchase of a Tesla product. https://www.tesla.com/referral/christopher39105 Donate eth to: chrislehto.eth full ETH address is 0x26E3c9b2A5E5b6B7FB54f5F0120B0E4840EB7B24Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lehto-files-investigating-uaps--5990774/support.

Rock talks with 2 Rays players with interesting backgrounds, relief pitcher Griffin Jax and 1st baseman Bob Seymour. Jax is the son of former Cowboys and Cardinals linebacker Garth Jax. Griffin was traded this season from the Twins and talks about the transition, his Dad, playing at the Air Force Academy and still being an […] The post Rays Reliever Griffin Jax & Rays 1st Baseman Bob Seymour & Rock's stories appeared first on Radio Influence.

Today's guest knows what it means to lead when the stakes are high. Nate Amidon spent 15 years guiding people and programs across the U.S. Air Force, Microsoft, Boeing, and Alaska Airlines. He's an Air Force C-17 evaluator pilot with more than 3,200 flight hours—including 800 in combat—and over 1,500 hours as an instructor teaching young pilots how to fly, make decisions under pressure, and lead crews on global missions. When he transitioned from active duty, Nate brought that same discipline into technology—consulting as a Project Manager, Scrum Master, and Scaled Agile Framework coach on enterprise software programs. He went on to found Form100 Consulting, where he helps clients apply military-tested leadership practices to build strong, high-performing teams that endure. In our conversation, Nate and I talked about how hard that transition actually was. Even with a degree from the Air Force Academy and an MBA, landing his first role at Microsoft wasn't simple—and it showed him how untapped the veteran talent pool really is. That frustration was the spark for Form100, where he now connects veterans with organizations desperate for alignment, communication, and trust. We also dug into why veterans are uniquely equipped for tech: they're trained to see the whole mission, not just their own slice. They know how to drive clarity in chaos, how to align teams across silos, and how to solve problems with urgency but also with care. Nate reminded us that in technology, speed without alignment is just drift. Veterans bring the perspective to check the vector, build relationships, and keep the team moving in the right direction. Nate holds a Management degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an MBA from the University of Nebraska, and certifications spanning PMP, CSM, SPC, Lean Six Sigma, and DevOps. He also continues to serve as a reservist C-17 pilot with the 313th Airlift Squadron.

In Episode 3 of Inside the Lines, Curt Conrad and Effie James talk with Shelby senior quarterback Brayden DeVito, who’s set to continue his career at the Air Force Academy. DeVito reflects on his journey from stepping onto the field as a freshman in Shelby’s last game at historic Skiles Field to becoming a four-year starter and leader for the Whippets. He shares memories of being mentored early on, the iconic hook-and-ladder play that still defines Shelby football, and how former Whippet QB Brennan Armstrong has been a constant source of support. The conversation dives into DeVito’s decision to commit to Air Force after considering—and initially dismissing—all of the service academies. He explains why the program’s brotherhood, culture, and rejection of NIL drew him in, and what it means to hear, “Come be America’s quarterback.” Beyond football, he talks about the pride of being an All-Ohioan in three sports, leading Shelby’s basketball team to its first Final Four, and how those big-game moments prepared him for what comes next. From carrying the weight of leadership now to his future service obligations, DeVito opens up about the responsibility he embraces on and off the field—before finishing with some rapid-fire favorites and how he hopes to be remembered. This episode is brought to you by Graham Auto Mall. Intro and outro music is "Story of the Sunflower Samurai" by local artist Vaundoom. Be a Source Member for unlimited access to local journalism. Read more: Wild blue yonder: Shelby’s DeVito commits to U.S. Air Force Academy Preseason Poll: Shelby picked to defend MOAC title ‘Prove ’em right:’ Shelby recharged after playoff heartbreak last season Support the show: https://richlandsource.com/membersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special presentation, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind '91, USAFA's 22nd superintendent, shares an inside look into cadet development and answers graduate questions. Hosted by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99, this episode dives into the Academy's mission and how it is preparing our nation's future warfighters.   FULL TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest:  Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind '91  |  Host:  Lt. Col. (Ret.)Navire Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz This special edition of the Air Force Gradcast is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network, presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation. I'm your host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. We're honored to feature the superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, Class of '91. In this presentation, Gen. Bauernfeind will share important updates on current initiatives and developments at our Air Force Academy. Following his remarks, he and I will sit down for a conversation, during which he'll respond to questions submitted by graduates in our alumni community. So now, without further ado, Gen. Bauernfeind. Thank you for being here, sir.   Gen. Bauernfeind Well, Naviere, thank you so much for allowing us to come and share our story of our wonderful Air Force Academy. And thank you as well to the Association of Graduates and the Foundation for all of the incredible support that we receive to develop our future leaders into the warrior leaders that we need on Day 1 in our Air Force and Space Force.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir, we are grateful you're here, and we can't wait to hear what you're able to share with us today, sir, so we can jump ahead if you're ready.   Gen. Bauernfeind Wonderful. So I would like to share with you an updated mission brief of where we are going at the United States Air Force Academy. And during this time, I'd like to share not only our leadership team that's taking on the transformation that has been mandated, but also to update our alumni on our mission, our vision, our priorities and our mission sets, as well as talk about how we are creating warfighters, leaders of character and quality, and critical thinkers, and provide an update of how we are transforming this amazing institution to develop those warrior leaders that we need to keep our adversaries at bay. So as always, I'd like to start all briefings with a little video that highlights what our cadets are doing and our incredible public affairs team and video team put together the following video that shows what our cadets have been doing over the last six months... ...So you can see that our cadets have been absolutely busy over the last few months, and I can attest that this summer is they brought the problems up even more and are bringing even more energy to their training, their education, their development. But let me first talk about the amazing team at the senior leadership levels at the United States Air Force Academy, because we cannot do what we're doing without this incredible team. So first, we're welcoming reader Gen. Nicholas Evans as our new vice superintendent, coming out as the 18th Wing commander at Kadena Air Base, bringing a wonderful operational experience to bear, as well as academic bona fides to be our vice superintendent. Our command chief remains Command Chief John Alsvig and our commandant remains to be Brig. Gen. Marks and Col. Steve Hasstedt is our acting dean as we work to bring a new dean into bear. Ms. Gail Colvin is our stalwart chief of staff, with her wisdom from the Class of '80 that keeps us moving forward. Ms. Jen Block is our executive athletic director. Mr. Nate Pine is our director of athletics, and our brand new wing commander, the 10th Air Base Wing, Col. Ahave Brown. And we all know that nothing happens at USAFA without the 10th Air Base wing providing the foundational support. But also Col. Taylor from the 306 Flying Training Wing, and Col. Silva is our space detachment commander, and it's important that we have all those leaders that are helping us transform USAFA. And to that transformation, we talk about our updated mission statement that was approved last fall. And that updated mission statement is that “USAFA's mission is to forge leaders of character motivated to a lifetime of service and developed to lead our Air Force and Space Force as we fight and win our nation's wars.” And for the alumni, as we went through this mission statement development, we realized that there are many activities we take on at the United States Air Force Academy. There's education, there's training, there's motivation, inspiration, development. And we realized that we are taking the most amazing women and men from all four corners of this United States, and we're bringing them here as raw materials, and we are taking them through high-stress military, academic and athletic programs to forge them into something stronger than what they were when they showed up. And those are the leaders of character. We also wanted to make sure that we highlighted that it's about delivering a lifetime of service to our nation. It doesn't mean that every graduate needs to do 34-plus years in active duty like I'm currently doing, but continue to give back, whether that's in active duty, the Guard the Reserve, to your community in the defense industry, as an elected official or as a key supporter in our alumni networks — keep serving our nation. And then finally, an acknowledgement that we, alongside our teammates at West Point and Annapolis, have a very special mandate that we are developing those warrior leaders that will fight and win our nation's wars. While we hope that we will achieve peace through strength and deter our adversaries, we must always be ready when the nation calls and we will go forward and deliver victory for our nation. So it's important in our mission, but a mission will only take us so far. And the next step is acknowledging that we must have a vision. What is our North Star? And our North Star is we will remain and continue to be the nation's premier service academy. That we're bringing in rigorous, adversary-focused military training, military training that achieves a standard, that achieves a requirement, and not just training for training sake. But also maintain our level as a nationally recognized academic program with highly competitive athletics, and acknowledging that for us to deliver on those four, we must continue to sustain a world-class installation. But more importantly, continue to bring in professional and dedicated permanent party into our faculty. Our coaches, our headquarters, our installation support requires our outstanding permanent party. And so our vision moves us forward. And from our mission and our vision, we have established three key priorities, and those priorities will guide our decision making. But let me take your attention to the bottom first. The bottom is our foundational aspect, that we build all of our aspects upon our service core values of our Air Force and our Space Force of integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do, courage, character, connection and commitment. And those we build upon further foundationally to acknowledge that we are in the military and all aspects of military operations activities require a strict adherence to standard. What is the task that we are executing? What are the conditions on which we will execute those tasks? And what standards do we expect, especially in high end warfare, where our standards are so tight. We also acknowledge that what is special about us is our Honor Code. It is foundational to our character, and we'll talk more about that as we build upon this. But realizing that the Class of '59 that established our Honor Code. It has been foundational to the development of our leaders of character and quality as a board, and then adding into the fact that leaders who built lethal warfighting teams — they do it from a position of respect and teamwork, that they take their team and they support them, they hold them accountable, but they push them to rise above what they could think they could personally achieve. And how do we build those future leaders that are going to take teammates from all four corners of this United States and make sure every single teammate is seen, heard and valued and can give everything possible to the mission at hand? And that leads us to our priorities. That our priorities are we are here to forge warfighters to win, to inspire leaders of character and quality, and finally, to motivate critical thinkers to adapt, because all three are important. And that takes us to our mission sets, because those three priorities span across everything we do in a cadet's journey at the United States Air Force Academy. And the first is acknowledging the military training aspect. That military training goes beyond just learning how to put a uniform on, just how to march correctly, but also understanding how to operate inside of Air Force and Space Force norms and take on those military training activities that our Air Force and Space Force are taking on right now with Ready Airmen Training and the ability to execute agile combat deployment. And that's activities like being able to shoot, move, communicate, medicate and automate, but also acknowledging that we also must have that world-class academic program that challenges our future leaders not what to think, but how to think, and to do that from a warfighting-focused curriculum that is very STEM focused, but also leans in hard to how we can leverage the incredible intellect that these cadets are bringing in today and unleash them on some of the hardest Air Force and Space Force problems through our research programs as we lean into it. And then finally, as we talk about our competitive athletics, that athletics is a key aspect of the cadet's journey, whether it be through our 30 incredible intercollegiate sports teams, our intramural programs, our physical education programs, or finally our physical fitness tests that demonstrate the warrior ethos that is being expected of a military service academy, and it's important that we look across those. But let me talk about a little further of our priorities from those three lenses. The first is the aspect of warfighters win, of how we're bringing in training such as shoot, move, communicate, medicate and automate. And I've heard some teammates are going, “Why are we doing this ground focused training?” And at the end of the day, it's not ground focused training, it's joint force training. This is where our Air Force is going. That we still need to be able to succeed in the air, space, cyber domains, but we must also deliver excellence in these domains. With shoot, I requested that all of our cadets now become qualified in their long gun, the M4, and their sidearm, the M18, every single year. So now they'll have the confidence of their weapons when they have to go forward into harm's way. The same with move and communicate. Can they understand the aspects of mission command, especially in future fights where we may not have the best connectivity with our highest headquarters? Will they understand commander's intent and still be able to generate the combat power we need to keep our adversaries on their heels? Finally, to medicate. Over the last few decades, we have benefited from the golden hour, where we had such dominance that when we had a teammate isolated or injured, we would have medical care a rescue capability to them inside the hour. Future battlefields will likely not give us that luxury. So we must teach our future leaders those advanced medical capabilities to take care of their injured teammates while they're continuing to generate combat power. And finally, as we have seen from the Iranian wars and the Ukrainian wars, automation is here and part of modern warfare. And so how are we going to bring automation capabilities to our future leaders so they can develop the new TTPs that we are working through. And again, thank you to the Association of Graduates and Foundation, because you all provided the seed funding for our first automation efforts this summer. So thank you so much. And let me dig in a little further on why warfighters win. And from our president and our secretary of defense, it has been very clear that they want us to establish peace through strength, that we must develop our ways in three areas: to restore the warrior ethos, to rebuild our military and to reestablish deterrence. And we have gotten that guidance very clear from our leadership, and we will prepare our future leaders in that mind. And we have added that over the last year by bringing in year round warfighting training. So not only during the summer periods, but also through the academic year, are we asking our future warrior leaders to take on the military mission, the academic mission and the athletic mission as we move forward. And as discussed, it is directly aligned to our Air Force with Ready Airman Training and our agile combat employment. And over the last year, we took our baby steps. We're not where we need to be, but I can tell you I'm proud of how far we've come, because we moved forward with energy and violence through the fall and spring culminating exercises. I'm proud of how far we've come, but now for this year, we're gonna enter into the walk phase, because we have more to go. And with that in mind, there's been conversations of recognition and promotion, and that is tied not only to our leadership development, but also to our warfighting training. And it's an acknowledgement that for every year you at the Air Force Academy, we are purposely developing you and increasing your capabilities. And so we are going to provide the expectations for your year, whether you're four-degree, three-degree, two-degree or first-degree — a firstie — and you must meet those training standards, and if you do not meet the training standards, then we are not going to recognize you for your past work, but if you meet our standards, then we are going to recognize you for the good work and promote you to the next grade. But the ultimate promotion being a Second Lieutenant in our Air Force and Space Force as it goes forward. Over the last year, there are teeth of this. We did have 153 cadets that were not recognized due to not meeting the standards, but we are now providing them the options over the summer and this fall to now meet the standards as we move forward. Also this year, focusing on warfighting, is acknowledging that we must arm the cadets to be the instructors. Last year, we did it very quickly. Now we're going to take advantage of our incredible cadets, just like our cadets do exceptional things — teaching each other how to fly, teaching other each other how to jump during our freefall program — but now we are working through the cadet warfighter instructor course, a beta course, where we will teach cadets to be those instructors inside of our squadrons in the academic year, to take on how to teach, how to shoot, to move, to communicate, automate and medicate. And we are one more week left in our inaugural cadet warfighter instructor course. I know we will learn much from this beta iteration, but I'm excited to see what we learned from this as we go into the academic year and unleash these cadets and train ourselves. We're also very appreciative from the Foundation for the establishment of the Institute for Future Conflict. And the Institute for Future Conflict has been around for a couple of years and has already forced us to focus and think differently. And I would offer to you the reason behind that is because they are focused on our adversaries. So I like to call them our adversary focused disruptors. They are going to bring ideas to bear that force us to change the way we develop our cadets for the future, because they're looking at what our adversaries are doing. And as such, we made the decision to elevate them into Headquarters USAFA, so they can have a wider impact, not only within the dean of faculty, but also within the Cadet Wing and the Athletic Department, so we can ensure that we are bringing those disruptive thoughts and putting them into in place so we prepare our leaders for a very uncertain world, to include bringing realism into the training that our cadets are taking on. We're also acknowledging academically, there's more that we have to do with our intellect. And over the last year, we have added three additional warfighting minors, one on quantum, one on aerospace materials, and we're in the final stages of establishing a warfighting minor on future conflict. Hopefully that we will be able to start providing that to our cadets over the next year, as we went into that so very excited to the growth in our academic options. And then finally, athletically, we're updating our PT standards, and we're adding additional PE courses for our future leaders. Our future leaders — we will increase water survival, especially when we look to the future and the regions where we expect to potentially have conflict, increased water survival is important — as well as increased combatives, and we're still in the final stages of planning of how we can bring a team focused final warfighting capstone physical education course that brings all of that physical education together for a team-focused event for our firsties, but still in the planning stages of that. And as discussed, updating our PT standards to align with our Air Force and our Space Force, with an acknowledgement that simply what we were doing is adding minimums to each of the caveats to ensure that you must pass each individual event while also meeting a score-based event as we move forward. Again, aligning with our Air Force and Space Force. Now, as we transform, it's not just about warfighters to win. It's also about leaders of character and quality. As I like to say, it's developing leaders who do the right thing the right way, even if it's unpopular, because we must have leaders that are willing to stand up and do the right thing for the formation. And we focused on that. We have focused on reinforcing standards and accountability. While initially it was permanent party coming in fairly strong to establish the standards and accountability, what we quickly saw from our amazing future generation was cadets going, “We've got this. We will establish it. We will uphold our standards. We will uphold our accountability.” And to me, that's very important to see that our next generation is taking ownership of that key leadership aspect, to even include honor. As many know, we had a pretty significant honor violation last year. The bad news is that occurred. The good news is it was the cadets themselves who came forward and said, “This happened, and this is our way forward.” As in all situations, though, anytime you point a finger at somebody, three fingers pointing back at yourself, we realized that institutionally, we had probably lowered the standards too far. We didn't expect enough, and we had parsed the Honor Code. And we made the decision to return to our roots and say, “No, the Honor Code is holistic. It will not be parsed.” But we do acknowledge that these amazing men and women that come from all four corners are coming to us in different stages of their character development, and so the sanctions that come from an honor violation for somebody with us for a few weeks or a couple months may be far different than the sanctions of somebody that are weeks or months out from commissioning and graduation. So ensuring that we have a tiered sanction system to deal with our honor violations. I'm very proud of the ownership that our cadets took with our honor system, and we are reinforcing their efforts as we move forward. We've also pivoted strongly to a four-class system. My observation was is through time at the Air Force Academy, we've ebbed and flowed from a four-class leadership development system to a fourth-class leadership development system. I would offer that we had gone to the point where the majority of training and focus was on the four-degrees, when we are blessed to have these our future leaders for 47 months, and we should be developing them the entire 47 months. And so we have developed the fourth-class leadership system, where for their four-degree year, we will focus them on being good teammates and followers. For the three-degree year, we will focus on them being good frontline engaged supervisors, two-degrees as team leaders and firsties as unit leaders, representing those roles in our Air Force from cadet squadron commander to DO, to executive officer, to A1 through A6 staff positions and flight commander and taking on those responsibilities. And again, just like we talked about work by training, there's assessment mechanisms for each of these that they must meet leadership assessments that will go into whether or not they are recognized and promoted to the next grade, as it moves forward. We executed the first year. Last year, I would offer that it was successful, but we've learned much from the process, and as we go into the second year, I think we're going to be able to go even further with our four-class leadership and development. We've also doubled down on discipline, that standards and accountability are important, and if you fail to meet our standards, then you must be held accountable, not only with punitive aspects, but also with rehabilitative aspects. It's a two-edged pincer movement as we went forward, and from my time at the Academy, I will offer to you, while I may not have enjoyed it at the time, I benefited greatly from both, because it forced me to reflect upon what got me in that situation and how I can take ownership of my own development as we move forward. So that is one of the aspects we return to. And then finally, for our National Character and Leadership Symposium: Let's focus on those character elements that we find through warfighting. And so last fall's was focused on, how are we going to develop warfighters to win? And then for next year, we're going to focus on the courage required to overcome adversity in a warfighting environment. And so I'm very excited as we get the speakers identified for both the fall, a shorter fall iteration, and the normal spring iteration, sharing those speakers with the wider alumni environment. And then finally, talking about those critical thinkers to adapt. I jokingly tell our cadets that, since I was in the '90s, we got to solve all the easy problems, and all that is left are all the wicked hard problems, but we need those critical thinkers to adapt, because they are going to bring the ingenuity, they're going to bring the innovation, and what I've challenged them is they also have to bring the courage to challenge the status quo. Too many times in our military, when we ask why we do something, if the answer is, “We've always done it that way,” then maybe we need to rethink and understand, are there better ways to do it? And I can tell you, our cadets bring that to bear. And so for this year, we're really focused on cadet empowerment and responsibility. Last year with the mandate, we moved very quickly, and we were more directive in nature. And what we heard loud and clear is that cadets hurdled over our expectations. What we heard loud and clear from them was, “We want to control the way forward.” And so how do we empower them more? And how do we make it clear that they are responsible not only for their mission, but their people? And adding to that of spending more time with them with these changes of why are we doing this change, and making sure that they understand the rest of the story. You may not always like the why, but if you have an appreciation of the why, its foundation will be able to execute mission command, because you now understand commander's intent, and you now can go, “I know the why. We can keep moving forward, because we can move forward with that.” We're also focusing on operationalizing all of the United States Air Force Academy, bringing that operational mindset to bear, from whether it would be establishing an A2 directorate in the headquarters and the cadet wing and in all cadet squadrons, and the DA2 director being our intelligence directorate, so that we can start to bring in classified intelligence briefings and give them not only to a permanent party, but to our future leaders. And we started that last January to great success, so that our future leaders can start to understand not only our and our allies capabilities, but our adversary capabilities and how we will conduct our joint warfighting aspects as we move forward. And it's important that we continue to bring in those operational matters so we prepare the cadets of today for the second lieutenants of tomorrow that can seamlessly nest in to how our Air Force and our Space Force operates. And that's a nicer way of saying is some of the USAFA unique things we've done— we probably need to think about how we're doing that in our Air Force and Space Force. We're also doubling down that cadet squadrons are the unit of action, just like it is in our Air Force, that the squadron is the unit of action. And it's tough at USAFA where you may prioritize your IC team, or your major, or your club, but at the end of the day, it's going to be the squadron that succeeds together as a team. And so we are focusing on making sure that we are reinforcing what the cadet squadrons are doing. They are going to go through their military training together. They're going to go through their culminating exercises together, same as recognition and promotion. And that's important as we focus on the four-class system of those teammates, followers, frontline engaged supervisors, team leaders, unit leaders, but also acknowledging that we must empower cadet leaders to own the responsibility of their units. And I recently sat down with cadet squadron commanders and their special staffs and said, “Congratulations, you're the cadet commanders. You are responsible for two things: your mission and your people. It's not just about marching at the front of a formation. It's about executing the mission you've been given, whether that mission be military, academics or athletics, and taking care of your people.” And as such, we have established special staffs inside of each cadet squadron, every wing in the Air Force, most groups and many squadrons have special staff to both support the unit, but more importantly, advise the commander, because the commander is the one who's ultimately responsible for their people. And so we are bringing cadet special staff — which they may not be the subject matter experts in equal opportunity, integrated prevention response, spiritual matters or medical matters. They are there to support the squadron, advise the commander and have that connectivity to our subject matter experts, whether it be our chaplaincy, whether that be our amazing medical group and cadet clinic, our amazing SAPR team and all the helping agencies across USAFA to make sure that we can support all of our cadets going through a high-demand developmental program at the United States Air Force Academy. And the twist on that is again, saying, “Commanders, you are the ones who are responsible.” And now let's give you the tools to be successful as the permanent party are there to advise and oversight, empower our cadets even more. And then the final one is a return to decorum training. We conducted a beta test last year to success, and now we're looking to see how we can bring forward that decorum training for the entirety of the Cadet Wing. I am not this is not a return to the days of wine pairings, you know, but it is an acknowledgement that as an officer in our Air Force and Space Force, when you go to events, you're not only representing yourself, you're representing your team, you're representing your unit. And what are those decorum skills you need to have at events so that you can develop networks with teammates that might be outside your normal operational circle, or how do you ensure how you engage with other teammates so you can learn more about the world you're in? And so it's important that we establish that decorum focus and looking forward to how we can squeeze that in into the complicated lives of all of our cadets as we move forward. And then, just to reinforce on the critical thinking, I've already talked about the three minors we added, but I'm proud to say that we're in close coordination right now with Gen. Tullos at Air University and about to sign the memorandum of understanding where we will start a beta test for offering master's degree classes at the United States Air Force Academy, with the long-term intent of offering master's degrees at United States Air Force Academy under the Air Force Institute of Technology certification. So we have much to learn, but the doorway is open, and I can tell you from looking at so many of our cadets that come in with 20, 30, 40 college credit hours already, I think we have cadets that are ready to take on that journey, and I look forward to giving an update on that after we get through some of our initial how does this work process. So just to summarize: Our mission, our vision, our priorities are delivering what we need. And it's those warrior leaders that are ready on Day 1 in our Air Force and Space Force. And thanks to our amazing team, whether it be in the senior leader team, but more importantly, those incredible permanent party that are working long hours, whether it's in Fairchild Hall, Sijan Hall, Vandenberg Hall, in the tunnels, in the heat plant, in the Child Development Center, down at Clune Arena, out in Jacks Valley — our permanent party are crushing it, and it's important because our nation deserves the best leaders that we can give the 330,000 airmen and guardians that are standing watch for our nation. Thank you.   Naviere Walkewicz Thank you for sharing the mission brief. I think many of us as graduates think we know what happens at the Academy, but you actually sharing what you accomplished in just a year is a bit mind blowing, sir.   Gen. Bauernfeind Thank you. And I, at times, am concerned at how fast we are moving, but I also know that we must move this fast. The adversaries are watching us, and they are choosing when is the right time to test our nation. And so in order to achieve peace through strength, we must display that deterrence, that warfighting ethos, that warfighting capability. So we keep our adversaries waking up every single morning going, “Today is not today to test the United States.”   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir, that is right on point. Yes, sir. Well, I would like to thank you in advance for taking on additional questions from our alumni and our graduate community. So if we might start, general, with some of the information across various channels that cuts about to our academics and the Department of Faculty, what would you be willing to share about the civilian workforce reductions and any next to the Academy's academic faculty?   Gen. Bauernfeind First and foremost, the reduction of civilians is not just civilian faculty. It's through all civilians at the United States Air Force Academy, and as we're tracking, throughout the entire Department of Defense. What makes it a little more challenging at the United States Air Force Academy is we have so many different civilian teammates, from firefighters to childcare workers to coaches to headquarters staff, personnel and faculty. And as we lean into the aspect, the conversations about all of our civilian teammates. The first challenge that we faced is historically, the United States Air Force Academy has been over our civilian paid budget, and we've received great support from the Department of Air Force to address our over execution. This year is a little different, and so that has to be a baseline consideration as we understand that— that we have to hire and maintain civilian teammates within the budget that the American public has given us as a lean forward. And to that point, thank you to the Association of Graduates and the Foundation, as well as other Academy-focused foundations that have provided volunteer and funded volunteer support to give us that additional margin of excellence that helps us mitigate this matter. With respect to fiscal year '25, our Air Force is going through a reduction of civilian personnel to the tune of 5,000 billets. Of those 5,000 billets, the portion of the United States Air Force Academy was a part of was a 140 billets. And as we have moved through that reduction of 140 billets, we identified 104 billets as we went through our prioritization that were unencumbered or empty, but lower priority. Unfortunately, there are 36 billets that were encumbered, so someone inside of that billet as we move forward. And the goal with that is to continually work over the coming months of how we can move teammates laterally into open billets, either at the United States Air Force Academy or other locations. So we keep their expertise inside of the greater Air Force, Space Force enterprise, and our A1 team continues to work that aspect. But it's also making sure that we're being very clear with our teammates that when those billets become unfunded, at some point without funding, we're having to pay for that billet via other means. And so it's important for us to have frank conversations with our teammates, to say, “Update your resume. Start looking. At some point this will move forward.” With respect to our faculty members, 16 took advantage of the government's deferred resignation program, which was a well-funded early retirement program which allowed them to leave in the spring under and basically on admin leave and retain their pay to later in the fall/winter timeframe as that moves forward. We also had three that already had planned retirements, so they were moving forward. Unfortunately, we see a hiring freeze so no backfill. But also three whose terms are many of our senior faculty, our term employees, at the end of their term came. And so we have backfilled them with active-duty and Reserve military faculty to keep our academic progress going forward. And thanks to our dean and their team, they are, you know, quickly adjusting, but they are making the changes they need to ensure that we continue to offer the majors that we promised through the Class of '26 and continue to offer the courses as we move forward. For the fall semester, in addition to the three minors we've added, we've also added four additional classes, and there are 10 classes of the 753 in our course of instruction, there are 10 that we will not offer in the fall semester, but we will continue to still move forward.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir, thank you for that. You talked about backfills. Can you talk about some of the most important competencies for those instructors, as they were backfilling these positions right?   Gen. Bauernfeind As I testified to the Senate earlier this spring, the two most important things to me inside of our classroom is: One is subject matter expertise, and we value the subject matter expertise brought to us by our professors, associate professors, our assistant professors, our permanent professors, our senior military faculty, and the depth they provide, initially with a master's degree, but more importantly, those Ph.D.s that were an extreme depth of that subject matter expertise. But also as a military service academy— that operationally relevant experience, how do they apply what they're learning in the classroom into their futures in the Air Force and Space Force, whether that be in labs on operational units and future battlefields, and how they can connect that to the future. And we have many of our civilian faculty are also veterans, who are able to bring that strong connection to bear as it moves forward.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir. Well, you mentioned you were adding a couple a few minors. Have there been any majors that have been removed from the program, and has this affected our accreditation in any way?   Gen. Bauernfeind No, ma'am, no majors have been impacted during this time. Every single year, we go through a curriculum review, and we have a curriculum review committee where we will adjust as we move forward based upon guidance we receive from the Air Force and Space Force, but also what demand signals we're seeing from our cadets. You know what they're signing up for. But that is just an annual aspect to make sure that we have the right instructor core to support the curriculum we need to develop and educate our future leaders what the Air Force and Space Force is expecting. But zero majors have been eliminated from the United States Air Force Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz Thank you, sir for clearing that up.   Gen. Bauernfeind Oh, and accreditation. We're in a good spot with accreditation. We maintain continual conversation with our accrediting bodies, whether it be the Higher Learning Commission or several of the engineering- or STEM-focused accrediting bodies such as ABET, we're still in a good spot. In fact, this year, we just approved our quality initiative, which is a key aspect to sustaining not only our accreditation, but showing that we're continuing to improve ourselves, and that quality initiative will focus strongly on data science, throughout all of our curriculum.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir. I think that's wonderful. I know a lot of graduates were, you know, maybe didn't have all the information, so I think that's wonderful that you just shared that. Something interesting you talked about your brief was some master's, a beta testing for a master's program, working with AFIT. Can you expand a bit more about that? And then do you see the Academy becoming a five-year institution, or we will stay four years, 47 months?   Gen. Bauernfeind Right now, I believe that we will still stay a 47-month program because our academic program is 47 months; our athletic program is 47 months, and most importantly, our leadership development and military program is 47 months. For the AFIT program, the vision is — these amazing young Americans come in with so much academic credit. Many of them now are part of the Martinson Scholar Program. And thanks to Mr. Martinson's great support, we have a program that can focus on them going even further. What we can offer them now, the majority are taking multiple majors and multiple minors. What if, in the future, you didn't want to do multiple majors or minors, but you want to go and start on your master's degree, which many other institutes of higher learning are offering in a parallel aspect? And so in conversation with Gen. Tullos, how can we start allowing cadets as early as their junior year start taking master's programs and achieve what would be required? Initial assessment is we will have some that can probably achieve it in 47 months, but probably the greater group will need to stay the Academy for maybe six or 12 more months as a second lieutenant to finish up their AFIT courseware. So they would stop their 47-month USAFA program, but continue with their master's program in the classroom in Fairchild and finish out their master's here. Is the vision— and we're working through this. I want to be very clear that this is beta. We have a lot to learn in this. And from my perspective, as I work with the Air Force to get greater support for this, this is going to be a strong cost saver for the Air Force. When our Air Force officers go to get master's degree, as a general rule, they are out of their operational career field for two years as they go to execute their 18-month AFIT program, plus two associated PCSs. Now we show not only a time saving, but a cost savings. And now these second lieutenants are entering, a portion of them, are entering their air force or Space Force with a master's degree. And it is not uncommon for many of our second lieutenants right now to even start their initial training, depending on what training is available until the spring of the next year after they graduate. So I see a strong promise, but we've got a lot of work to do to make it a reality.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir. Well, that's creative and innovative thinking right there. I think that we're very excited to hear more about that, especially as the beta testing moves forward. Sir, maybe we can move into the warfighting realm. Graduates have been very interested in the renewed focus on warfighting that you've taken over the past year. What recent programs or military training taking place at USAFA right now are really supporting this development of the warfighter. Ready to lead on Day 1?   Gen. Bauernfeind So I believe we've always had a strong foundation of warfighting training, whether it be our airmanship programs, our powered flight programs, our jump programs, our special warfare programs and basic cadet training and cadet survival. But we're building upon that, and we're adding to those as great examples. As discussed earlier, if we can fight for the ammunition, we will have every single cadet qualify on both weapons every single year. The Class of '29 for the M18, the pistol, they qualified at a rate at about 65%. For the M4, the long gun, at a rate of 93%. I'm very proud of those numbers, because many of those young men and women— that was the first time they touched a weapon in their lives. And now, if they do it three more times before they graduate, those qualification rates are going to skyrocket, and they're going to have the confidence, when they deploy into harm's way, of their weapons. Additionally, thanks to the great work by the Cadet Wing, we have received 4,000 sets of chemical gear. And so not only in basic training, are they learning how to establish a forward operating base, defend it, but we're going past the days of where we walked into a tent, took our mask off and then dealt with the wonderful fluids that came out of our bodies. But now, going forward, to how are you going to conduct ATSO operations, or the ability to survive and operate in deployed locations with chemical gear on? And we're very proud to partake in some of that training with the basic cadets, and they are really taking to understanding what is required. And then the final aspect is, as discussed, the cadet warfighter instructor course, is acknowledging that to be really good at those items, we need some subject matter expertise. But the subject matter expertise required to lead, train and certify 4,000 cadets every year, we have to rely on cadet leaders, and as discussed, they're in the field as we speak in the inaugural cadet warfighter instructor course. And I look forward to seeing the feedback of how they will come back and do the squadrons. And tying that back to the cadets wanting more ownership of their training — the intent is 12 cadets inside of each cadet squadron that will now take on the responsibility through the academic year of that warfighter training that we will assess in the fall CULEX, and the ultimate assessment in the spring CULEX.   Naviere Walkewicz Sir, it really shows how you're building that expertise within the squadron to support the squadron commander so they really are taking care of their people. I think that's outstanding.   Gen. Bauernfeind And very excited about it.  And I just want to say thank you again, because it was due to the generosity of the Foundation that got us the seed to start the automation, with 29 Group 2, the smaller UAVs, as we see automation and all monitor warfighting, unleashing the cadets on how they're going to use those UAVs to defend their forward operating bases, to understand what's across the ridgeline as they move forward. And very excited to see where the cadets will take us in this, because I'm sure they're gonna be far more innovative than my generation.   Naviere Walkewicz Our generation, sir, yes, sir. Well, you talked about the four-class system and I think that was really relevant for our graduates to hear. How are cadets feeling motivated through this process? And have you seen them evolve over the past year since you started implementing that?   Gen. Bauernfeind I think the first aspect was— it took them time to truly understand what we were laying out as it went forward. And every year we do this, we will get a little more advanced at the end of the day. I think our four-degrees understood it. That was good. It was that they understood what it meant to be a teammate. What it meant to be a teammate, follower, and that was an easier aspect to develop them through. The team leaders at the senior NCO level for the two-degrees and the firsties as unit leaders, they started understanding that. The biggest challenge we saw was with the three-degrees. What does it mean to be a frontline, engaged supervisor? And we have to troop lead them through, “This is what it means to be a frontline, engaged supervisor.” That they are your subordinate. But to take best care of your people, you should know where they're from. You should know about their parents. You should know their dog's name. You should know where their birthday is. You should know when their next chemistry test is, when their next PT test is. And while you may not be able to tutor them on chemistry, you can gather and motivate them for, “Hey, if the PT test is three weeks out, let's go run together. Let's go get on the pull up bar together. Let's, you know, be engaged.” And the more you know your teammates, what I offer to you, whether it be in morning formation, noon meal formation, at the tables at Mitchell Hall, in the halls of your squadron, inside of 30 seconds you're gonna see your teammates, your subordinate, and you're gonna know if they're gonna have a good day or bad day, because you're close enough to know, just quickly, OK, they're gonna have a great day or something's going on. “Let's go take a walk. Let's figure out what's driving you down. And how can I, as a frontline engaged supervisor, start taking barriers out of your way?”   Naviere Walkewicz I mean, I can only imagine that giving them more pride, even now that they understand, “This is how I can be a frontline supervisor,” when you give us very specific examples. Well, if we might shift gears a little bit to admissions and graduation. Since we just had a class join us, and we had a class recently graduate, maybe you can tell us how the Class of '29 how they're faring so far.   Gen. Bauernfeind The Class of '29 are doing great. I am impressed by their professionalism. I'm impressed by their energy. And as you saw, as we just did the recent march back, they were loud and proud. That was really good as it went forward. And for the Class of '29, I'm proud to report that they are faring very well. Just so everybody knows, we had over 9,000 completed applications. We offered 1,411 offers of admission, and 1,112 took the oath on I-Day as it moved forward. We had cadets from every single state and territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as 12 international cadets that joined us. Of those, 117 from Prep School came up the Hill. And then 76 are, you know, part of a prior Long Blue Line as it's coming forward as it goes. Of the Class of '29, 55% were in the top 10% of their class, and 96 were all invited on varsity sports. Right now we are, as coming out of basic training, of 1,095 and during that time, they're still going strong. We did have some teammates that didn't have a full appreciation of what military life was, or may not have been as impassioned about the Academy as their parents, and so we've parted ways with a few small numbers. But during basic training, I can proudly say— we talked about the qualifications on the weapons, but also say they took their very first PFT test, and looking back over the last five years, they, on average, scored 15 points higher than the last five years. And that's a testament to two teams, I would offer to you, well, not only the cadets themselves, who had to do it, but all of our admissions team that's out there saying, “Hey, congratulations, you've been admitted. Start preparing now.” But also our athletic director, athletic department team that was out there giving them good, focused training to prepare them for those physical fitness tests. And they just took PFT No. 2 a couple days ago, and we're accessing the data but all indications are it's trending up.   Naviere Walkewicz No, yes, sir. Those are outstanding numbers. As a country, we're seeing admission rates and the challenge of getting the best of the best into the door, the fact that we had such wonderful numbers coming in, and we're attriting very low, I think it's something we should be proud of.   Gen. Bauernfeind I'm very proud of it, but acknowledge it's a tough— it's a knife fight to get the best of the brightest, and so thanks to Air Education and Training Command and Accessions Command, we are going to try a new marketing contract this year to further make sure that the amazing young Americans throughout all four corners truly understand the opportunity in front of them with the Air Force Academy, and make sure they're aware of it. So I'm excited to see how that marketing campaign goes to even up our numbers, even a little bit more.   Naviere Walkewicz Awesome. Yes, sir. Well, sir, in the realm of athletics, last year, you shared an emphasis for cadet support and participation at more of our athletic events. What have you seen come from that? And what can you share about athletics, intramurals most currently?   Gen. Bauernfeind It's one of our three mission sets: athletics. And it's not just for our IC athletes. I jokingly tell some of the teammates to say, “Tell me about a cadets life.” It's like, well, they have three full time jobs, a military job, an academic job and an athletic job, and they really get a bachelor of science in time management. And that's as we go forward. But I've asked the athletic department, you know, during COVID, our intramural program atrophied, and now we have to see, how can we really enhance our intramurals as it goes forward. But I'm especially also proud of our intercollegiate athletes, 30 intercollegiate programs. When we talk about the blood, sweat, tears, the hard work that our IC athletes representing 25% of the Cadet Wing — they are really jumping in hard. And my expectations as the superintendent is all 30 of those programs earn home field advantage. And so we've recently published an operation order to the team as we look into the fall sports. And the basic synthesis of it is, protect this house. We will come strong to all home events, and we're working through that aspect. And so as a whole, not only will we figure out how to be strong at all of our home events, whether it be, you know, this fall with women's soccer, men's soccer, cross country, water polo, volleyball and, importantly, football. And proud to report here at our AOG that the entire Cadet Wing will be marching onto the football field and protecting this house and our amazing stadium at home games.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir, thank you for that. That's fantastic. Sir, you know, you can't come out of this Air Force Academy, this 18,000 acres of amazing Academy, without seeing some of the changes, whether it's facilities or capabilities. You know, of course, there are two questions we hear often about the chapel in the box. When will the chapel be done? And then also, you know, what about the visitor center? When can we actually get into it?   Gen. Bauernfeind No, those are two great questions, Naviere. First of all, I think that the box has become so routine there that we received a formal request from cadet. So how can we have a — no kidding — drive in movie theater screen? And the request came in at $300,000 so we thought the prudent action was, let's get the chapel done so we can take the box down instead of putting up a new theater. But right now, for our chapel, again, it is an amazing piece of architecture, and to maintain the historical relevance and the hard work that went behind it, it's going to take time. Right now, we're on schedule for 2028 and we are focused on making sure all the involved teams take every single day out and we can find out as soon as possible when we have any sort of deviation, so we can swarm it. And so as such, we hold monthly meetings with IMSC — the Installation Management Sustainment Command — Air Force Civil Engineering Command, the Corps of Engineers, to go through all of our military construction projects so that if something comes up, we are aware of it within days of the issue, and we swarm it together instead of letting issues boil for a long period of time. And so excited to get the chapel back open as such a spiritual icon of the United States Air Force Academy. And spirituality is so important to the holistic leader's readiness— not just physical, mental, social, family, but also spiritual. And I think it will be important for that development. And then to the visitor center. We're on track to open up in May of '26 before the graduation, and excited to finally open that visitor center and share with a much wider audience what all of our alumni and we know of the amazing story behind the Air Force Academy, all the amazing exemplars who have come from our Academy. And I will share with you, I'm excited to get a whole ton of young Americans inside the visitor center so they can start getting excited about being part of the Class of 2032, 2038 and beyond.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir. Well, they say things are worth the wait, good things are worth the wait, and I think the interactive displays that are gonna come with this are really gonna help people understand truly what our cadets go through.     Gen. Bauernfeind Absolutely. And thank you again to the AOG and Foundation. As money got tight, the Foundation came forward and we now have that beautiful glider, you know, in position that shows what all of our cadets are working through.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes, sir. Well, our sole existence is to support the Academy, serve our grads and prserve the heritage. Well, sir, I'm cognizant of your time. We're so grateful you're here today. Mind if I ask you one final question?   Gen. Bauernfeind Please do.   Naviere Walkewicz What's on your mind that you want to leave with our graduates to be thinking about when you think about our Academy and your vision and mission. What can you leave us with?   Gen. Bauernfeind I just want to thank the Long Blue Line. We are 55,000-plus strong. There have been so many of our alumni, every single one of us that have gone through this journey. And we're proud of this institution. And I just say, continue to support this amazing institution. Spread the good word of what our Air Force Academy is, because we want amazing young women, amazing young men that are in your communities, in your churches, at your work centers, to say, “Hey, have you heard about the Air Force Academy? That's the place for you, because our nation deserves the best.” And just a final thanks to the alumni, and as a superintendent, I'm proud to be in this position with my amazing teammates. And any alumni that wants to ask me, “What's the rest of the story?” I am always available. Please hit me up in the hallways, on the Terrazzo, on the field, and I look forward to your conversations.   Naviere Walkewicz This has been a special edition of the Air Force Gradcast. On behalf of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation, thank you for joining us. It's been a privilege to hear directly from Lt. Gen. Bauernfeind and to share updates and perspectives relevant to graduates across our Academy community. Thank you for your continued connection, commitment and support of our United States Air Force Academy. I'm Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. Until next time.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation  

Why you should listenIsar Meitis reveals why small businesses are actually falling behind enterprises in AI adoption—despite predictions they'd run circles around big companies.Learn the critical difference between tactical AI (saving 2 hours on marketing) and strategic AI (transforming your entire business model) and why leadership buy-in determines everything.Discover how the MCP protocol is creating "USB-like" connections between AI and your existing tech stack, eliminating the need for massive development teams and opening game-changing possibilities for consultants.As consultants struggle to stay ahead of the AI revolution while clients realize that 37-hour project now takes 37 minutes, many are feeling the pressure of hourly billing becoming obsolete. In this episode, I talk with Isar Meitis from multiplai.ai, who provides a reality check on what's actually happening in the AI consulting space. We discuss why small businesses are falling behind despite their supposed agility, the shift from cost-saving to revenue-generating AI strategy, and how new protocols are making enterprise-level AI integration accessible to any consultant. This conversation cuts through the hype to show you exactly where the consulting industry is headed and how to position yourself to thrive, not just survive.About Isar MeitisIsar Meitis is a 4 time CEO with a passion for teaching and mentoring, who drinks and eats AI tech. Isar has always been a mentor by heart, from his early days as an F16 pilot and a flight instructor at the Air Force Academy, all the way to his current days where he mentors CEOs, and other business leaders.As an experienced CEO, investor, and board member, Isar has a holistic approach to business. He helps businesses implement AI using a strategic approach. Isar aims to empower businesses and individuals to maximize their potential through AI-infused strategies, systems, and processes, and produce a positive business impact.Isar has built and implemented technology, systems, processes, and teams in a wide variety of organizations, from small tech startups all the way to multi-billion dollar corporations.The unique combination of Isar's business leadership experience, his fun and outgoing personality, and his passion for tech and mentoring makes him a highly sought-after speaker, instructor, and consultant.Isar is a successful podcaster for over 4 years (Leveraging AI, Business Growth Accelerator), he loves traveling with his family and playing soccer and pickleball.Resources and LinksMultiplai.aiIsar's LinkedIn profileReach out to Isar via email at isar@multiplai.ai Subscribe to Leveraging AI PodcastJoin the next cohort of AI Business Transformation CourseThe AI Daily Brief (Formerly The AI Breakdown)Marketing AI Institute's The Artificial Intelligence ShowChatGPT

Improper, divisive, and degrading ideologies will no longer be allowed in America's museums or national parks! The Air Force Academy and West Point will select students on merit alone, and universities are stopping DEI, civil rights abuses, and anti-Semitic behavior, paying fines, and changing their ways. Good news! 

In the GovClose Certification Program, our students learn the government contracting skills to:Start their own consulting business that can earn up to $400k as a “solopreneur” advising businesses that sell to the government.Land high-paying sales executive jobs with companies selling to the government.From Special Ops to the Pentagon: Forrest Underwood on AI, Startups, and the Future of Defense ContractingForrest Underwood's career spans flying MC-130Js for Special Operations, standing up new squadrons overseas, embedding with SOCOM on urgent missions, working with Silicon Valley venture capital firms, and now serving as Chief of Joint Investment Strategies at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the CEO of Evergreen IndustriesIn this conversation, Forrest explains:How AI, cyber, and space tech companies can break into defense contracting.Why “product–mission fit” is the key to winning contracts without wasting resources.The cultural speed gap between Special Operations and traditional acquisition.How the Forged Act, Speed Act, OTAs, and acquisition reform will change the landscape.Why the best product doesn't always win — and how to fix it.If you're a founder, tech leader, or government contracting professional, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you navigate — and win in — the defense market.Connect with Forrest on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forrestunderwood/Timestamps / Chapters00:00 – The calm before the storm in defense acquisitions00:40 – AI writing proposals for AI: The growing noise problem01:15 – Special Ops speed: Delivering tech in under 24 hours02:00 – Forrest Underwood: From pilot to defense tech strategist03:00 – The grocery store encounter that launched an Air Force career04:00 – Air Force Academy prep school: Building future officers05:00 – Pilot training pipeline and aircraft assignments07:00 – C-130J missions in Europe and Africa09:00 – Standing up an MC-130J squadron in Okinawa11:00 – Transitioning to joint staff roles in Stuttgart14:00 – SOCOM immersion in Silicon Valley venture capital15:00 – Working with VC firms on AI, cyber, and space tech17:00 – The cultural speed gap in acquisitions19:00 – Overnight integration of mission-critical tech22:00 – Moving into acquisitions leadership at OSD23:00 – Managing $200B in annual defense investments24:00 – Founding Evergreen Industries and product–mission fit28:00 – Navigating the valley of death in defense innovation29:00 – OTAs, SBIRs, DIU, and accelerating acquisition30:00 – Forged Act, Speed Act, and acquisition reform32:00 – Why quality beats volume in proposals34:00 – Non-traditionals vs. primes in the new acquisition era36:00 – Cybersecurity compliance and small business challenges39:00 – Why the best product doesn't always win40:00 – Mapping capabilities to joint warfighting needs42:00 – Accelerating serious companies into DOD contracts45:00 – Sell it first, build it second in defense tech46:00 – Validating demand before developing solutions47:00 – Discovery-driven selling in the DOD49:00 – Understanding frustrations on both sides of the process50:00 – How acquisitions officers evaluate new tech53:00 – Where defense tech funding is headedJOIN the GovClose CommunityFollow me on LinkedIn for our free GovClose Newsletter and real-world GovCon insights

What does "service before self" look like in one of the world's most competitive industries? In this powerful episode of the BreakLine Arena, we sit down with Anthony Mirabile, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, to explore how his military background continues to shape his leadership in finance.Drawing on his experience at the U.S. Air Force Academy and over a decade at Goldman, Anthony shares how discipline, humility, and service have guided his career. He offers an energizing perspective on leadership, asserting that “as leaders, we are accountable to our people, not for them”—a mindset that challenges conventional notions of authority and empowers teams to thrive.We also explore the culture in Goldman's Salt Lake City office, the role of the Goldman Sachs Veterans Network in building community, and what Anthony looks for in every hire: energy, attitude, and grit. Whether you're a veteran navigating a career pivot or an aspiring leader looking to make a lasting impact, this episode delivers a masterclass in ownership, clarity, and care.Listen in for a masterclass in humility, ownership, and service-oriented leadership.Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you like what you've heard! We'd love to hear your thoughts! If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you're interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

In this episode, we welcome Wyatt Hendrickson to the studio. He is the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. In this interview, we discuss all of the details of his epic championship match against undefeated Gable Steveson, why he chose to do his COVID year with Oklahoma State after he graduated from the Air Force Academy, his approach to training leading up to the national tournament and now with world tournaments, how he came to Christ, how his Christian faith fuels his wrestling and preparation, the road to the 2028 Olympics, and much more. Let's get into it… Episode notes and links HERE. Donate to support our mission of equipping men to push back darkness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textIn this no-holds-barred Daily Drop, Peaches dives headfirst into the latest national defense chaos—from Humvees rolling through LA to Marines moonlighting as ICE support in Florida. Pete Hegseth wants to bring the warrior spirit back (because apparently we lost it), and Jared's not buying the sudden patriotism unless you're ready to pull bodies from burning cars. Meanwhile, retired four-stars are back in the game pushing for E-7s and more F-35s… but who's paying them now? The Academy is bleeding staff, a nuclear microreactor is going to Alaska (because obviously), and the Air Force just teamed up with AI-piloted Valkyrie drones like it's Skynet 2.0. Also—yes, the Space Force canceled something big. Again. Strap in, nerds.