Podcast appearances and mentions of mark welch

Dr. Mark Welch, a grain marketing analyst from Texas A & M University, said it’s past time for more certainty in overseas trade policy. NAFB News ServiceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does courage look like under fire? In captivity? In command? In service? This edition of Long Blue Leadership was recorded on location at the U.S. Air Force Academy's 33rd National Character and Leadership Symposium. We've explored these questions with our guests and captured the conversations for you. Ted Robertson, Multimedia and Podcast Specialist for the Air Force Academy Association and Foundation, hosts this special episode featuring voices shaped by combat, crises and lifelong service. Their message to cadets is clear: Leadership is earned through character, and character is forged in hard moments. - Seg. 1: Lt. Col. Mark George and C1C Jaime Snyder, officer and NCLS cadet director, respectively, set the stage for this year's NCLS and for the podcast. - Seg. 2: Senior Master Sgt. (Ret.) Israel "DT" Del Toro on courage in times of crisis. - Seg. 3: Task Force Hope developer and facilitator Maj. Tara Holmes on preparing future leaders to handle crisis before it happens. - Seg. 4: Former POW Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Edward Mechenbier '64, on leading in circumstances out of your control. - Seg. 5: Annapolis grad and Vietnam-era aviator, Capt. (Ret.) J. Charles Plumb on how character breeds courage. All of our guest's lives and careers reflect the reality of this year's theme through combat, crisis and service.     CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LINE PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@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     FULL TRANSCRIPT OUR SPEAKERS:  - Host, Ted Robertson, Multimedia and Podcast Specialist, United States Air Force Academy Association and Foundation  - Seg. 1: C1C Jaime Snyder, NCLS Cadet Director; Lt. Col. Mark George, NCLS Officer  - Seg. 2: Senior Master Sargent Israel Del Toro  - Seg. 3: Maj. Tara Holmes, Task Force Hope  - Seg. 4: Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Edward Mechenbier '64  - Seg. 5: Capt. (Ret.) J. Charles Plumb   Ted Robertson 0:00 Welcome to Long Blue Line Podcast Network coverage of the 33rd annual National Character and Leadership Symposium. I'm Ted Robertson, multimedia and podcast specialist for the Air Force Academy Association & Foundation, coming to you from Polaris Hall located here at the United States Air Force Academy. This year's symposium centers on the theme Courage to Lead in the Profession of Arms: Combat and Crisis-tested Character, where attendees and cadets will explore how courage in all its forms shapes leaders when uncertainty, fear and consequence are real. Our coverage will start with the Center for Character and Leadership Development's Lt. Col. Mark George and NCLS director, Cadet 1st Class Jaime Snyder. They'll set the stage not only for NCLS, but for today's coverage. Then we'll talk with four key leaders speaking at the symposium, including Senior Master Sgt. (Ret.) Israel Del Torro on keeping courageous during times of crisis. We'll also talk with Task Force Hope developer and facilitator, Maj. Tara Holmes, on preparing leaders to handle crisis before it happens. Then, former POW, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Edward Mechenbier, USAFA Class of '64, on leading in circumstances out of your control. And finally, Annapolis grad and Vietnam-era aviator, Capt. (Ret.) J. Charles Plumb, on how character breeds courage. All of our guests' lives and careers reflect the reality of this year's theme through combat, crisis and service. So I want to bring in our first two guests to help, as I said, frame the discussion today. We're going to dig in to learn what this is all about and sort of the “why” behind it. Cadet Jaime Snyder, 2026 NCLS director. Cadet Snyder, you've helped lead the organizing of the National Character and Leadership Symposium — 33rd year for this, as you know, and part of that work, you've trained cadets and permanent party. I'm going to ask you to explain permanent party, all of which helps strengthen your own public speaking and leadership communication skills. You want to kind of expound on that a bit? C1C Jaime Snyder 2:20 Yes, sir. So a part of my role being in NCLS is to, one, provide the guidance, the support and resources on the cadet side to succeed. But what really makes NCLS special is that we integrate permanent party with cadets. So oftentimes me, in supporting and training permanent party, is giving them cadet perspective, because while they're over here and the Center for Character and Leadership Development, we're over there in the Cadet Wing, and I can be the mediator between both parties. Ted Robertson 2:46 Let's talk a little bit about permanent party. What does that term mean? Who does that describe? C1C Jaime Snyder 2:52 Oh yes. Permanent party describes the civilian and military faculty that works in the Center for Character and Leadership Development that assists with the execution of NCLS — the National Character and Leadership Symposium. Ted Robertson 3:05 How big is the team behind this event every year? C1C Jaime Snyder 3:08 It's kind of complex where we'll get search cadets. We'll get a large number of volunteers, approximately around 300 from the Cadet Wing. Internal staff consists of 50 cadets who work it throughout the entire year, and around 50 staff members who are permanent party who work in the Center for Character and Leadership Development. Ted Robertson 3:29 I want to bring in next Lt. Col. Mark George, who is the experiential and training division chief and NCLS program director, the very fortunate man that gets to work for some incredibly talented cadets. Col. Mark George 3:43 That is absolutely true. Thanks to for having us on. Cadet Snyder has done an outstanding job leading this team. I came into this a little bit late. You know, we've had some reorganization here at the Academy, and after some shuffling, I got the honor and the privilege to take over NCLS while the planning was well underway. So my job was to just make sure this train kept rolling, that people had the resources that they needed, the top cover they needed. And as Jamie said, he was training me as a permanent party member to make sure that I had the cadet perspective. And then, you know, we were moving this ball forward as we got to this event. Ted Robertson 4:23 So coming up in the podcast we'll get to the sort of “why” and what's at the core of NCLS. Colonel, let's start with you. What is National Character and Leadership Symposium designed to do for cadets?   Col. Mark George 4:38 Sure. The National Character and Leadership Symposium — NCLS — is designed to bring exemplars that embody the core values and the traits that we want cadets to have when they become leaders on Day 1 and inspire them to a lifetime of service.   Ted Robertson 4:57 Cadet Snyder?   C1C Jaime Snyder 4:59 We definitely see at USAFA, there is a clear correlation with NCLS and character development. One thing we want cadets to get out of NCLS is to further develop leaders of character who are going to join the fight in the Air Force and Space Force, and that's why I see the epitome of NCLS as it's an opportunity to hear people's perspectives as well as learn from it and apply it to their daily lives. Ted Robertson 5:24 Gentlemen, this year's theme focuses on the courage to lead in the profession of arms. Cadet Snyder, we'll start with you. How did that theme come together, and why is it especially relevant for cadets right now? C1C Jaime Snyder 5:40 With our current structure at USAFA, we've had some implement of change. We recognize that the future war conflict is more prevalent than ever, and that it's important for the cadets to understand that we're changing the way we approach training, as well as what we're learning in curriculum. So this NCLS was an incredible opportunity to discuss courage when leading in the profession of arms, but furthermore, courage and crises-tested character. Which is what we're trying to further push along with what we do in training as well as what we teach in leadership. Ted Robertson 6:15 You make good decisions when your character is strong. You make those decisions with integrity when your character is intact and it's strong. Would you agree with that, Colonel? Col. Mark George 6:25 Absolutely. And I think Cadet Snyder hit the nail on the head that we really want the cadets to understand that the environments that they're stepping into are going to require that courage to do hard things. In my day, like we didn't necessarily think about the fight in that way. You know, we were kind of stovepiped in. And these cadets, whatever environment they may be stepping into, the next conflict is going to require a lot, a high demand of them, and their character is their foundation for that. Ted Robertson 6:59 One of the things you can say about this event is that it brings together voices from combat, crisis, athletics, academia and industry. How intentional is that mix, Cadet Snyder, and what do cadets gain from hearing such different perspectives on leadership and character? C1C Jaime Snyder 7:18 I think by hearing different perspectives, you get to see how universal courage is. When we say courage, it's not just one thing, it's also moral, social, spiritual. And by looking at different versions of courage, you can understand that there's different ways to actually apply courage. Understanding that courage is not the absence of fear, also knowing that courage is not simply being a confident individual. That it's more complex than you may define courage, and so you can then apply it that way — by looking at different perspectives. Ted Robertson 7:53 Colonel, I'll address this one to you as well. Col. Mark George 7:56 Sure. Courage — we're talking about courage here, and there's a heavy focus on the combat side with this year's speakers. The thing that sticks out to me is that courage always involves a decision to do the hard thing. And that's what all of our speakers brought this year. They're showing how in different environments, whether it's in a prison cell in Hanoi or up on the Space Station or — there's a hard decision and the right thing is sometimes pretty obvious, but it doesn't mean it's easy. It does not mean it's easy to do. And so courage always involves a decision to do the right thing. Ted Robertson 8:39 Cadet Snyder? C1C Jaime Snyder 8:40 What he said I find to be very true — understanding that courage is not simply doing something physical, but also in a leadership role, especially — we're talking to cadets who are going to soon be commissioned officers. It's important to know that you need to make the right decision on and off the battlefield. Ted Robertson 8:58 So from your perspective as a cadet — and this one is just for you, Cadet Snyder — what does it mean to help shape an event like NCLS while you're still developing as a leader yourself? C1C Jaime Snyder 9:10 What I've seen through NCLS is taking the time to relax. Don't focus on the future and focus where you're at right now, and that's character development. So don't let the pursuit of tomorrow diminish the joy today. We all have this aspiration to graduate, throw our hats in the air, Thunderbirds fly over. But right now it's important to focus on character development as that's going to be important as future officers. Ted Robertson 9:35 That makes 1,000% very clear sense. But I do want to ask you, less than 100 days from the day you toss your hat — you're giving me a big smile right now — talk about how that feels right now for you. C1C Jaime Snyder 9:47 It's incredible, and a part of it is less daunting, because I can say this institution has really prepared me to commission, and so it's more liberating than daunting for me. Ted Robertson 9:58 Col. George, I'm going to direct this one straight to you, and this is an ask of you from the leadership perspective: How do we events Like NCLS fit into the broader effort to intentionally develop leaders of character here at the Academy. Col. Mark George 10:14 So I get the honor of leading the experiential and training division in the Center for Character and Leadership Development. So we're all about creating experiences and those opportunities for cadets to have different types of environments where they'll learn about character. And right now, NCLS is an opportunity to listen to where people's character was tested, how they overcame it. And then we also have different events that we try to put the cadets in where we'll actually test their character. And that could be on the challenge tower, it could be through our character labs where we're having discussions. NCLS is a huge part of that, because the planning cycle is so long. Ted Robertson 10:59 Cadet Snyder? C1C Jaime Snyder 11:00 Yes, sir. One thing I wanted to add on to that is with NCLS, one thing that makes this event the most unique experience that I've had is the fact that we get to engage in meaningful dialog. This isn't a brief. This is an experience for everyone who attends. I've had the opportunity to talk to Col. George's son, who aspires to possibly come to the Air Force Academy. So I don't want to say this is just for cadets, but it's also a promotion tool. And understand that what we do at NCLS is very important. And anyone who wants to attend can come and see what we're doing and how important it is.   Col. Mark George 11:33 I want to thank you for that, by the way. He looks up to you, and that meant a lot.   Ted Robertson 11:37 That's pretty visionary stuff. That's touching the next generation. That's fantastic. All right, this is for you both. When cadets look back on NCLS years from now, what do you hope they're going to remember feeling or being challenged to do differently?   C1C Jaime Snyder 11:56 There is a very strong human component to NCLS, and with that, there's a human experience. Understanding that we're getting speakers and we'll see their bios that they're incredible. They have incredible stories of making the right decision when tensions were high, and getting to hear their stories and understand that they ultimately were no different than we are. Some of them were Air Force Academy graduates. Some graduated from the Naval Academy, West Point, other colleges, but they were young, 20-year-old people like we were as cadets. And so getting to understand where they're coming from, human experience is vital to NCLS, and how do we grow and understand where they're coming from? Ted Robertson 12:38 Col. George? Col. Mark George 12:39 Yeah, I think what I would want the cadets to remember is how these speakers made them feel. You're right, you won't remember every nugget of wisdom that was said. I just had the opportunity to talk with Gen. Scott Miller, and he was an incredible leader. And I feel like everything he was saying was gold. I wish I'd been able to write it down. But he really makes you feel like you understand just how important your role is going to be as a young leader. And when you come away as second lieutenants from this place, you've had incredible opportunities and now you're stepping out in the real world. I would think I want the cadets to remember that like, “Hey, what I do matters, and how I lead is very important to getting this mission done.”   Ted Robertson 13:24 Lt. Col. Mark George and C1C Jaime Snyder, officer and cadet in charge of the 33rd NCLS. Congratulations on the event. Well done, and thank you for spending time here with us on the podcast today. Hearing from both the cadet perspective and the senior leadership behind NCLS makes one thing very clear: This symposium is intentionally designed not just to inspire but to prepare future leaders for moments when character will be tested. And that brings me to my first featured guest, a man whose life story embodies what combat and crisis-tested character truly means. Israel “DT” Del Toro, welcome to the podcast. It's an honor to be with you here at the National Character and Leadership Symposium. Senior Master Sgt. (Ret.) Israel Del Toro 14:18 Thank you, Ted. Thanks for having me. Good to see you again.   Ted Robertson 14:21 Yes, it's not the first time we've gotten to spend some time together. Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 14:24 It's always great to talk to people, try and spread the word of the whole spark and the promise of my dad. Ted Robertson 14:30 The spark and the promises are the two things that really stood out to me about that interview — your heart and your soul man, from a very, very early age. Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 14:39 You know, losing my dad at 12, and then a year and a half later, losing my mom to a drunk driver, and being the oldest, you know, having to now kind of step up to be, like, the parent figure to my younger siblings. It was challenging.   Ted Robertson 14:55 Out of all of that, you wound up as a retired — you are currently a retired senior master sergeant. You took responsibility for your siblings, as you say, after you were orphaned as a teenager, and ultimately in the service combat-wounded airmen, and you survived catastrophic injuries against incredible odds, and that did not keep you down. One of the things that you did was you became an Invictus Games gold medalist. You're now a national speaker, and you talk a lot about resilience and purpose.   Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 15:27 Yes, sir. Yeah, Invictus, I won gold in shot put. It was pretty awesome. You know, everyone was just going nuts. Ted Robertson 15:37 You kind of make me feel like that was a soul-feeding, motivating time for you.   Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 15:42 It was. At that time, I was probably one of the senior guys, kind of. Obviously, I was one of the senior guys, wounded guys on the team, and so a lot of people looked up to me. And sometimes I wish — people would say, “Man, it's great. You're such trailblazer.” You're sometimes like, “Man, I just want to be one of the guys. I just, I just want to be No. 10.” You know, everything's all done, and no one's focusing everything on me. But it's a burden that I'm willing to carry on to try and continue to help people.   Ted Robertson 16:19 I want to linger here in your background a bit, because it's more than just impressive. I think impressive is pretty trite to describe what your background is. Let's start with before the Air Force and before combat, and just how your life demanded responsibility at such a young age. And what I want to ask is, how did stepping up for your family shape the leader that you became? Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 16:40 Well, I contribute that totally to my dad. I truly do. My dad was there. My dad, you know, I went everywhere with my dad. My dad — you know, he came from Mexico to this country, and he gave up a lot. You know, my family in Mexico is very wealthy, their ranchers and all that. He came here with nothing. And he always used to tell me, he's like, “Don't ever be envious of someone that's successful. Learn from them. Ask them questions.” He also used to tell me, “If you don't succeed, it's no one else's fault by yourself. Don't blame where you came from, where you grew up from, the situation. It is only your fault.” So my dad always had told me these little lessons and obviously the last lesson he gave me the night before he passed: Always take care of your family. And that just stayed with me, that kind of continued to shape me all throughout my life, all through my journey, at a young age to teenager to young adult to the military and to now, to this day, that really guided me to who I am. Now, it's like, I always hear people say, “Oh, man, I don't know if I can do it.” I was like, “Yeah, you can. You Just never know. You weren't ever put in that situation” I always believe — you always hear the fight or flight. “What are you gonna do?” I just fight, and I continue to fight. I just don't see the flight in me. And, you know, being the promise of take care of your family. Yes, I tell people, that originated with my family — my brothers and sisters. But throughout time it has evolved to now anyone I see that's having a hard time that needs maybe to hear a story or read a book or hear a journey to help them find that spark, because I see them now as my family. I see that as my family, as my mission now.   Ted Robertson 18:50 Let's stay with spark for a minute. It's just one of my favorite things that you've ever talked about. You're down, you've been badly burned, you're worried about whether you're going to survive, and a medic is helping you out, and he does something for you. He says something to you.   Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 19:07 Yeah, you know, the medic — I always like to say, you know, yes, I'm Air Force. Those guys were Army, and we bust each other's chops. But, we're all brothers and sisters, and we're down range, you know? We take care of each other, we tell stories, we talk about our family. So these guys knew what had happened in my past with my family. So when I'm, you know, laying there, after I coordinate getting air, and I started the adrenaline going down, I started getting scared. I was having a hard time breathing, and I just wanted to lay down and sleep. The medic came and reminded me, “DT, remember what you promised your son, that you'll never let him grow without his dad. Fight for your son. You got to fight for your son.” And he's just making me yell it. You use anything you can to keep your guy motivated, to help that spark go, keep going. And that's what he did. He found that spark to keep me going, to keep me fighting until that medevac came and to get me on that helicopter, to the FOB, to the hospital, and then to eventually San Antonio. Ted Robertson 20:24 After that injury, that's when the fight shifted. You had to get off the battlefield. You had to get that out of your head. You had to start battling for your recovery. So what did courage look like when progress seemed like it was slow and at one point nothing was guaranteed? Israel Del Toro 20:46 Yeah, it, you know, when he had a shift from now being on the battlefield to now a different kind of battle and your recovery, your way of life — it's difficult because you have people telling you this is what your life's going to be. You know, being told that you're never going to walk again. You got to be in a hospital for another year and a half, respirator for the rest of your life and your military career is pretty much over. You know, I like to say there's two choices again: Who you're going to be? Are you going to take the easy path, which is, I'm going to sit in a chair, accept what they say, hate life, you know, curse the world. Are you going to take the hard path where I want to fight? I'm going to show you I can do this. I'm going to prove that I still have value, and I want to come out of this ahead and show not only my son but the rest of the world. You stay positive, you find that spark, you will come out ahead. Ted Robertson 21:48 All right, last question on your background, because we're going to roll all this into why you're here and what messages you want to share with the cadets and the attendees that are here. You did something I don't think most human beings would even think about after that ordeal that you had been through all those years, everything. You reenlisted, and it wasn't just a medical milestone. It wasn't because you could, it was a conscious decision. So what internal commitment had to come first for you to make that decision. Israel Del Toro 22:22 You know, I guess it was, for me it was I loved my job. I knew I could teach, I could be prepare these next guys to [be] the next generation operators. Ted Robertson 22:38 You've never stopped being committed. You've never stopped. So it brings you to NCLS. This is the 33rd year for NCLS, and when you speak to cadets here, what message do you want them to take away with them? Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 22:53 I guess my message more is about that when you're in the military, no matter whatever happens to you, you still have a role to play. Even when I got hurt, did I miss being with my teammates? Yes, but now refocusing, OK, I'm here in this hospital, and I see all these wounded guys here as I guess I'm wounded also, but in my head is like I was still NCO in the Air Force. I still have a job to do. Yes, I'm hurt, I'm wounded, but the job of a leader is, no matter where you're at, is you try and take care of your troops. You try and make things better for them, even if you never see any of the benefits — that is your role. And so that's kind of what I want to leave with these guys that, you know, you're going to always have  challenges throughout your career, but you've always got to remember it's not about you, it's about the guys under you to take care of you. You know, I had a group of cadets yesterday and they were just asking me about leadership. So you know what? The best way to be a great leader is to earn the respect of yourtroops. If you demand it, you're not a leader, but when you earned the respect and they'll die for you, that is the greatest feeling. You know, I gave an example of one of the best moments I had after my injury, is after I got hurt, they sent my replacement, and he comes in and obviously introduce him to the scout team, to the Army company, individuals in leadership, and then the SF team, and all these guys I'm supporting. And the guy comes in like, “Hey, I'm here to replace DT.” And all of them, “You can't replace DT.” And I told that was the best moment that that's the best moment of respect, because I had Army guys saying, “He's our guy.” And that's the thing I told them, it's like, when you get to that moment when your guys say, “Nah, he's our guy,” I was like, “He can't replace him.” That is where you've truly earned the respect of your troops.   Ted Robertson 25:21 Israel, the only word that I can pull out of myself right now for your journey to describe it as “remarkable,” and you continue to give of yourself, and that's a wonderful thing. Your opportunity for a couple of final thoughts here, before we close out.   Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 25:38 Final thoughts, man, putting me on the spot, aren't you. I guess my final thoughts would be, you can't do it on your own. I'm not here right now, because I did it my own. I did it. I'm never gonna say that I did. I had friends, I had family, I had my wife that were by my side all throughout my journey to medical individuals. And I had those dark times, and I'm going down that spot, that rabbit hole, they were there to pull me out of it. So I think it's like, you know, don't try and do it on your own. We all need help. You know, the goal is, don't be prideful. There's a reason pride is one of the seven deadly sins. But, you know, ask for help, ask for advice. It's not going to hurt you. If anything, it will make you stronger and better. That's parting thoughts for the individuals listening to this. Ted Robertson 26:53 Perfect. Israel “DT” Del Toro, what a privilege to sit with you again. Want to say thank you from all of us for your service and continuing to lead by the example, which is a very rich and broad and deep example. Your story reminds us, and should remind us, that courage doesn't end with just survival. It always continues in service to others. Israel, thank you for being here.   Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro 27:18 Thanks, Ted. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me again.   Ted Robertson 27:21 Israel's story reminds us that crisis and moral injury don't always arrive on a schedule, and that leaders are often expected to navigate those moments without ever having been taught how. That's where our next conversation takes us: into the intentional work of preparing leaders before crisis arrives. Maj. Tara Holmes, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you with us as part of the National Character and Leadership Symposium.   Maj. Tara Holmes  27:46 Thanks for having me; glad to be here.   Ted Robertson 27:48 You are currently deputy chief of staff here at Headquarters USAFA. You are formerly chief of cadet development for CCLD, the Center for Character and Leadership development. By way of background, you flew.   Maj. Tara Holmes  28:01 So I am a B-52 electronic warfare officer by trade, and then moved over into white jets. So instructed in the in the T-1 and I've kind of been in education and training for, I'd say, since about 2017.   Ted Robertson  28:19 You also hold a Doctorate in Business and Management, and you are an AETC master instructor. I will let you explain AETC.   Maj. Tara Holmes  28:27 Air Education Training Command, that's one of the that's our majcom that's responsible for education and training, and they have a pathway to become a master instructor. So I finished the qualifications for that while I was in white jets and working over at Squadron Officer School.   Ted Robertson  28:46 So let's talk about your work with Task Force Hope. We'll talk about what Task Force Hope is, but you are and have been a developer and facilitator of Task Force Hope, which is a crisis and moral injury leadership workshop.   Maj. Tara Holmes  29:01 Task Force Hope is about providing immediately useful tools to our workshop participants to prepare them to lead through crisis, whether that is no-kidding combat related, or whether that's crisis on the home front, going through stuff in life that's really hard. We work through a series of key concepts and exercises, through storytelling and participant engagement that hopefully provides our participants some self-awareness and some tools to recover as it deals with their relationships.   Ted Robertson  29:39 We talked about this. There's a lot of nuance in what you're teaching these people. There's discernment in it. Who should you talk to, who you should trust with information that you want to share? Because ultimately, some of this becomes a pressure release valve, right?   Maj. Tara Holmes  29:52 Yeah, so one of the key concepts that we talk about is worthiness, right? I think often people feel pressure to not share what they're going through because they don't think their problems are worthy of attention, whether theirs or someone else's. That's one thing that we spend a lot of time on. And like you said, you know, who to who to share with, and at what level, some people are more free with sharing than others, and that's OK. So we work through some frameworks that help illustrate how people can kind of work through those levels, or gain some self-awareness and some clarity around where they fall. Something that is a, you know, deep seated secret for you, maybe something that somebody else is willing to openly share, they just don't see it as that big of a deal. So it's definitely about self-awareness and learning some tools to help relieve some of the pressure and drain on our batteries, as it were, that comes from holding these things in.   Ted Robertson  30:52 People who are attending the workshop are going to learn some things that they may not realize are draining their batteries. You're teaching them to discern what those are, and to be careful to try to avoid those. It sounds like an example to me of things that we don't realize we do, that drains us, right, instead of energizes us.   Maj. Tara Holmes  31:10 So we use the kind of metaphor of a smartphone, right? So there are things that drain us, that are big, that we're taking a lot of energy to conceal the hard things that we're dealing with in our life. But then there's, like, the pesky background apps, there's the things that are always running in the background of our lives that drain our energy without us really even noticing it. You know, so for me as an officer, but also as a mom and a spouse, some of the things that are always draining my batteries are my to-do list, the laundry app, maybe social media apps. Sometimes I've probably spend way too much time reading the news these days. That's kind of always on for me. We have these big things that are draining our batteries, but then we have these like small things that are constantly going on, right? So Task Force Hope is about recognizing what those things are for us and then making a commitment to ourselves to make this space and time to recover.   Ted Robertson  32:09 So that brings us to a really unique place. You kind of function at the intersection of character, leadership and development pretty much every day. So how do you define character when you're responsible for shaping it across an entire Cadet Wing.   Maj. Tara Holmes  32:24 To me, character is the essence of who they are. It is how you show up day after day. It's the habits that you have. That's why, when you do something out of character, people are able to say that. You know, we talk about building character strengths as building blocks towards certain virtues. And virtues is really excellence of character. So it's easy to talk about how to be an excellent athlete, or how to be an excellent academic, right? And that's one of our core values, is being excellent. Well, how do you have excellent character? It's really about leveraging your character strengths in a way that can lead you to be more virtuous, and that's the goal.   Ted Robertson  33:05 You've served, both operationally and as an instructor. Tell me how those things shape the way you think about preparing leaders not just to perform but to endure.   Maj. Tara Holmes  33:19 What comes to mind is the importance of training and building those habits. We're, you know, in the previous question, we talked about it in terms of character. You know, you can, you can use any kind of training. It's about building readiness, right? And being able to build those habits so that when you are faced with a challenge, you have a way to work through the challenge, right? That really came out for me, both operationally and as an instructor. So operationally, you rely on your training to get your job done, and then as an instructor, you're helping others build those habits so that one day when your students are faced with challenges, they can rely on their training as well.   Ted Robertson  34:01 We've talked a bit about your experiences and how they shape the way you think about preparing leaders, not just to perform but to endure. And now let's bring it right down to the direct connection between Task Force Hope and why you are here talking about this program to attendees at NCLS. When we talk about Task Force Hope, it's a program that is really designed to prepare leaders to navigate crisis and recover from both emotional and moral injury. What can you tell me about a gap that a workshop like this fills, that traditional leadership education sometimes or often misses?   Maj. Tara Holmes  34:38 Task Force Hope is preventative in nature. It's training to prevent people from letting their burdens get the best of them so that they can show up. They have the tools to show up fully charged when stuff hits the van. And not only that they do that for themselves, but then they can help their teammates or their subordinates also get there. It's self-awareness, because we all perform self-care differently, and what you need to recharge your batteries is different from the way that I would do it. So it's being intentional and having some tools to be able to identify what works for you and then how to make space in your life, and building that commitment to yourself, to make that space so that the next time that you face a crisis, you're not facing it at 10%, you're full up, you're ready to go. So it's that sustained self-care, if that's what you want to call it. And it's important to say that you know, in a 75-minute session, we're really doing our best to provide exposure to key concepts and these tools. What we hope is that people walk out with the start of something. It's not it's not the end of their work to be done.   Ted Robertson  35:54 How often do you hear the question, “Why didn't I hear this earlier in my career?”   Maj. Tara Holmes  36:00 Every workshop. Last year, after the workshop, we had a 1970-something graduate say that exact thing. For me personally, I had four people say something, you know, “Hey, I was a cadet here in '90-something, '80-something, 2000-something. And, you know, I really wish that I would have had this earlier.” So that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to bring it as early as we can.   Ted Robertson  36:26 OK, so our last question of our visit, if cadets take just one lesson from Task Force Hope and NCLs this year, what is your hope for that lesson to be?   Maj. Tara Holmes  36:39 My hope is that they're worth it. No problem is too big or too small to be dealt with, and like we talked about earlier, I think often people keep things to themselves because they feel like they shouldn't bother others, or there's their supervisors or their teammates with what's going on in their lives. And that's a drain. Like, that's a drain on the system. It eats up your energy, right? But our cadets are worth it. Whatever they're dealing with, big or small, is worthy of being addressed. I hope that's the takeaway, and that we all deal with things, right? We don't always know what other people are dealing with.   Ted Robertson  37:22 Maj. Holmes. Thank you for the work you're doing to prepare future leaders, not just to lead in moments of clarity, but to stand firm in moments of crisis. We appreciate you being here.   Maj. Tara Holmes  37:32 Thanks, Ted.   Ted Robertson  37:33 That focus on preservation, resilience and moral courage brings us to our next conversation, one shaped by combat, captivity and a life of service under the most demanding conditions. Coming up next, my conversation with Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Edward Mechenbier. Gen. Mechenbier, welcome to the podcast. It is a huge honor having you here, sir.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier 37:56 I hope you feel that way in a half hour so well,   Ted Robertson  37:59 Well, the conversation does promise to be interesting, because your life is… interesting. That was a pregnant pause, sir.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier 38:07 Yeah, I've enjoyed it. It's different.   Ted Robertson  38:11 Just to sort of frame things, you retired as a major general, and what year was that, sir,   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier 38:15 2004   Ted Robertson  38:16 And you were USAFA Class of '64. You're a Vietnam-era pilot, having flown F-4s, you were shot down on your 113th combat mission, but that was you also your 80th over North Vietnam. OK, prisoner of war. Then for almost those entire six years following that, being shot down. You come with 3,600 flying hours across lots of different aircraft.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  38:42 I was privileged fly either for primary capability or for familiarization with 43 different airplanes.   Ted Robertson  38:49 And now you describe yourself as a lifelong advocate for veterans and public service.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  38:56 Well, yeah, I mean, I go to a couple prisons in Ohio, and “work with” is probably overstating my role. Veterans who are incarcerated for long periods of time. But my role is just to go there, spend some time, shoot the breeze with them, no agenda, no desired learning objective and let them know that somebody outside knows that they're there.   Ted Robertson  39:19 What I want to do is spend some time in your background. All right, I want to start with combat and captivity and how that tests leadership in its most extreme forms. And this is in course in keeping with the theme of NCLS here, what did character mean to you when circumstances were entirely beyond your control?   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  39:38 The Vietnamese kept us in small groups of one and two or three guys. I mean, we never really until near the end and later on when we got a little organization. But it got very down, very personal, when at one time, I was in a cell with four guys, three Class of 1964 Air Force Academy graduates and one poor Oklahoma State University graduate, and amongst the four of us, we had a senior ranking officer. And of course, you got the same rank, you go alphabetical. And so we made Ron Bliss the senior ranking officer in our room. We had a communication system. We had guidelines that, you know, which were basically consistent with the code of conduct. You know, name, rank, serial number, date of birth, don't answer further questions. Keep faith with your fellow positions. That was the key. Keep faith. Never do anything that you'd be embarrassed to tell somebody you did.   Ted Robertson  40:34 What you're explaining is how different leadership looks, and even how you describe it, how different it is from command. So now it comes down to trust and accountability and courage, and how do those show up in those conditions?   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  40:51 It was really a matter of, we always knew we were still in the fight. That was one thing that was with us, and so you just kind of conducted yourself with, OK, I'm not going to let myself be used. Now, we also knew that the more you resisted pushed back, the less likely they were to make you go meet an antiwar delegation or write a confession or do something else like that. So they tend to pick on, if you will, the low-hanging fruit or the easier guy to get to. So we always wanted to set the bar just a little bit out of their reach.   Ted Robertson  41:25 All right, having gone through all of that, it really can change people quite profoundly. So when you look back at it, what leadership lessons stayed with you long after you got out of captivity?   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  41:39 In the movie Return of Honor. Capt. Mike McGrath, Navy guy, describes the guys in their ability to resist torture and do things. And that's what you learn. Everybody's got a breaking point. If mine's here and somebody else's is there, that doesn't make me better or worse than them. So you learn to appreciate the talents and the weaknesses. If you know the foibles, the cracks in everybody around you and not to exploit them, but to understand them, and then to be the kind of leader that that they need.   Ted Robertson  42:12 Sir, one of the recurring themes when you're discussing leadership with leaders right is knowing something about each of your people so that you can relate to them in a way that that works for them and motivates them.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  42:23 Yeah. Mark Welch, who's also a graduate and he is a chief of staff of the Air Force, always had a saying: “If you don't know what's going on, it's because you didn't ask.”   Ted Robertson  42:32 Now we're going to roll all that into your long journey between captivity and your visit here to NCLS this year. When you're speaking to the cadets at this year's event, what's your main hope? What do you hope they understand about courage before they even ever face combat?   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  42:54 Well, courage is a reaction to a clear and present threat. Nobody knows how they're gonna — know he's gonna say, OK, I'm gonna go to Vietnam and I want to get shot down, and when the Vietnamese capture me, I'm going to give them a middle finger and I'm going to be the meanest bad ass and hardest-to-break prisoner. Yeah, it's how you respond to the to the immediate perception of bodily harm or being used or something else like that. So courage is, yeah, it just happens. It's not something that you can put in a package and say, “OK, I've got courage.” It's how you respond to the situation, because you might respond quite differently than what you think.   Ted Robertson  43:35 And I have to say, you presented your story and you delivered your message in kind of a unique way. You drew from some contemporary references, specifically three clips from a movie that you like, that I was curious. How did you sum up your entire life in three movie clips from Madagascar? How did you do that?   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  43:57 Well, the three movie clips — when I watched the movie, I was looking at it, I have got two favorite movies. Madagascar is one, and the other is a Kelsey Grammer movie, Down Periscope. I mean, I think that is a perfect study in in leadership. But in the movie Madagascar, the premise was penguins can't fly, but yet it opens up with them applying resource, innovation imagination, and they eventually get this airplane to fly. OK, great. Success. Well, like everything else in life, things go wrong, and you got to have, No. 1, a backup plan, an exit ramp or a control mechanism for the disaster that's pending. So that's the second movie clip we saw. And then the third one was towards the end of the movie, when the crash landing has happened and the skipper asks for an accounting, and he's told that all passengers are accounted for, except two. And he says, that's the number I can live with. And the message there is, you go through life — you're going to have successes, but you're going to have failures, and failure has a cost, and it's not always pleasant, but that's OK, because that's life.   Ted Robertson  45:15 How do you explain how leaders can prepare themselves morally and mentally for moments they can't predict or control.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  45:25 Watch movies like Madagascar and Down Periscope. You know, there's a breadth of unintentional, if you will, guidance on how to be a leader, if you know where to look or if you're looking for it. I mean, that's part of the whole progress program at the Academy. Nobody's going to say, OK, here's a scenario, lead these resources to a proper conclusion. It's kind of like, OK, here's the situation. What do we do? What can we do? What can't we do? It's like, in my presentation, I talk about being able to run across a pasture in nine seconds, in 10 seconds, but if the bull can do it, you're in trouble. So you got to realign your thinking, you got to realign your goals and you got to realign the application of resources. So that's the leadership part, right there. It's a realization of what you can and what you can't do. It's a realization of what you, your people, your resources, can and can't do. It's a realization of what the technology you have at your disposal to do your mission can and can't do. So it's all about workarounds and being flexible. And then the other thing is, we live in a world that just seems to be everything's got a prescription and a protocol on exactly how to do everything. Doesn't work that way. You got to be able to go left and right. You got to be able to be a little imaginative.   Ted Robertson  46:42 What parting thought did you leave the cadets with?   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  46:45 That failure is part of life. It's not death. And I'm part of an organization called American 300 — we go around and talk to young enlisted people and all the services to get them to understand that failure is a learning opportunity. It's not a dagger in the heart, and don't be afraid or ashamed to try, because if you don't, you'll never know what your true potential is. So with the cadets, we close with that last part from the movie Madagascar that basically said, OK, success comes with a price. Be aware and accept it.   Ted Robertson  47:23 All right, we've got to close it out here, but recap, if you would one more time that message that you want cadets to leave here with from having heard you speak.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  47:32 You are now a living, breathing, viable, productive part of our United States Air Force. You bring talents that are unique. Apply them, but understand that they're all very transitory, and you have part of a larger community. If you stick with a community rather than the “I did,” “I want,” I have,” you'll go a long way.   Ted Robertson  47:54 All right, and stepping outside of that very briefly for your final thoughts, what would you like to leave listeners with today.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  48:01 Be proud of the young men and women who are in our military now, not just those at the Air Force Academy. You know, our whole military structure has changed over the years. You know, it's a dynamic world. You got to be flexible and embrace change. We're so reluctant to change. Change is fine, except when you try to change me, is the old saying, but we all have to change. We have to be part of the world in which we live.     Ted Robertson  48:26 Gen. Mechenbier, I want to thank you from all of us for being here sharing those leadership lessons of yours and a lifetime of service that will continue to shape others — future leaders — for a very, very long time to come. We appreciate you very much.   Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier  48:43 Thank you much.   Ted Robertson  48:44 Our final conversation brings us to leadership at the strategic level, where decisions affect institutions, alliances and the nation itself. Capt. Charles Plumb, welcome to the podcast today, sir.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  48:56 Thanks, Ted. Appreciate being here.   Ted Robertson  48:59 It is a privilege to have you. You retired as a Navy captain in 1991 and you have not slowed down, not one inch since. We're going to talk a little bit about the work that you're doing in some very interesting spaces. And what informs all of that. Naval Academy, Class of '64.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  49:15 Yep, the Great Class of '64.     Ted Robertson  49:17 The great —that's how you express class pride?   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  49:20 Everybody knows the Great Class of '64.   Ted Robertson  49:23 So you are an Annapolis man.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  49:25 I am, in fact.   Ted Robertson  49:26 No doubt. And a pilot. You flew F-4 Phantoms, and you are a Vietnam-era pilot. You spent most of your time over North Vietnam. Sometimes you got sent to South Vietnam, depending on what was going on. But you said that you have flown 74 combat missions.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  49:45 Actually 74 and a half, Ted. I have one more takeoff and I have landings.   Ted Robertson  49:50 We should remember that, because it's a very important part of your life we haven't talked about yet. Since you got out of captivity, and then you retired a few years later, you became a published author and a speaker, and as such, you have been to every state, several countries, 5,000 presentations you've delivered in the leadership and character development space. Is there any reason you should not be here at NCLS?   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  50:24 Well, I appreciate that. You know, this is a great symposium, and I'm really proud to contribute to it.   Ted Robertson  50:32 Captain, you are a former POW.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  50:36 Yes, I was shot down on my 75th mission and captured, tortured and spent the next 2,103 days in communist prison camps.   Ted Robertson  50:49 You said you got moved around a lot.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  50:52 We did. I was in six different camps, and some of those camps more than once. We never really understood why. We kind of suspected that they wanted to try to deny any fraternization with their guards, and they wanted to keep us on our toes, because they recognized that being military guys, we were going to have leadership, and we were going to have organization and community and we were going to organize, to fight them, and they didn't want that. So they moved us around and kind of shuffled us up, which didn't work. We always had a military organization in every camp that I ever went to.   Ted Robertson  51:31 You found ways to support each other. You found ways to have a leadership structure, even in captivity.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  51:39 We were all fighter pilots or air crews and most of us were we, you know, we had 10 Air Force Academy grads from '64 in five Naval Academy grads from '64 and so we had in a lot of other academy grads. I don't remember how many, but probably 70 total academy grads. And so, you know, we were, we were dedicated. We were lifers. We were, you know, we were very focused guys, which helped out a lot that we knew a lot about military leadership.   Ted Robertson  52:11 You grew up in the Midwest, and you married a Midwestern girl.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  52:15 I did, my high school sweetheart the day after I graduated from Annapolis, we got married in the chapel, and my buddies were holding up their swords as we came out of the chapel. So it was a beautiful day.   Ted Robertson  52:27 Let's go back to how you found your way to the Naval Academy.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  52:32 I was a farm kid from Kansas. Never seen the ocean, never been out of the four states of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri. Never been in an airplane, and I needed an education. Found that the Naval Academy offered me an education.   Ted Robertson  52:50 Outside of Air Force Academy circles, you probably already know that we think of, you know, salty sea dog sailors when we think of people going in the Navy, but you chose aviation.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  53:02 I did. As a kid, I would see these Piper Cubs fly over and I was fascinated by flight, and wondered if I'd ever be able to ride in an airplane. That was my thought when I was a kid. I didn't have any hopes of ever being a pilot, you know, let alone a fighter pilot. That was, I was out of the realm. Nobody, as I grew up, ever told me that I could do that, or I should do that, or, you know, it would be a hope of mine to ever pilot an airplane. But I went to the Naval Academy and found out that was one of the options, and I took advantage of that option.   Ted Robertson  53:43 Yeah, and it led you, of course, to over North Vietnam, and the rest is that part of your history   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  53:51 Launched on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk on my wife's birthday, the 5th of November, wave goodbye to her, and promised her I'd be back in eight months. I didn't make it.   Ted Robertson  54:04 Hard. Very hard story to hear. Let's talk about all of that informing your presentation now, again, 5,000 of these delivered in the leadership and character development space, but you talk a lot about, in your presentation — and you keynoted here at NCLS — the mental game side of this, the integrity, the choices that you have to make, and character that sort of frames all of that.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  54:38 My message to the cadets, and really to most of my audiences, is around challenge and adversity. And I tell the cadets that they work awfully hard trying to get a degree. They study, they go to computers, they read books all to get a degree. And what I point out to them is that more important than the degree that they will get from the Air Force Academy is a character that they build while they are here. That the integrity first, you know, is part of their motto. And if, in fact, they can learn and live that integrity, if they can learn and live the commitment that they have, if they can learn in and live these kind of ethereal things, the things that you can't measure, things you can't define, the things that, you know, that crop up in your in your mind, in the back of your mind, are more important than the lessons they learn from a computer. And so that's kind of my message.   Ted Robertson  55:49 You know, we're in a leadership laboratory here. The art and the science is character development. And you're talking about a kind of character that leads people to make good decisions and make those decisions with integrity in mind. How did that play into your captivity and getting you through that?   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  56:09 You know, of course, I studied leadership at the Naval Academy, and I think that my period of experience more than teaching me anything, it validated what I had learned. And the whole idea — and I love the fact that this is called, you know, the Character and Leadership Symposium, because lots of times you see leadership without character, that's a negative kind of leadership. And if a leader does not have character, he doesn't last very long, and he's not very effective. And so if you can keep your character up front, the leadership can follow easily. And that's pretty much what we had in the prison camps. Several of the qualities of leadership that I promote are the things that almost came natural in a prison camp. First of all, we had to find a focus, a reason. We had to find, you know — and that was developed by our leadership in the prison camp. Return with honor — that was our motto, return with honor. And we all rallied around that.   Ted Robertson  57:22 So all of that said, you're standing here in front of a really big group of people as a keynote speaker, lot of cadets, mostly cadets, yeah.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  57:31 Now there were cadets. I'm speaking on a panel with Ed Mechenbier, my good buddy, and we're on a panel with mostly cadets. The first presentation, the keynote was by invitation only. So there were a number of civilians in the audience, number of cadets. There were Naval Academy midshipmen in my audience today. And we had ROTC people, and, you know, from all over the country. So it was quite a wide audience.   Ted Robertson  58:04 Quite a wide audience. And so if we were just focusing on what you leave with cadets, what do you want them to take away from their experience today?   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  58:15 I hope they understand my message, that more important than the degree that they graduate with, is the character that they graduate with, and the importance of the integrity that that they learned here, because that was vital in the prison camp, is integrity. We had to have each other's back, and when we when we finally were released, we refused to be released until all the sick, injured and enlisted men had gone home, and it was a question of integrity, is a question that this is the right thing to do. It's not the easy thing to do. Largely, the integrity thing to do is not the easiest thing to do, and that's what I wanted to leave with the cadets. In addition, I want them to know that regardless of what situation they're in, they still have a choice, and their choice is the way they respond to the surrounding adversity situation that they're in.   Ted Robertson  59:21 An Annapolis grad of '64, Midwest kid from Kansas who makes it into the cockpit, and like you said, 74 and a half flights, then some time in captivity, then to a published author with thousands of presentations all over the country, and some in in other countries. What final thoughts would you like to leave today, sir?   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  59:47 Well, you know, I think I've already told you, you know, you're a great interviewer, Ted, and I appreciate your questions. I think, finally, this whole idea of self-determination and I think that we all, and not just the cadets, but graduates and families and business people, families. You know that we all have choices, and sometimes when we deny the choice and give up that ability to make our life better for ourselves. And you know, we do it sometimes even when we're not even thinking about it. It's just automatic to blame somebody else for the problem, and in doing so, we give away that choice.   Ted Robertson  1:00:34 Don't give away the choice. Yeah, build that character and stick by your integrity all the time. Capt. J. Charles Plumb, what a privilege it is to meet you, sir. Glad that you're here at NCLs and keynoting like you are, and I do hope that our paths cross again.   Capt. J. Charles Plumb  1:00:52 Ted, thank you very much. I appreciate your willingness to tell my story. Thanks for that.   Ted Robertson  1:00:57 You're welcome, sir. Thank you. Ted Robertson Close As we've heard throughout these conversations, courage isn't a single moment. It's a lifelong practice, from cadets just beginning their journey to leaders shaped by combat and crisis to senior commanders responsible for forces and futures. Character is tested when certainty disappears and it's revealed by how we choose to lead. That's the challenge of the National Character and Leadership Symposium, and it's a challenge that extends far beyond these walls. I'm Ted Robertson, thank you for joining me for our Long Blue Line Podcast Network coverage of the 33rd National Character and Leadership Symposium. This podcast was recorded on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.         The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation      

We're talking about the fascinating link between the mouth and the heart, and how tiny microbes play a big role. Tune to find out what oral health can tell us about overall health.  Special Guest: Dr. Jessica Mark Welch  For more information, show notes and transcripts visit https://www.ada.org/podcast Show Notes  In this episode, we're connecting the dots between the oral microbiome and overall health and talking about the fascinating link between the mouth and the heart, and how tiny microbes play a big role.   Our guest for this episode is Dr. Jessica Mark Welch, a Senior Scientist and Full Professor at the ADA Forsyth Institute in Somerville, MA.  Dr. Mark Welch and her team use both imaging and DNA sequencing approaches to investigate the structure and organization of the oral microbiome. She is co-developer of the Combinatorial Labeling and Spectral Imaging-Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (CLASI-FISH) strategy for imaging the spatial organization of microbial communities, with which she and her colleagues have discovered highly organized, complex structures in human dental plaque and on the human tongue. Her group uses DNA sequence data to construct pangenomes of oral microbes and examines metagenomic data to investigate why different bacteria live where they do, and how we can encourage the growth of health-promoting bacteria in the mouth. Dr. Mark Welch curates the Human Oral Microbiome Database to provide the research community with high-quality, curated information about oral bacteria, their genomes, and their distribution throughout the mouth.  Dr. Mark Welch explains her work with oral microbiome, and the connection between heart health and oral health. She shares that the mouth contains hundreds of bacterial species that form distinct communities on teeth (dental plaque) and on the tongue (tongue biofilm). A balanced oral microbiome supports normal metabolism and contributes to blood pressure regulation.  Researchers are investigating why so many different bacterial species coexist in the mouth and how these interdependent microbial communities share metabolic functions to support each other.  Dr. Mark Welch says her research explores how differences in people's mouth bacteria might explain varied responses.  The conversation shifts to the implications of microbiome research for oral health and how a deeper understanding of bacterial communities could eventually influence approaches to patient care.   Resources  Learn more about the research from the ADA Forsyth Science Institute.  See what makes ADA Forsyth® dentech™ the top conference for oral health innovation — find out more.  Stay connected with the ADA on social media! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for the latest industry news, member perks and conversations shaping dentistry.   

The markets are closed for President's Day but we have a conversation with Mark Welch, professor and extension economist for grain marketing at Texas A&M, to help us prepare for USDA's Ag Outlook Forum happening later this week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Barron is joined by Dr. Mark Welch from Texas A&M to break down the biggest marketing questions heading into late November and December. They cover why the final corn yield is far from settled, what to expect from USDA revisions, and how basis could behave during the holiday window. Mark also explains the role of tariffs, export flows, and fund activity in these markets. The conversation finishes with a full look at 2026, including acreage shifts, crop insurance strategy, reference prices, and how producers can manage risk while staying ready for opportunities. A great listen before closing out 2025 and setting plans for the year ahead.

Matters Microbial #114: A Tongue-n-Cheek Look at the Oral Microbiome October 31, 2025 Today Dr. Jessica Mark Welch, Professor at the ADA Forsyth Institute joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the complex and interactive microbial communities living unseen within our mouths . . . and what those communities can tell us. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Jessica Mark Welch Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is a link to the very funny Carisa Hendrix's character "Lucy Darling."  I think I made a #Micronaut out of her! A link to the wonderful microbiological art of Dr. Lizah van der Aart. An overview of FISH technology for visualizing DNA and microbes. A reference to R2A medium which helps grow water associated microbes. The anatomy of the human tongue. The infamous and very interesting article describing how microbes are transmitted between partners via kissing. An overview of the oral microbiome. The relationship between oral microbiota and blood pressure. An article by Dr. Mark Welch and colleagues describing a method for visualizing oral microbial communities. An article by Dr. Mark Welch and colleagues about how her techniques can study the kelp microbiome microbiogeography. An article by Dr. Mark Welch and colleagues about the oral microbiome. An article by Dr. Mark Welch and colleagues about the unusual "corncob" microbes to be found on the human tongue. An article by Dr. Jo Handelsman and colleagues describing the THOR soil community, in which even a few members create very diverse responses to the environment. An article by Dr. Mark Welch and colleagues about the role of mucus in the oral microbiome. An overview of the Forsyth Institute and its mission. The Human Oral Microbiome Database website. The website for Dr. Mark Welch. A fun video snippet with Dr. Mark Welch. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

We break down the USDA Supply & Demand Report released today with Mark Welch of Texas A&M University plus Oliver Sloup of Blue Line Futures shares price action perspective.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s guest is Dr. Mark Welch. He is the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Grain Marketing Economist in College Station, TX http://www.ParamountBroadcasting.com/audio/podcasts/2025/20250602ABR.mp3

Autumn Bloom concert happening this weekend: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Welch of Texas A&M University joins us to discuss the corn balance sheet – with a splash of wheat, soybean and sorghum market outlook. Brian Splitt of AgMarket.net shares price action perspective.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rocky and Jason talk with Mark Welch about AirBnB's in West Chester, check in with Randy Sutton and Brad Garrett about the United Healthcare murder, take your calls, and more on 700 WLW!

Rocky and Jason talk with Mark Welch about AirBnB's in West Chester, check in with Randy Sutton and Brad Garrett about the United Healthcare murder, take your calls, and more on 700 WLW!

Rocky and Jason talk with Mark Welch about AirBnB's in West Chester, check in with Randy Sutton and Brad Garrett about the United Healthcare murder, take your calls, and more on 700 WLW!

Mark Welch; Marketing Specialist, and TEPAP, Director at Texas A&M University visits with Chris in this week's market outlook. With commodity prices at low levels, the discussion revolves around a 30,000-foot perspective and numerous ways to manage opportunities while trying to limit potential losses. If price levels fail to rise above our cost production or margin targets what are some of the tactics that we can use to minimize losses or even capitalize on some level of profitability? With Mark's years of marketing experience, he provides some practical considerations that may all need to be exercised. He correlates this year to 2014 and suggests looking at that chart, as we may continue to follow the trend from that particular year.

Mark Welch, Texas A&M, Extension Marketing Specialist, visits with Chris in this week's market Outlook. Planted acres will still be the big question this year as the market observes planting progress over the next several weeks. Mark explains some historical numbers on “total acres” along with some of the decisions that producers are making as we work through this planting season across the US. Mark and Chris address some of the challenges with Marketing the 2023 crop. Managing basis will be critical, especially as we get further into the growing season and closer to the 2024 crop. Mark and Chris discuss some of the tactics that producers may want to consider as they begin to price 2024 crop. Producers may be in a position that requires recalibrating our expectations too much lower price levels. Taking advantage of small rallies that don't last long, might be the key to successful marketing this year.

Mark Welch, Grain Marketing Economist at Texas A&M visits with Chris in this week's episode. Mark starts the conversation talking about the issue of having a large carry over in corn. Coupled with limited demand. Price pressure on corn is likely to persist. Mark goes on to discuss some considerations and the importance of taking advantage of short-term price rallies and feeding the market along the way. Mark also hits on the idea that farmers need to pay close attention to managing their line of credit, interest rates, basis levels, and cash flow. From Mark's perspective, soybeans, may have more opportunity for price, strength than corn based on fundamental information. They continue the conversation discussing management considerations for 2024 input purchasing, and Marketing. Mark wraps up the conversation with Chris on the perspective that everyone should know: "What price they can't sell for.” In other words, what price “does work "and where is the danger zone that you need to have Sales made?

Grain marketing specialist Dr. Mark Welch discusses what's impacting the price of corn. One of the negotiators who helped iron out the North American Free Trade Agreement looks back on the deal. Recent rains may mean more dryland sorghum on the Texas High Plains.Weed control is an important aspect of forage management.Low stress cattle handling can lead to improved herd health. 

Mark Welch, Grain Marketing Specialist with Texas A&M talks with Chris about the USDA report and numerous other market-driving fundamentals to watch in the weeks ahead. Planting progress. Trend line yields. Demand Outlook. The economy and the “risk off” attitude of the funds. 2013 similarities to 2023. Basis management. Future Price Opportunity. Update your cost of production.

We are always fascinated by technicians that are married and work together. Successfully. This week we talk to Lola and Mark Welch. Both technicians from the UK who worked in the same area. After finally running into each other, Mark and Lola dated and eventually got married. Still working together, their careers grew and soon went different but similar paths. They talk about their journey in dental technology, the journey together, and what they are doing now. Mark is with Nexa3D (https://nexa3d.com/), helping to bring a new printer to the industry and Lola is growing on Instagram, teaching courses, and now a proud member of the DTG (https://www.dentaltechniciansguild.com/) family. Lola's upcoming courses: The power of conversion- All on X full arch immediate load at the North of England Dentistry Show (https://dentistry.co.uk/shows/north-of-england-dentistry-show-2023/) Staining and Characterizing of 3D printed and milled teeth (https://www.the-dts.co.uk/stand-education?utm_campaign=1234919_Healthcare++DTS23++Visprom++27.2.23++Feb+Ebulletin&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Healthcare++Dentistry++UK&dm_i=6TGR%2CQGVB%2C3Y77RV%2C3ABF9%2C1&fbclid=IwAR1rhBHnrePE-Srse8v5Bulj50d3GqAE4BUbsWg0rhXjhYxzYjzXaAMyS7s) Dental Technology Showcase - May (https://www.the-dts.co.uk/) If efficiency and performance are what you are looking for in a compact milling system, then the PrograMill DRY (https://www.ivoclar.com/enus/products/digital-equipment/programill-dry) from Ivoclar (https://www.ivoclar.com/enus) is the right choice for you. Produce precise zirconium oxide crowns and bridges plus a range of PMMA materials including the innovative IVOTION (https://www.ivoclar.com/enca/products/digital-processes/ivotion) material for the digital production of complete dentures. Ivoclar provides white glove delivery service, training, choice of service contracts and their outstanding after sales service and support. Contact your friendly Ivoclar sales representative today for lucrative promotions and to create a digital solution that's right for you! _ Candulor (https://www.candulor.com/en-us) a dental supply company from Switzerland has been making teeth from 1936. Check out their Physioselect TCR (https://www.candulor.com/en-us/product-portfolio/tooth-lines/physioselect-tcr) tooth line now with new 18 anterior molds specifically made for the US market. Discover all the solutions for Removables at Candulor.com. America with get supported and supplied by the only authorized partner Edmonds Dental Supply (https://edmondsdentalsupply.com/) Candulor, High End Only Special Guests: Lola Welch and Mark Welch.

We discuss market outlook and marketing opportunities for 22-, 23- and 24-crop corn with Mark Welch of Texas A&M. Mark also says the Fed is in the "early stages" of controlling inflation. If you're looking for Todd Horwitz of bubbatrading.com, he's hiding in the wilderness!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Welch, grain marketing specialist with Texas A&M, visits with Chris about numerous fundamentals that could be moving the markets in the next several weeks/months. Mark emphasizes the importance of taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. The 2022 crop yields are now a “known” for many operations and make it easier to plan for marketing the balance of your crop in order to achieve your desired economic results. They go on to discuss a number of macro situations to pay attention to as we head toward the end of the year including the Ukraine and Russian war, China, South American weather, and the general US economy. Sometimes it just takes one headline to move the market drastically one way or another. We've been in a tight trading range for quite some time now and at some point we will break out of that range. Additionally, Mark explains some fundamentals to consider around your 2023 marketing. As harvest gets wrapped up it's now time to sit down and crunch your numbers in order to make the best decisions for your operations financial success.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been a very challenging year for producers with drought and the environmental roller coaster, global unrest, and high input costs.  The one thing that is encouraging is the price potential if we can get a crop in and grown successfully.  Dr. Mark Welch and Dr. John Robinson discuss this topic ahead of the June acreage reports and current global environment.  Their discussion was outstanding and they provided excellent information that should be useful to producers.  Both Drs. Welch and Robinson are experts in marketing of grains and cotton and both are Extension economists with Texas A&M AgriLife.  We also heard from Rodney Mosier with Texas Wheat and Angie Martin with Texas Corn to get updates from their producers.  Thanks to everyone that participated.

Chris has an insightful conversation with Mark Welch who is the Grain Marketing Specialist and Director of TEPAP at Texas A&M. Mark talks through many of the economic hurdles that the markets will need to navigate in the coming weeks and months. They start out discussing production potential which starts with planting delays and various weather problems across the US. The Russian Ukraine war continues to be a spotlight in the market even though they appear to be getting their crops planted. Additionally, they discuss demand “strength”; however, at what point do we see demand reduction or even demand destruction? Is a declining stock market a threat to commodities at a certain point or will it drive even additional money into the commodity markets? Finally, they discuss some pricing considerations for marketing your 2022 and 2023 crops.

In this episode Chris talks with Mark Welch, Texas A&M Grain Marketing Economist. They discuss the impact of last weeks USDA report and how lower corn acres will require record yield levels to maintain supply level. Additionally, the Russia - Ukraine war could easily lead to little if any grain exports. What could this do to the market if we have a short crop along with limited exports from Russian + Ukraine? Finally the U.S. economic condition continues with increasing inflation levels. What are some of the market strategies to navigate these markets moving forward?

It's been a little while since we've had Dr. Mark Welch on AgriTalk. He is an extension economist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and he joins us to discuss risk management. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris talks with Mark Welch, a Grain Marketing Economist with Texas A&M, about the impact of inflation, interest rate increases, and investor money on the commodity markets. They also discuss the potential market impacts of the Russian and Ukraine situation and South American weather. Strategies for marketing the balance of 2021 crop and managing the price risk on the 2022 crop conclude the discussion

Through a series of Senior Pastor reports, Mark Welch, Operation Manager for Ministerial and Member Services, updates Victor Kubik on the state of UCG's international ministry. Send us your questions, comments, or suggestions at podcast@ucg.org.

COVID-19 forced a sudden and significant leap in responsibility for healthcare supply chains around the world. Mark Welch, Novant Health senior vice president of supply chain, explains lessons learned and best practices for the future.

Mark Welch with Texas A&M talks with Chris about marketing corn and soybeans in the last week of October. Managing basis levels and price opportunities leads the discussion along with Ethanol demand. They also address many of the risks associated with possible demand pressure as we move into the next year. 2022 provides a lot of opportunities but managing your margins will be the name of the game.

The longest-running farm program in West Texas, the AgriBusiness Report is our daily interview program with decision-makers in the world of Agriculture. Today's guest is Dr. Mark Welch, Texas A&M AgriLife Grain Economist.

Gina DiPietro  0:04  COVID-19 forced a sudden and significant leap in responsibility for healthcare supply chains across the world. When hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities and even physician offices found themselves on the frontlines of the pandemic. You're listening to Industry Insights: A healthcare podcast presented by Novant Health. I'm your host, Gina DiPietro. Healthcare supply chains, which often operate behind the scenes, were catapulted into the spotlight in early 2020. As communities around the world faced patient surges, demand for personal protective equipment, and other supplies. Mark Welch, Novant Health Senior Vice President of supply chain, explains in this podcast what they learned from the experience, and what best practices they'll carry forward. Gina DiPietro  0:55  Mark, I've heard you refer to the supply chain as a bunch of problem solvers in a lot of ways they were ready for COVID-19. It's what they do every day. But what did change was the urgency and the volumes of what supply chain needed to source. Explain kind of what you observed in the early days of the pandemic.Mark Welch  1:16  So we started putting together what would be the critical supplies? So what do we need to battle to prevent from getting COVID? And so we did that. And that's a lot of the PP stuff that you've heard so much about, we actually got into a good cadence of what we were doing. And once we got that cadence gone, it was just more of how soon How fast, how much, and then we just continued down that road.Gina DiPietro  1:40  Yeah, let's dive into that a little bit more. You mentioned PPE. So we'll take personal protective equipment as an example. You know, supply chain needs to have a strong understanding of who is using what and how much. So tell us a little bit more about the importance of having had those trusted partners across the clinics, whether it's physicians, nurses or other team members, as you work to figure out who needed what and when.Mark Welch  2:05  Especially when you look at some protective equipment, when's the right time to use a gown? When's the right time to use it, and N95 respirator masks, and we teamed up with Dr. David Priest's team. And his whole team was remarkable. They started drawing up protocols when it was properly to have and N95 masks who had and N95 masks, who should be going into the rooms. And that utilization of product really helped instead of just masking everybody and gown and everybody, we really went into a conservative state, and really thoughtfully put together who needed what, and through their protocols, we were able to do that. And another thing, as you know, you may or may not know, we have a lot of contracts. And we do a lot of standardization. So when we do a change in our system, we have to education throughout the whole system. So this new way of sourcing that we had to do during this time period, when our current suppliers can supply us enough product, we had to go get other products. So we had to use a lot of inserting of new products who could use what how they would use them. And N95 is a really unique piece of protection because you've got to be fitted for it. So it's not just like putting over here, look, you're good to go. You actually have to be fitted for it yet to be tested. And then what causes a problem for us, they're more we're buying different brands of N 95 masks, you got to be fitted for each one, the supply chain team worked with the conditions did a great job and saying, Okay, so we have four different and N95 resources at this time. And because of that, what we're going to do is we're going to segment what type of ni five goes to what area that way, there's only testing for that and N95 in that particular area. And it remained consistent throughout the process. And so we didn't have to have a lot of tests, you know, there's some master didn't fit everybody's face. So we had to do some exceptions for that. Whether it be size, you know, small, medium, and large. There's some that we had to do some pretty detailed manual delivery of product just to make sure the right people got the right product. But for the most part, we were able to segment to different areas of our system, the different mask, and that in itself helps maintain consistency and safety for our patients as well.Gina DiPietro  4:22  You mentioned Dr. David Priest, Novant Health chief safety quality and Epidemiology officer, and how he and the infection prevention team were able to implement those new protocols to help maintain those resources when they were becoming scarse. Do you think that this helped avoid maybe the hoarding or hiding of supplies when people just weren't sure how long they would last?Mark Welch  4:47  Oh, absolutely. And I think everybody just felt comfortable. We didn't have to feel insecure and we didn't have to hoard things. I mean, if our system would have started hoarding things, we probably would have spent three or four times as much right product when it got to the right people. And there probably would have been some safety issues, the fact that we have so much trust in each other and the transparency that Novant has with our vendors, as well as with our teammates, and our patient. I mean, that's the only way to go. If this happens again, and it probably will in our lifetime, something like this will happen again, we'll be prepared. And the trust that we built to the COVID process will lend us well in the future.Gina DiPietro  5:28  How did supply chain go about sourcing from new vendors, when existing vendors just didn't have the supplies or whatever else was needed at the time?Mark Welch  5:38  We had a lot of community help. We set up donation line, we set up emails for donation, we had a team did a great job of sorting that out. But we also had a lot of people that they had resources that they were importing from other countries, and they had connections and they could help us with different things. And you know, honestly, it was a situation that we vetted them all. We did end up buying some from areas that when we got the product was a little bit questionable. So we sequestered it, we didn't use it, we had a tested in the stuff that did not meet our quality or did not meet specs we did get rid of we weren't randomly just putting things in the hospital. So that took a lot of effort. And probably the most uncomfortable thing we had to do was to buy from some of these companies that we've never done business with before. And now we're sourcing with them. And we're standing in line trying to get product.Gina DiPietro  6:34  What did you learn from that experience? Kind of having to get out of the comfort zone a little bit and maybe source from companies, like you said that Novant Health had not previously worked with.Mark Welch  6:44  Whether it's offshore, nearshore or onshore, we're looking at try to balance it. That doesn't mean we want to have a lot of different products. We don't want to go away from standardization and everything else. Because standardization is so important. And so, so critical to quality and different things. We're being very proactive about where we're getting product and how we're getting product, and then how we can ramp up or slow down wherever the case may be. So it's a constant study. I mean, we're studying our numbers all the time.Gina DiPietro  7:15  You mentioned that the beginning of the pandemic, you were getting emails about, 'Hey, I know a guy who knows a guy who can get this.' What does the process look like when you begin to vet new vendors or new companies?Mark Welch  7:27  When they deemed some stuff emergency use, you know, it kind of opened the floodgates a little bit on some things that allows you to buy products, maybe from people that you normally wouldn't buy it from. But when we got those products, like I said, we still work with Dr. David Priest's team and make sure that the quality was there that the product was doing was supposed to be doing. Because the worst thing we could have done is put a mask on somebody that thought they was being protected. And they really were not being protected. We were very concerned about that. So that's what we did a lot of different testing and, and just quality checks.Gina DiPietro  8:00  What is the benefit of hiring and retaining employees who have a background, not just in sourcing, but in healthcare sourcing, in particular? What would be the benefit in that?Mark Welch  8:14  Product knowledge. And I'm not saying healthcare is that much different. But there's a lot of moving parts, a lot of variables, you know, the human body and specifications. Everybody's different. The willingness of our clinicians to teach us and explain to us because we've been around long enough what their products they need and how they use them. And what's different about this product compared to this product really helped us out if COVID would have started. And I wouldn't have had to go introduce myself to Dr. David Priest for the first time. He would have said, 'Who are you, you know what's going on? You know, I've got all these other things to worry about.' But since we have a relationship now, he me but my entire team is a phone call. Here's what we see, I have this many masks, if we continue on the route that we're going, we'll be out of mask in 45 days. She would say, Well, what do we need to do? We're using a lot more mask and this area compared to this area. It would be a phone call, what are we doing? And maybe somebody was starting thinking that moment, we got to order up on these that relationship in itself. It just squashes any type of fear.Gina DiPietro  9:20  What other lessons learned could you share about how supply chain leaders can develop and implement preparedness plans? Perhaps any helpful technologies or resources that you shared with others or just things that you found that really worked?Mark Welch  9:36  It's just about people and process and relationships. We can buy the fanciest computer. We can buy the fanciest software. And that's great because you need information you need data and we have unbelievably strong data at Novant Health. So I mean, that made our process easier. But at every level of supply chain, whether it's my role, whether it's a vice presidents role, whether it's as a director role, whether it's a manager's role, whether it is a frontline worker talking directly with other frontline workers, it's about that relationship. And I would say that our relationship and our reputation, our hospital system was strong before COVID. And I think that helped us in our response to COVID anyway, and I think it's just gotten stronger. I hope that we can continue to have those open conversations. And if something breaks, honestly, if we mistakenly put something in the wrong area or somebody out of something else, we're not getting calls from the market president. That person on the front line is calling the people they work with every day, and they're solving those problems again, every day. And that happens. I know it happens, but it's how we react to a crisis versus how we don't react to a crisis.Gina DiPietro  10:52  Gina here and thank you for listening to this episode of Industry Insights. You can find more episodes under the Industry Insights channel of the Novant Health podcast family. There's tons of great content there around workforce burnout, creating a culture of diversity and inclusion, price transparency, and even a deep dive into the shift in orthopedics from inpatient to mostly outpatient procedures. Feel free to browse around. We're on Apple, Google, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Mark Welch, a Grain Marketing Economist with Texas A&M, joins Chris to discuss the corn and soybean markets as we head into a new week. They discuss weather, foreign and domestic demand, sales strategies, and basis management as we move through the growing season.

Mark Welch joins Victor Kubik to discuss his role as operation manager for Ministerial and Member Services at the United Church of God, and lay out his plans for the future. Send us your questions, comments, or suggestions at podcast@ucg.org.

Award-winning journalist and economist Tim Harford explains three simple rules for understanding statistics and evaluating truth in the news. Then, you’ll learn about why our microbiomes may have come from dirt.  Additional resources from Tim Harford: Pick up "The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ad1dQ4  Tim Harford's website: https://timharford.com/  Tim Harford on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimHarford  Microbes in dental plaque are more like soil microbes than tongue microbes, which suggests our microbiomes came from dirt by Cameron Duke Caldwell, A. (2020, December 15). Microbes in dental plaque look more like relatives in soil than those on the tongue. EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uocm-mid121420.php  Shaiber, A., Willis, A. D., Delmont, T. O., Roux, S., Chen, L.-X., Schmid, A. C., Yousef, M., Watson, A. R., Lolans, K., Esen, Ö. C., Lee, S. T. M., Downey, N., Morrison, H. G., Dewhirst, F. E., Mark Welch, J. L., & Eren, A. M. (2020). Functional and genetic markers of niche partitioning among enigmatic members of the human oral microbiome. Genome Biology, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-020-02195-w  Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris talks with Mark Welch, grain marketing specialist from Texas A&M University. They discuss the discipline of managing through current market volatility. Some of the topics of discussion include short and long term demand, large speculators in the market and their current long positions, ethanol, and some of the potential tendencies for market moves in the weeks and months ahead. Having a plan to manage your risk through the course of this upcoming year may be more important than anything on your operation.

This afternoon we welcome Mark Welch, Professor and Extension Economist, Grain Marketing at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to AgriTalk. We review the week's trading, especially today's shake-up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Mark Welch, founder of Street Savvy Sales Leadership shares how to craft an action plan to improve sales performance in an organization. Insights he shares include: The challenges that today's sales teams faceWhat does a best in class sales teams look likeHow to craft an action plan to improve sales performanceThe difference between customer success and sales productivityWhy you should invest in allowing salespeople to build their repertoire of customer storiesWhy you should start with hiring and sales leadershipMetrics to watch forHow to measure sales leadership's abilityShould leadership treat their sales teams like customersand much more

Greg Peterson – Machinery Pete – gives us his Pick of the Week and reports on the amazing run of record-breaking auction prices that continues. We catch up with NCGA CEO Jon Doggett and get his reactions on some of the appointments made for the in-coming Biden administration. Dr. Mark Welch of Texas A&M joins us to provide his perspective on the outlook for sorghum. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris talks with Mark Welch, the director of TEPAP, about the 2021 program which will be virtual every Tuesday of January, from 10 a.m. to noon. Be sure to check out this high level, educational opportunity!

Chris talks with Mark Welch, a Professor and Extension Economist - Grain Marketing at Texas A&M University. They discuss the current macro and micro economic conditions, including some possible strategies for dealing with the challenges and opportunities that may lay ahead.

Mark Welch is a sales team developer, sales and leadership coach and author. He is the founder of Street Savvy Sales Leadership and he helps Business to Business companies build and grow best in class sales teams.

In this episode, I talk with Mark Welch, Barton Murray and Jana Murray from Barrier Island Organics about their product, ... Read moreBarrier Island Organics and Mother Earth’s Organic Root Cider

Millennial Brent & Pastor Mark weigh in with David on current culture and Christian dating standards. 12.2.19

Chris talks with Mark Welch, Grain Marketing Economist at Texas A&M and the Director of TEPAP. They outline how working on your business, and not in your business, and how The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP), sets you up for success and really takes your business to the next level. If you'd like to hear a personal testimony on the benefits of attending TEPAP, please reach out to us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com or call Chris Barron at (319)533-5703. Enjoy!

Do you know what your buyers expect from you? Do you struggle with getting them to trust you or your company? Are you aware of your customer’s needs, knowing full well that they only care whether or not you or your product can solve their problems? In this episode of INSIDE Inside Sales, Darryl speaks with the unmistakable Mark Welch, Founder of Street Savvy Sales Leadership.  Darryl and Mark go over such topics as ways to use conversational analytics for your benefit, as well as how to be in tune with your buyer’s emotions. They also discuss strategies such as embracing silence in a conversation, approaching the sales cycle with humility, and ways to build trust and credibility with your buyers. That’s just scratching the surface of the many topics discussed on this episode of INSIDE Inside Sales! About Darryl's guest: Mark is the Founder of Street Savvy Sales Leadership which specializes in coaching and consulting B2B business CEO’s/Founders and Sales Leaders on how to build sales teams that consistently outperform in the market.By combining 30+ years of hands-on sales and sales leadership experience, with research, and over 100 interviews with sales professionals, Mark has created 10 Sales Organization Imperatives that help leaders grow highly productive sales organizations. Mark’s recently published book, The Street Savvy Sales Leader details these 10 Imperatives.His passion is helping to build high performance, focused, accountable, sales organizations and answering that critical all-encompassing question; How do you get the most sales productivity out of your sales organization? Mark has published articles in CEO Magazine and Top Sales World and is a guest on a variety of webinar and podcast programs. Mark is also a sought after speaker, accredited speaker for TEC Canada and the CEO Global Network. Mark holds a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Sociology and Political Science from Brock University and an Honors Bachelor Administrative Studies Degree in Marketing from York University. Connect with Mark: Twitter | LinkedIn  ___________________________________________ INSIDE Inside Sales is hosted by Darryl Praill, CMO of VanillaSoft which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.  VanilaSoft is the sponsor for Inside Inside Sales.     

Talking MINIFOOTBALL business and more

In this episode sorghum farmer and Leadership Sorghum Class II graduate Greg Glover from Amarillo, Texas, along with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Economist Mark Welch, Ph.D., join us to discuss the Master Marketer program taking place in Lubbock, Texas, this year and their perspective on grain marketing today.  Glover discusses his current marketing tools and strategies as well as what he plans to implement in the future. Welch shares the goals of the Master Marketer program through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and other resources farmers can take advantage of to help formulate their marketing plan based on their operation. 

Mark Welch joins Victor Kubik to discuss his new role as Operation Manager for Ministerial and Member Services and his vision for the work moving forward.

Mark Welch from EPG Wealth joins Kayley Harris to talk Finance. Kayley and Mark talk about the productivity commission, fees and potential outcomes.  

Mark Welch from EPG Wealth joins Kayley Harris as he does every Sunday to talk Finance. Kayley and Mark continue with the 10 ways to boost super, plus they discuss testamentary trusts.

Kayley Harris speaks to Mark Welch from EPG Wealth. Today, Kayley and Mark talk about the different types of Superfunds. Industry and Retails Super funds. Public and Corporate Super funds, Self-managed Super funds. They also start to list 10 ways to boost super.

On this episode of The 2X Podcast, Bill sits down with Mark Welch, author of The Street Savvy Sales Leader, a guide to building team that consistently win new business. Mark has years of experience in leading sales teams, from 5 to over 70 people. He is a fully certified sales skills and business coach. He brings some very unique and interesting ideas to the podcast on how you and your team can win. If you want to learn more about Mark and his book, go to https://www.streetsavvysalesleadership.com.   ►Where to follow and listen to Bill:   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billcaskeyfan Private Facebook Group, Going Pro Twitter: https://twitter.com/billcaskey Website: http://www.billcaskey.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcaskey Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ Book: Same Game New Rules: https://samegamenewrules.com EmailIt: Book on emails that get action: https://emailitsellersguide.com Mastermind Group: The 2X Group | https://the2xgroup.com  Schedule A Call With Bill To Talk Team Training: 20-Minute Phone Call   ---- Thank you for listening to this podcast—Please Share it.

Kayley Harris speaks to Mark Welch from EPG Wealth. Today's Topic: Kayley and Mark talk about the interview process to find a Financial planner and all the financial planning fees and what to be careful of.

Kayley Harris speaks to Mark Welch from EPG Wealth. Kayley and Mark talk to a few callers about Pensions, Investments outside Super and the importance of Salary Sacrifice.

Tyler and Ryan visit with former longtime Williamson County IPM Agent Dale Mott about struggles with the 2018 cotton crop. They discuss plastic contamination, seed sprouting, and dealing with a wet  fall. Dr. Mark Welch, Extension Grain Economist, gives a grain market update and encourages producers to plan on making modest increases in yield and modest decreases in input costs as we look forward to 2019 production. 

Kayley Harris speaks with Mark Welch from EPG Wealth to discuss our latest financing ideas.

Have you considered a reverse mortgage? Plenty of people see it as a quick way to access cash but it may not be your best option. Mark Welch from EPG Wealth tells Kayley Harris you need to consider the hidden costs.

$50 billion was wiped off the stock market this week, hitting superannuation funds hard. Senior Advisor and partner from EPG Wealth, Mark Welch tells Kayley Harris it's important to think about your long term plan with superannuation.

Superannuation funds are on notice from ASIC with the corporate watchdog  floating the possibility it will seek to break up superannuation managers and their wealth management arms because the conflicts of interest are insurmountable. EPG Wealth's Mark Welch agrees telling Kayley Harris the sector needs to be more transparent.

Mark Welch from EPG Wealth gives superannuation advice.