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Send us a textPeaches runs a solo Daily Drop Ops Brief covering what actually matters across the force—without the internet losing its mind. From a massive Army AI data contract and Navy fatigue countermeasures to Marine Corps technical excellence, Air Force deployment model changes, Space Force's role in Venezuela, and Coast Guard operations in the Pacific, this episode connects policy to reality. Peaches also digs into broken acquisition timelines, submarine delays, NATO dependency truths, Arctic deterrence, defense contracting fraud, household goods reform, and why nuance beats outrage every time. No hype. No fear porn. Just experience, context, and why most headlines miss the point.⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Daily Drop intro and attributes-based lens 01:30 Army court-martial and accountability 02:30 $5.6B Army AI / data analytics contract 04:45 Gen AI on government systems explained 06:00 Navy fatigue light therapy trials 07:45 Mine countermeasure ships exit Middle East 08:45 Submarine delays and industrial base issues 10:15 Marine radar repair recognition 11:30 Air Expeditionary Wing 2.0 rollout 13:45 A-10 deployment and nose art 15:00 OTS Alabama plug and permissive TDY 17:30 Space Force role in Venezuela operations 18:45 Coast Guard Pacific strike aftermath 20:00 DoD criticism of 8(a) contracting 22:30 Household goods reform explained 24:30 NATO defense reality check 26:00 Arctic unmanned systems 27:30 Global ops roundup and wrap-up
Send us a textPeaches runs a solo Daily Drop Ops Brief and covers a wide-open slate of military news the internet is reacting to—often without context. From Army suicide-prevention efforts and Navy substance bans to Marine retention bonuses, Space Force growth pains, Coast Guard legal reversals, and housing infrastructure failures, this episode connects the dots between policy, readiness, and reality. Peaches also breaks down Venezuela's ripple effects, Arctic deterrence, China's AI-driven drone swarms, NATO politics, and why military infrastructure is paying the price for two decades of operational neglect. No panic. No hype. Just context, experience, and why nuance still matters.⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Ones Ready intro and Daily Drop format 01:15 OTS Alabama update and permissive TDY explained 03:00 Army suicide-prevention initiative 04:10 Navy bans kratom and substances 05:10 Navy non-combat death in Djibouti 06:00 Bahrain housing modernization 06:45 Marine Corps retention bonuses 07:40 Air Force helicopter incident findings 09:20 Space Force growth and role confusion 11:30 Coast Guard manslaughter appeal 12:45 New National Defense Strategy questions 14:00 Pentagon vending machine controversy 15:00 Military housing water and mold issues 17:10 Golden Dome missile defense delays 18:20 NATO remarks and allied sacrifices 20:00 Venezuela operation global reactions 21:30 Arctic readiness and deterrence 22:30 China AI drone swarm concerns 24:00 Global naval moves and defense deals 25:30 Final thoughts and wrap-up
Spencer Reese welcomes Ross Alcorn from Itinerary Boss https://itineraryboss.com/ to discuss credit card points and miles strategies, with special focus on small business owners. Ross shares how he saved $19,000 on his honeymoon, reveals tactical business spending strategies, and explains how military service members can leverage TDY travel and small business expenses to fund dream vacations. Guest: Ross Alcorn - Charlotte, NC-based travel strategist, former sales rep road warrior (6-7 years), real estate investor, and founder of Itinerary Boss. Key Topics Covered Getting Started - The Low-Hanging Fruit: Sign up for FREE hotel loyalty programs (Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Hyatt) Add loyalty numbers to TDY/TAD stays retroactively if needed Military discount: Epic Pass for active duty/spouses ~$200 (normally $1,200) Start with no annual fee cards to build credit and learn the basics Never carry a balance - if you're paying interest, you're doing it wrong Business Spending Strategies: Most common mistake: Using Amex Platinum for everything (only 1x points on most purchases) Capital One Venture X Business: Uncapped 2x points, no preset credit limit Cards earning 3-4x on ad spend (Facebook, Google ads) Use Melio (M-E-L-I-O) to pay vendors who don't accept cards via ACH (2.9% fee) Negotiate early payment discounts (net 15 vs net 30) to offset processing fees Millions in business expenses going uncharged to credit cards The 2.9% Fee Debate: Worth it if redeeming points at 1.5+ cents per point value Effective 25-40% cash back when factoring welcome bonuses + transfer value Business expenses are tax deductible Ross personally pays fees on all expenses knowing he'll redeem at 2-6 cents/point Real-World Example - $19,000 Honeymoon Savings: Cards used: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Business Unlimited Flights: Qatar Q-Suites business class using 200K points (Chase + Capital One) Stayed 11 nights using Hyatt points at Alila properties in Bali Built point stash over 1-1.5 years through group travel booking + daily spend + business welcome bonuses Strategy: Booked award availability 355 days out when British Airways/Qatar released schedules Flexibility: Mixed business and premium economy on return flight Transfer Partners & Redemption: NEVER redeem for Amazon gift cards, statement credits, or low-value portal bookings (0.6-0.7 cents/point) Transfer to airline partners for 2-6+ cents per point value Don't use Amex points for hotels (poor value) Example: 175K Amex points = potential $12,700 business class seats to South Africa Tools: Points.Yeah.com for flight availability and award searching Military-Specific Advantages: Overseas duty stations = less competition for award space (Frankfurt, Tokyo, Seoul) Different inventory than US-based flyers TDY/TAD stays earn hotel points and elite status Annual fee waivers on personal cards (not business cards) via MLA/SCRA Chase Sapphire Reserve: $0 annual fee for military/spouses Strategic Tips: Always volunteer to pay group bills/dinners (earn points, get reimbursed) Premium economy fine for daytime flights under 8-9 hours Business class essential for overnight/long-haul flights (9+ hours) Plan 1-2 years ahead for big trips - comfortable pace to build points Opening velocity: Ross did one card every 91 days at peak (very aggressive) Combine household points (Chase, Amex, Capital One allow this) Book tickets in anyone's name, not just your own Credit Card Stacking Strategy: Don't use one premium card for everything Match card to spending category for maximum points Chase "cash back" cards earn Ultimate Rewards points if you have Sapphire Reserve/Preferred Transfer between household members before booking Welcome bonuses are the real value - daily spend is bonus Business Culture Hack: Instead of $5-10K cash bonus, give employees 500K miles + book their dream trip Tax deductible, builds culture, retains talent More memorable than cash bonus IHG Five Free Nights Strategy: Five free nights at properties up to 60K points/night Ross staying 4 nights in Grand Cayman at $800/night hotel = $3,200 saved Fourth night free on award bookings Anniversary free night each year Used for wedding block, earning 26x points on wedding expenses Common Mistakes to Avoid: Not asking vendors if they accept credit cards Using wrong card for spending category (leaving 2-3x points on table) Redeeming points poorly (gift cards, statement credits) Not tracking card benefits and credits Waiting too long to book award travel Not being flexible with dates/airports Tools & Resources Mentioned: Points.Yeah.com - Award availability search, flight ideas map Melio - Pay vendors via card when they only accept ACH Plastiq - Pay rent/large bills with credit card (2.9% fee) Free Points & Miles Cheat Sheet at ItineraryBoss.com Transfer partner guide and credit card multiplier sheets Key Quotes "There's millions of dollars that aren't being put on cards because of just not asking the right questions." "If you're earning 2x points and utilizing those points to transfer, even with a 3% fee, the numbers pencil when you're redeeming at 2-6 cents per point." "175,000 Amex points could be used to get you business class, first class seats - we used 176K Chase points for $12,700 worth of business class seats to South Africa." "Don't redeem for Amazon gift cards, statement credits, or through the portal - you're getting 0.6-0.7 cents per point. That's terrible." "Why give a $10K cash bonus when you could give someone 500K miles and book them a trip to Greece or Bali they'd never do on their own?" Who This Episode Is For Military small business owners and real estate investors Service members with TDY/TAD travel Anyone spending on business ads, inventory, or vendor payments Military spouses running 1099 contractor businesses People planning big trips (honeymoons, bucket list travel) Those currently leaving business value on the table Anyone wanting to turn business expenses into free travel Action Items Sign up for all major hotel loyalty programs today (free) Add loyalty numbers to upcoming TDY stays Check if vendors accept credit cards (or use Melio) Review current card stack - are you earning maximum points per category? Download free cheat sheet at ItineraryBoss.com If planning big trip: Start building points 1-2 years ahead Check military annual fee waivers (MLA/SCRA) Combine household points before booking award travel Contact Guest: Ross Alcorn Website: ItineraryBoss.com Free Points & Miles Cheat Sheet (includes transfer partners + credit card multipliers) Social: @ItineraryBoss (all platforms) Host: Spencer Reese Website: MilitaryMoneyManual.com Instagram: @MilitaryMoneyManual Recorded on Veterans Day. This episode reveals how military service members can leverage business expenses, TDY travel, and strategic credit card use to fund dream vacations. Whether you're spending $10K or $1M annually on your business, there are points being left on the table. Spencer and Jamie offer one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions. Get your personal military money and personal finance questions answered in a confidential coaching call. militarymoneymanual.com/mentor Over 20,000 military servicemembers and military spouses have graduated from the 100% free course available at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3 In the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course, you can learn how to apply for the most premium credit cards and get special military protections, such as waived annual fees, on elite cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. https://militarymoneymanual.com/amex-platinum-military/ https://militarymoneymanual.com/chase-sapphire-reserve-military/ Learn how active duty military, military spouses, and Guard and Reserves on 30+ day active orders can get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3 If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com. Want to be confident with your TSP investing? Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE! If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual.
Send us a textPeaches is back with a solo Daily Drop Ops Brief—and it's a needed reset. From Army barracks issues and counter-drone tech to Navy hypersonics, NATO cold-weather training, Air Force deployments, and the internet losing its mind over Greenland and Venezuela, this episode cuts through bad takes with context. Peaches explains what actually matters, why some outrage is performative, and how politics, psyops, deterrence, and military reality collide in ways social media refuses to understand. No hype. No fear porn. Just a grounded walk through what's happening, why it's happening, and why most people are missing the plot.⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Ones Ready intro and Daily Drop return 01:30 OTS Alabama update and how to attend 03:00 Financial aid, permissive TDY, and access 04:15 Army news: barracks, drones, accountability 05:30 Navy: Zumwalt upgrades and naval dominance 07:00 Marines deploy for Cold Response 08:50 Air Force flyovers and Middle East deployment 10:00 DOD: military working dog retirement 11:20 Retired generals, politics, and double standards 13:30 Moral disobedience and dangerous messaging 15:30 Burn pits, responsibility, and reality 17:00 Greenland, deterrence, and internet outrage 18:45 Venezuela, seizures, and selective attention 20:00 Global ops roundup and final thoughts
Purpose, trust and laughter matter. SUMMARY Dr. Heather Wilson '82, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force, and Gen. Dave Goldfein '83, former chief of staff of the Air Force, highlight the human side of leadership — honoring family, listening actively and using humility and humor to build strong teams. Their book, Get Back Up: Lessons in Servant Leadership, challenges leaders to serve first and lead with character. SHARE THIS PODCAST LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE Leadership Is a Gift and a Burden – Leaders are entrusted with the well-being and development of others, but that privilege entails tough, sometimes lonely, responsibilities. Servant Leadership – True leadership is about enabling and supporting those you lead, not seeking personal advancement or recognition. Influence and Teamwork – Lasting change comes from pairing authority with influence and working collaboratively; no leader succeeds alone. Embrace Failure and Own Mistakes – Effective leaders accept institutional and personal failures and use them as learning and teaching moments. Family Matters – Great leaders recognize the significance of family (their own and their team's) and demonstrate respect and flexibility for personal commitments. Be Data-Driven and Strategic – Borrow frameworks that suit the mission, be clear about goals, and regularly follow up to ensure progress. Listening Is Active – Truly listening, then responding openly and honestly—even when you can't “fix” everything—builds trust and respect. Humility and Curiosity – Never stop learning or questioning; continual self-improvement is a hallmark of strong leaders. Celebrate and Share Credit – Spread praise to those working behind the scenes; leadership is not about personal glory, but lifting others. Resilience and Leading by Example – “Getting back up” after setbacks inspires teams; how a leader recovers can motivate others to do the same. CHAPTERS 0:00:00 - Introduction and Welcome 0:00:21 - Guest Backgrounds and Family Legacies 0:02:57 - Inspiration for Writing the Book 0:05:00 - Defining Servant Leadership 0:07:46 - Role Models and Personal Examples 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 SPEAKERS Host: Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Guests: Dr. Heather Wilson '82, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, and former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. (Ret.) Dave Goldfein '83 Naviere Walkewicz 0:09 Welcome to Focus on Leadership, our accelerated leadership series. I'm your host, Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. I'm honored to welcome two exceptional leaders whose careers and friendship have helped shape the modern Air Force, while inspiring thousands to serve with purpose and courage. Our guests today are Dr. Heather Wilson, USAFA Class of '82, the 24th secretary of the Air Force, now president at the University of Texas El Paso. And Gen. Dave Goldfein, Class of '83, the 21st chief of staff of the Air Force. Both are United States Air Force Academy distinguished graduates. Together, they've written Get Back Up: Lessons in Servant Leadership, a powerful reflection on resilience, humility and the courage to lead to adversity. And our conversation today will dive deeply into the lessons they learned at the highest levels of command and in public service, and what it means to serve others first. Thank you for being here. Gen. Dave Goldfein 1:08 Thank you for having us. Naviere Walkewicz 1:09 Absolutely. This is truly an honor. And I mentioned that I read this incredible book, and I'm so excited for us to jump into it, but before we do, I think it's really important for people to know you more than the secretary and the chief. I mean chief, so Gen. Goldfein, you came from an Air Force family. Your dad was a colonel, and ma'am, your grandpa was a civil aviator, but you really didn't have any other military ties. Dr. Heather Wilson 1:29 Well, my grandfather was one of the first pilots in the RAF in World War I, then came to America, and in World War II, flew for his new country in the Civil Air Patrol. My dad enlisted by that a high school and was a crew chief between the end of the Second World War and the start of Korea, and then he went back home and became a commercial aviator and a mechanic. Naviere Walkewicz 1:52 I love that. So your lines run deep. So maybe you can share more and let our listeners get to know you more personally. What would you like to share in this introduction of Gen. Goldfein and Dr. Wilson? Gen. Dave Goldfein 2:02 Well, I'll just tell you that if you know much about Air Force culture you know we all get call signs, right. Nicknames, right? I got a new one the day I retired, and you get to use it. It's JD, which stands for “Just Dave.” Naviere Walkewicz 2:17 Just Dave! Yes, sir. JD. I will do my best for that to roll off my tongue. Yes, sir. Gen. Dave Goldfein 2:25 And I will just say congratulations to you for your two sons who are currently at the Academy. How cool is that? Naviere Walkewicz 2:31 Thank you. We come from a Long Blue Line family. My dad was a grad, my uncle, my brother and sister, my two boys. So if I get my third son, he'll be class of 2037, so, we'll see. We've got some time. Gen. Dave Goldfein 2:41 We have grandchildren. Matter of fact, our book is dedicated to grandchildren and they don't know it yet, but at least on my side, they're Class of 2040 and 2043 at the Air Force Academy. Naviere Walkewicz 2:52 OK, so my youngest will be cadre for them. Excellent. Excellent. Dr. Heather Wilson 2:57 And my oldest granddaughter is 4, so I think we'll wait a little bit and see what she wants to do. Naviere Walkewicz 3:04 Yes, ma'am. All right. Well, let's jump in. You just mentioned that you wrote the book primarily for your film book. Is that correct? Gen. Dave Goldfein 3:09 Yes. Naviere Walkewicz 3:10 How did you decide to do this now together? Because you both have incredible stories. Dr. Heather Wilson 3:14 Well, two years ago, we were actually up in Montana with Barbara and Craig Barrett, who — Barbara succeeded me as secretary of the Air Force. And our families, all six of us are quite close, and we were up there, and Dave was telling stories, and I said, “You know, you need to write some of these down.” And we talked about it a little bit, and he had tried to work with another co-author at one time and it just didn't work out really well. And I said, “Well, what if we do it together, and we focus it on young airmen, on lessons learned in leadership. And the other truth is, we were so tired of reading leadership books by Navy SEALs, you know, and so can we do something together? It turned out to be actually more work than I thought it would be for either of us, but it was also more fun. Naviere Walkewicz 3:59 How long did it take you from start to finish? Dr. Heather Wilson 4:02 Two years. Naviere Walkewicz 4:03 Two years? Excellent. And are you — where it's landed? Are you just so proud? Is it what you envisioned when you started? Gen. Dave Goldfein 4:10 You know, I am, but I will also say that it's just come out, so the initial response has been fantastic, but I'm really eager to see what the longer term response looks like, right? Did it resonate with our intended tenant audience? Right? Did the young captains that we had a chance to spend time with at SOS at Maxwell last week, right? They lined up forever to get a copy. But the real question is, did the stories resonate? Right? Do they actually give them some tools that they can use in their tool bag? Same thing with the cadets that we were privileged to spend time with the day. You know, they energized us. I mean, because we're looking at the we're looking at the future of the leadership of this country. And if, if these lessons in servant leadership can fill their tool bag a little bit, then we'll have hit the mark. Naviere Walkewicz 5:07 Yes, sir, yes. Ma'am. Well, let's jump right in then. And you talked about servant leadership. How would you describe it? Each of you, in your own words, Dr. Heather Wilson 5:15 To me, one of the things, important things about servant leadership is it's from the bottom. As a leader, your job is to enable the people who are doing the work. So in some ways, you know, people think that the pyramid goes like this, that it's the pyramid with the point at the top, and in servant leadership, it really is the other way around. And as a leader, one of the most important questions I ask my direct reports — I have for years — is: What do you need from me that you're not getting? And I can't print money in the basement, but what do you need from me that you're not getting? How, as a leader, can I better enable you to accomplish your piece of the mission. And I think a good servant leader is constantly thinking about, how do I — what can I do to make it easier for the people who are doing the job to get the mission done? Gen. Dave Goldfein 6:08 And I'd offer that the journey to becoming an inspirational servant leader is the journey of a lifetime. I'm not sure that any of us actually ever arrive. I'm not the leader that I want to be, but I'm working on it. And I think if we ever get to a point where we feel like we got it all figured out right, that we know exactly what this whole leadership gig is, that may be a good time to think about retiring, because what that translates to is perhaps at that point, we're not listening, we're not learning, we're not growing, we're not curious — all the things that are so important. The first chapter in the book is titled, Am I worthy? And it's a mirror-check question that we both came to both individually and together as secretary and chief. It's a mere check that you look at and say, “All right, on this lifelong journey to become an inspirational servant leader, am I worthy of the trust and confidence of the parents who have shared their sons and daughters with the United States Air Force and expecting us to lead with character and courage and confidence? Am I worthy of the gift that followers give to leaders? Am I earning that gift and re-earning it every single day by how I act, how I treat others?” You know, that's the essence of servant leadership that we try to bring forward in the book. Naviere Walkewicz 7:38 Right? Can you recall when you first saw someone exhibiting servant leadership in your life? Dr. Heather Wilson 7:46 Good question. It's a question of role models. Maj. William S. Reeder was my first air officer commanding here. And while I think I can probably think of some leaders in my community, you know, people who were school principals or those kind of things, I think Maj. Reeder terrified me because they didn't want to disappoint him. And he had — he was an Army officer who had been shot down as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He still had some lingering issues. Now, I think he had broken his leg or his back or something, and so you could tell that he still carried with him the impact of that, but he had very high expectations of us and we didn't want to disappoint him. And I think he was a pretty good role model. Gen. Dave Goldfein 8:47 You know, one of the things we say at the very end of the book is that we both married up. We both married incredible leaders, servant leaders in their own right. So in my case, I married my high school sweetheart, and we've now been together almost 43 years, coming up on 43. And when you talk about servant leadership, you know, very often we don't give military spouses enough credit for the enormous courage that they have when they deal with the separations, the long hours, very often not talked about enough, the loneliness that comes with being married to someone who's in the military. And so I just give a shout out to every military spouse that's out there and family to thank them for that very special kind of courage that equates to servant leadership on their part. Naviere Walkewicz 9:47 Excellent. Those are both really great examples, and I think, as our listeners are engaging with this, they're going to start to think about those people in their lives as well, through your descriptions. Early in the book, you make this statement: “Leadership is a gift and a burden.” Might you both expand on that? Dr. Heather Wilson 10:03 So it's a gift in that it's a gift that's given to you by those whom you are privileged to lead, and it's not just an institution that, you know, it's not just the regents of the University of Texas who have said, “Yes, you're going to be the president of the University of Texas at El Paso.” It is those who follow me who have given me gift of their loyalty and their service and their time. It's a burden, because some days are hard days, and you have to make hard calls based on values to advance the mission and, as chief and service secretary, there are no easy decisions that come walking into that part of the Pentagon. The easy decisions are all made before it gets to the service secretary and chief and so. So there is that responsibility of trying to do well difficult things. And I think sometimes those are lonely decisions. Gen. Dave Goldfein 11:09 And I think as a leader of any organization, part of what can be the burden is if you care deeply about the institution, then you carry the burden of any failures of that institution, both individuals who fall short, or the institution itself. And we face some of those, and we talk about that in the book. One of our chapters is on Sutherland Springs and owning failure. There was no dodge in that. And there was, quite frankly, there was an opportunity for us to actually showcase and teach others how to take ownership when the institution falls short and fails, right? And you know, one of the interesting elements of the relationship between a secretary and a chief is that if you go back and look at the law and read the job description of the chief of staff of the Air Force, it basically says, “Run the air staff and do what the secretary tells you.” I'm not making that up. Because most of the decision authority of the institution resides in the civilian control, the military civilian secretary. So almost all authority and decision authority resides with the secretary. What the chief position brings is 30 years in the institution that very often can bring credibility and influence. And what we determined early in our tenure was that if we were going to move the ball, if we were going to actually move the service in a positive direction, neither of us could do it alone. We had to do it together. We had to use this combination of authority and influence to be able to move the institution forward. And so that was a — and we talked a lot about that, you know, in the book, and it sort of runs throughout our stories. You know, that that trust matters. Naviere Walkewicz 12:59 Absolutely. We're going to visit that towards the end of our conversation, because there's a particular time before you both — before you became the chief and before you became the service secretary, when you met up together. And I want to visit that a little bit. But before we do, Gen. Goldfein — JD — you shared a story in the book, and obviously we want everyone to read it, so I'm not going to go tell the whole story, but you know where you took off one more time than you landed, and you had to, you know, you were hit, you had to evade and then you had to be rescued. There was a particular statement you made to identify yourself. And many of our Long Blue Line members will know this: fast, neat, average, friendly, good, good. In that moment of watching the sun start to rise while you're waiting to be retrieved, how did that come to your mind? Of all the things you could be thinking of to identify yourself? Gen. Dave Goldfein 13:53 Well, you know, it's interesting. So, you know, for those who've never, you know, had gone through a high-speed ejection, people asked me, what was like? I said, “Well, I used to be 6-foot-3. This is all that's left, right?” And you know, my job once I was on the ground was, quite frankly, not to goof it up. To let the rescue team do what the rescue team needed to do, and to play my part, which was to put them at the least amount of risk and be able to get out before the sun came up. And at the very end of the rescue when the helicopters — where I was actually vectoring them towards my location. And I had a compass in my hand, and I had my eyes closed, and I was just listening to the chopper noise and then vectoring them based on noise. And then eventually we got them to come and land, you know, right in front of me. Well, they always teach you, and they taught me here at the Academy during SERE training, which I think has been retitled, but it was SERE when we went through it, survival training. Now, I believe they teach you, “Hey, listen, you need to be nonthreatening, because the rescue team needs to know that you're not — this is not an ambush, that you are actually who you say you are. Don't hold up a weapon, be submissive and authenticate yourself. Well, to authenticate myself required me to actually try my flashlight. And I could see the enemy just over the horizon. And as soon as the helicopter landed, the enemy knew exactly where we were, and they came and running, and they came shooting, and they were raking the tree line with bullets. And so, you know, what I needed to do was to figure out a way to do an authentication. And I just, what came to mind was that training all those years ago, right here at the Academy, and I just said, “I could use a fast, neat, average rescue,” and friendly, good, good was on the way. Naviere Walkewicz 15:53 Wow, I just got chill bumps. Dr. Wilson, have you ever had to use that same kind of term, or, you know, reaching out to a grad in your time frequently? Dr. Heather Wilson 16:04 Yes, ma'am. And, you know, even in the last week, funny — I had an issue that I had to, I won't go into the details, but where there was an issue that might affect the reputation, not only of the university, but of one of our major industry partners, and it wasn't caused by either of us, but there was kind of a, kind of a middle person that was known to us that may not have been entirely acting with integrity. And I just looked up the company. The CEO is an Academy grad. So I picked up the phone and I called the office and we had a conversation. And I said, “Hey, I'd like to have a conversation with you, grad to grad.” And I said, “There are some issues here that I don't need to go into the details, but where I think you and I need to be a little careful about our reputations and what matters is my relationship as the university with you and your company and what your company needs in terms of talent. But wanted to let you know something that happened and what we're doing about it, but I wanted to make sure that you and I are clear.” And it was foundation of values that we act with integrity and we don't tolerate people who won't. Naviere Walkewicz 17:30 Yes, ma'am, I love that. The Long Blue Line runs deep that way, and that's a great example. JD, you spoke about, in the book, after the rescue — by the way, the picture in there of that entire crew was amazing. I love that picture. But you talked about getting back up in the air as soon as possible, without any pomp and circumstance. “Just get me back in the air and into the action.” I'd like to visit two things. One, you debriefed with the — on the check ride, the debrief on the check ride and why that was important. And then also you spoke about the dilemma of being dad and squad comm. Can you talk about that as well? Gen. Dave Goldfein 18:06 Yeah, the check ride. So when I was in Desert Storm, an incredible squadron commander named Billy Diehl, and one of the things that he told us after he led all the missions in the first 30 days or so, he said, “Look, there will be a lot of medals, you know, from this war.” He goes, “But I'm going to do something for you that happened for me in Vietnam. I'm going to fly on your wing, and I'm going to give you a check ride, and you're going to have a documented check ride of a combat mission that you led in your flying record. I'm doing that for you.” OK, so fast forward 10 years, now I'm the squadron commander, and I basically followed his lead. Said, “Hey, I want…” So that night, when I was shot down, I was actually flying on the wing of one of my captains, “Jammer” Kavlick, giving him a check ride. And so, of course, the rescue turns out — I'm sitting here, so it turned out great. And so I called Jammer into a room, and I said, “Hey, man, we never did the check ride.” I said, “You know, you flew a formation right over the top of a surface enemy missile that took out your wingman. That's not a great start.” And he just sort of… “Yes, sir, I know.” I said, “And then you led an all-night rescue that returned him to his family. That's pretty good recovery.” And so it's been a joke between us ever since. But in his personal — his flying record, he has a form that says, “I'm exceptionally, exceptionally qualified.” So I got back and I thought about this when I was on the ground collecting rocks for my daughters, you know, as souvenirs from Serbia. I got back, and I looked at my wing commander, and I said, “Hey, sir, I know you probably had a chance to think about this, but I'm not your young captain that just got shot down. I'm the squadron commander, and I've got to get my squadron back on the horse, and the only way to do that is for me to get back in the air. So if it's OK with you, I'm gonna go home. I'm gonna get crew rest and I'm going to fly tonight.” And he looked at me, and he looked at my wife, Dawn, who was there, and he goes, “If it's OK with her, it's OK with me.” Great. Dawn, just a champion, she said, “I understand it. That's what you got to do.” Because we were flying combat missions with our families at home, which is, was not in the squadron commander handbook, right? Pretty unique. What I found, though, was that my oldest daughter was struggling a little bit with it, and so now you've got this, you know, OK, I owe it to my squad to get right back up in the air and lead that night. And I owe it to my daughter to make sure that she's OK. And so I chose to take one night, make sure that she and my youngest daughter, Diana, were both, you know, in a good place, that they knew that everything's going to be OK. And then I got back up the next night. And in some ways, I didn't talk about it with anybody in the media for a year, because my dad was a Vietnam vet, I'd met so many of his friends, and I'd met so many folks who had actually gotten shot down one and two and three times over Vietnam, in Laos, right? You know what they did after they got rescued? They got back up. They just went back up in the air, right? No fanfare, no book tours, no, you know, nothing, right? It was just get back to work. So for me, it was a way of very quietly honoring the Vietnam generation, to basically do what they did and get back in the air quietly. And so that was what it was all about. Naviere Walkewicz 21:25 Dr. Wilson, how about for you? Because I know — I remember reading in the book you had a — there was something you said where, if your children called, no matter what they could always get through. So how have you balanced family? Dr. Heather Wilson 21:36 Work and life. And so, when I was elected to the Congress, my son was 4 years old. My daughter was 18 months. First of all, I married well, just like Dave. But I also think my obligations to my family don't end at the front porch, and I want to make a better world for them. But I also knew that I was a better member of Congress because I had a family, and that in some ways, each gave richness and dimension to the other. We figured out how to make it work as a family. I mean, both my children have been to a White House Christmas ball and the State of the Union, but we always had a rule that you can call no matter what. And I remember there were some times that it confounded people and, like, there was one time when President Bush — W. Bush, 43 — was coming to New Mexico for the first time, and he was going to do some events in Albuquerque. And they called and they said, “Well, if the congresswoman wants to fly in with him from Texas, you know, she can get off the airplane in her district with the president. And the answer was, “That's the first day of school, and I always take my kids to school the first day, so I'll just meet him here.” And the staff was stunned by that, like, she turns down a ride on Air Force One to arrive in her district with the president of the United States to take her kids to school. Yes, George Bush understood it completely. And likewise, when the vice president came, and it was, you know, that the one thing leading up to another tough election — I never had an easy election — and the one thing I said to my staff all the way through October, leading — “There's one night I need off, and that's Halloween, because we're going trick or treating.” And wouldn't you know the vice president is flying into New Mexico on Halloween for some event in New Mexico, and we told them, “I will meet them at the stairs when they arrive in Albuquerque. I'll have my family with them, but I won't be going to the event because we're going trick or treating.” And in my house, I have this great picture of the vice president of the United States and his wife and my kids in costume meeting. So most senior people understood that my family was important to me and everybody's family, you know — most people work to put food on the table, and if, as a leader, you recognize that and you give them grace when they need it, you will also have wonderful people who will work for you sometimes when the pay is better somewhere else because you respect that their families matter to them and making room for that love is important. Naviere Walkewicz 24:36 May I ask a follow on to that? Because I think that what you said was really important. You had a leader that understood. What about some of our listeners that maybe have leaders that don't value the same things or family in the way that is important. How do they navigate that? Dr. Heather Wilson 24:52 Sometimes you look towards the next assignment, or you find a place where your values are the same. And if we have leaders out there who are not being cognizant of the importance of family — I mean, we may recruit airmen but we retain families, and if we are not paying attention to that, then we will lose exceptional people. So that means that sometimes, you know, I give a lot of flexibility to people who are very high performers and work with me. And I also know that if I call them at 10 o'clock at night, they're going to answer the phone, and that's OK. I understand what it's like to — I remember, you know, I was in New Mexico, I was a member of Congress, somebody was calling about an issue in the budget, and my daughter, who was probably 4 at the time, had an ear infection, and it was just miserable. And so I'm trying to get soup into her, and this guy is calling me, and she's got — and it was one of the few times I said — and it was the chairman of a committee — I said, “Can I just call you back? I've got a kid with an ear infection…” And he had five kids. He said, “Oh, absolutely, you call me back.” So you just be honest with people about the importance of family. Why are we in the service? We're here to protect our families and everybody else's family. And that's OK. Naviere Walkewicz 26:23 Yes, thank you for sharing that. Anything to add to that, JD? No? OK. Well, Dr. Wilson, I'd like to go into the book where you talk about your chapter on collecting tools, which is a wonderful chapter, and you talk about Malcolm Baldridge. I had to look him up — I'll be honest — to understand, as a businessman, his career and his legacy. But maybe share in particular why he has helped you. Or maybe you've leveraged his process in the way that you kind of think through and systematically approach things. Dr. Heather Wilson 26:49 Yeah, there was a movement in the, it would have been in the early '90s, on the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards. It came out of the Department of Commerce, but then it spread to many of the states and it was one of the better models I thought for how to run organizations strategically. And I learned about it when I was a small businessperson in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And I thought it was interesting. But the thing that I liked about it was it scaled. It was a little bit like broccoli, you know, it looks the same at the little flora as it does at the whole head, right? And so it kind of became a model for how I could use those tools about being data driven, strategically focused, process oriented that I could use in reforming a large and not very well functioning child welfare department when I became a cabinet secretary for children, youth and families, which was not on my how-to-run-my-career card. That was not in the plan, but again, it was a set of tools that I'd learned in one place that I brought with me and thought might work in another. Naviere Walkewicz 28:02 Excellent. And do you follow a similar approach, JD, in how you approach a big problem? Gen. Dave Goldfein 28:07 I think we're all lifelong students of different models and different frameworks that work. And there's not a one-size-fits-all for every organization. And the best leaders, I think, are able to tailor their approach based on what the mission — who the people are, what they're trying to accomplish. I had a chance to be a an aide de camp to a three-star, Mike Ryan, early in my career, and he went on to be chief of staff of the Air Force. And one of the frameworks that he taught me was he said, “If you really want to get anything done,” he said, “you've got to do three things.” He said, “First of all, you got to put a single person in charge.” He said, “Committees and groups solve very little. Someone's got to drive to work feeling like they've got the authority, the responsibility, the resources and everything they need to accomplish what it is that you want to accomplish. So get a single person in charge. Most important decision you will make as a leader, put the right person in charge. Second, that person owes you a plan in English. Not 15 PowerPoint slides, right, but something that clearly articulates in one to two pages, max, exactly what we're trying to accomplish. And the third is, you've got to have a way to follow up.” He said, “Because life gets in the way of any perfect plan. And what will happen is,” he goes, “I will tell you how many times,” he said, “that I would circle back with my team, you know, a couple months later and say, ‘How's it going?' And they would all look at each other and say, “Well, I thought you were in charge,” right? And then after that, once they figure out who was in charge, they said, “Well, we were working this plan, but we got, you know, we had to go left versus right, because we had this crisis, this alligator started circling the canoe, and therefore we had to, you know, take care of that,” right? He says, “As a leader, those are the three elements of any success. Put someone in charge. Build a plan that's understandable and readable, and always follow up. And I've used that as a framework, you know, throughout different organizations, even all the way as chief to find — to make sure that we had the right things. Dr. Heather Wilson 30:21 Even this morning, somebody came by who reminded us of a story that probably should have been in the book, where we had — it was a cyber vulnerability that was related to a particular piece of software widely deployed, and the CIO was having trouble getting the MAJCOMMS to kind of take it seriously. And they were saying, “Well, you know, we think maybe in 30, 60, 90 days, six months, we'll have it all done,” or whatever. So I said, “OK, let all the four-stars know. I want to be updated every 36 hours on how many of them, they still have, still have not updated.” I mean, this is a major cyber vulnerability that we knew was — could be exploited and wasn't some little thing. It was amazing; it got done faster. Naviere Walkewicz 31:11 No 90 days later. Oh, my goodness. Well, that was excellent and actually, I saw that in action in the story, in the book, after the attack on the Pentagon, and when you stood up and took charge, kind of the relief efforts, because many people were coming in that wanted to help, and they just needed someone to lead how that could happen. So you were putting into practice. Yes, sir. I'd like to get into where you talk about living your purpose, and that's a chapter in there. But you know, Gen. Goldfein, we have to get into this. You left the Academy as a cadet, and I think that's something that not many people are familiar with. You ride across the country on a bike with a guitar on your back for part of the time — and you sent it to Dawn after a little while — Mini-Bear in your shirt, to find your purpose. Was there a moment during the six months that you that hit you like lightning and you knew that this was your purpose, or was it a gradual meeting of those different Americans you kind of came across? Gen. Dave Goldfein 32:04 Definitely gradual. You know, it was something that just built up over time. I used to joke — we both knew Chairman John McCain and always had great respect for him. And I remember one time in his office, I said, “Chairman, I got to share with you that I lived in constant fear during every hearing that you were going to hold up a piece of paper on camera and say, ‘General, I got your transcript from the Air Force Academy. You got to be kidding me, right?' And he laughed, and he said, Trust me, if you looked at my transcript in Annapolis,” he goes, “I'm the last guy that would have ever asked that question.” But you know, the we made a mutual decision here, sometimes just things all come together. I'd written a paper on finding my purpose about the same time that there was a professor from Annapolis that was visiting and talking about a sabbatical program that Annapolis had started. And so they started talking about it, and then this paper made it and I got called in. They said, “Hey, we're thinking about starting this program, you know, called Stop Out, designed to stop people from getting out. We read your paper. What would you do if you could take a year off?” And I said, “Wow, you know, if I could do it, I'll tell you. I would start by going to Philmont Scout Ranch, you know, and be a backcountry Ranger,” because my passion was for the outdoors, and do that. “And then I would go join my musical hero, Harry Chapin.” Oh, by the way, he came to the United States Air Force Academy in the early '60s. Right? Left here, built a band and wrote the hit song Taxi. “So I would go join him as a roadie and just sort of see whether music and the outdoors, which my passions are, what, you know, what it's all about for me.” Well, we lost contact with the Chapin connection. So I ended up on this bicycle riding around the country. And so many families took me in, and so many towns that I rode into, you know, I found that if I just went to the library and said, “Hey, tell me a little bit about the history of this town,” the librarian would call, like, the last, you know, three or four of the seniors the town, they'd all rush over to tell me the story of, you know, this particular little town, right? And then someone would also say, “Hey, where are you staying tonight?” “I'm staying in my tent.” They said, “Oh, come stay with me.” So gradually, over time, I got to know America, and came to the conclusion when I had to make the decision to come back or not, that this country is really worth defending, that these people are hard-working, you know, that want to make the world better for their kids and their grandkids, and they deserve a United States Air Force, the best air force on the planet, to defend them. So, you know, when I came back my last two years, and I always love sharing this with cadets, because some of them are fighting it, some of them have embraced it. And all I tell them is, “Hey, I've done both. And all I can tell you is, the sooner you embrace it and find your purpose, this place is a lot more fun.” Naviere Walkewicz 35:13 Truth in that, yes, yes, well. And, Dr. Wilson, how did you know you were living your purpose? Dr. Heather Wilson 35:19 Well, I've had a lot of different chapters to my life. Yes, and we can intellectualize it on why we, you know, why I made a certain decision at a certain time, but there were doors that opened that I never even knew were there. But at each time and at each junction, there was a moment where somehow I just knew. And at South Dakota Mines is a good example. You know, I lost a race to the United States Senate. I actually had some interns — I benefited from a lousy job market, and I had fantastic interns, and we were helping them through the loss. You know, they're young. They were passionate. They, as Churchill said, “The blessing and the curse of representative government is one in the same. The people get what they choose.” And so I was helping them through that, and one of them said, “Well, Dr. Wilson, you're really great with students. You should be a college president somewhere. Texas Tech needs a president. You should apply there,” because that's where this kid was going to school. And I said, “Well, but I don't think they're looking for me.” But it did cause me to start thinking about it and I had come close. I had been asked about a college presidency once before, and I started looking at it and talking to headhunters and so forth. And initially, South Dakota Mines didn't seem like a great fit, because I'm a Bachelor of Science degree here, but my Ph.D. is in a nonscientific discipline, and it's all engineers and scientists. But as I went through the process, it just felt more and more right. And on the day of the final interviews, that evening, it was snowing in South Dakota, there was a concert in the old gym. I mean, this is an engineering school, and they had a faculty member there who had been there for 40 years, who taught choral music, and the students stood up, and they started singing their warm up, which starts out with just one voice, and eventually gets to a 16-part harmony and it's in Latin, and it's music is a gift from God, and they go through it once, and then this 40th anniversary concert, about 50 people from the audience stand up and start singing. It's like a flash mob, almost These were all alumni who came back. Forty years of alumni to be there for that concert for him. And they all went up on stage and sang together in this just stunning, beautiful concert by a bunch of engineers. And I thought, “There's something special going on here that's worth being part of,” and there are times when you just know. And the same with becoming cabinet secretary for children, youth and families — that was not in the plan and there's just a moment where I knew that was what I should do now. How I should use my gifts now? And you hope that you're right in making those decisions. Naviere Walkewicz 38:43 Well, probably aligning with JD's point in the book of following your gut. Some of that's probably attached to you finding your purpose. Excellent. I'd like to visit the time Dr. Wilson, when you were helping President Bush with the State of the Union address, and in particular, you had grueling days, a lot of hours prepping, and when it was time for it to be delivered, you weren't there. You went home to your apartment in the dark. You were listening on the radio, and there was a moment when the Congress applauded and you felt proud, but something that you said really stuck with me. And he said, I really enjoy being the low-key staff member who gets stuff done. Can you talk more about that? Because I think sometimes we don't, you know, the unsung heroes are sometimes the ones that are really getting so many things done, but nobody knows. Dr. Heather Wilson 39:31 So, I'm something of an introvert and I've acquired extrovert characteristics in order to survive professionally. But when it comes to where I get my batteries recharged, I'm quite an introvert, and I really loved — and the same in international negotiations, being often the liaison, the back channel, and I did that in the conventional forces in Europe negotiations for the American ambassador. And in some ways, I think it might have been — in the case of the conventional forces in Europe negotiations, I was on the American delegation here. I was in Vienna. I ended up there because, for a bunch of weird reasons, then they asked me if I would go there for three months TDY. It's like, “Oh, three months TDY in Vienna, Austria. Sign me up.” But I became a very junior member on the delegation, but I was the office of the secretary of defense's representative, and walked into this palace where they were negotiating between what was then the 16 NATO nations and the seven Warsaw Pact countries. And the American ambassador turned to me, and he said during this several times, “I want you to sit behind me and to my right, and several times I'm going to turn and talk to you, and I just want you to lean in and answer.” I mean, he wasn't asking anything substantive, and I just, “Yes, sir.” But what he was doing was credentialing me in front of the other countries around that table. Now, I was very young, there were only two women in the room. The other one was from Iceland, and what he was doing was putting me in a position to be able to negotiate the back channel with several of our allies and with — this was six months or so now, maybe a year before the fall of the Berlin Wall. So things were changing in Eastern Europe, and so I really have always enjoyed just that quietly getting things done, building consensus, finding the common ground, figuring out a problem. Actually have several coffee mugs that just say GSD, and the other side does say, Get Stuff Done. And I like that, and I like people who do that. And I think those quiet — we probably don't say thank you enough to the quiet, hardworking people that just figure out how to get stuff done. Naviere Walkewicz 41:59 Well, I like how he credentialed you and actually brought that kind of credibility in that way as a leader. JD, how have you done that as a leader? Champion, some of those quiet, behind the scenes, unsung heroes. Gen. Dave Goldfein 42:11 I'm not sure where the quote comes from, but it's something to the effect of, “It's amazing what you can get done if you don't care who gets the credit.” There's so much truth to that. You know, in the in the sharing of success, right? As servant leaders, one of the things that I think both of us spend a lot of time on is to make sure that credit is shared with all the folks who, behind the scenes, you know, are doing the hard, hard work to make things happen, and very often, you know, we're the recipients of the thank yous, right? And the gratefulness of an organization or for somebody who's benefited from our work, but when you're at the very senior leaders, you know what you do is you lay out the vision, you create the environment to achieve that vision. But the hard, hard work is done by so many others around you. Today, in the audience when we were there at Polaris Hall, was Col. Dave Herndon. So Col. Dave Herndon, when he was Maj. Dave Herndon, was my aide de camp, and I can tell you that there are so many successes that his fingers are on that he got zero credit for, because he was quietly behind the scenes, making things happen, and that's just the nature of servant leadership, is making sure that when things go well, you share it, and when things go badly, you own it. Naviere Walkewicz 43:47 And you do share a really remarkable story in there about accountability. And so we won't spend so much time talking about that, but I do want to go to the point where you talk about listening, and you say, listening is not passive; it's active and transformative. As servant leaders, have you ever uncovered challenges that your team has experienced that you didn't have the ability to fix and you know, what action did you take in those instances? Dr. Heather Wilson 44:09 You mean this morning? All the time. And sometimes — and then people will give you grace, if you're honest about that. You don't make wild promises about what you can do, but then you sit and listen and work through and see all right, what is within the realm of the possible here. What can we get done? Or who can we bring to the table to help with a set of problems? But, there's no… You don't get a — when I was president of South Dakota Mines, one of the people who worked with me, actually gave me, from the toy store, a magic wand. But it doesn't work. But I keep it in my office, in case, you know… So there's no magic wands, but being out there listening to understand, not just listening to refute, right? And then seeing whether there are things that can be done, even if there's some things you just don't have the answers for, right? Gen. Dave Goldfein 45:11 The other thing I would offer is that as senior leadership and as a senior leadership team, you rarely actually completely solve anything. What you do is improve things and move the ball. You take the hand you're dealt, right, and you find creative solutions. You create the environment, lay out the vision and then make sure you follow up, move the ball, and if you get at the end of your tenure, it's time for you to move on, and you've got the ball moved 20, 30, yards down the field. That's actually not bad, because most of the things we were taking on together, right, were big, hard challenges that we needed to move the ball on, right? I If you said, “Hey, did you completely revitalize the squadrons across the United States Air Force?” I will tell you, absolutely not. Did we get the ball about 20, 30 yards down the field? And I hope so. I think we did. Did we take the overhaul that we did of officer development to be able to ensure that we were producing the senior leaders that the nation needs, not just the United States Air Force needs? I will tell you that we didn't solve it completely, but we moved the ball down the field, and we did it in a way that was able to stick. You know, very often you plant seeds as a leader, and you never know whether those seeds are going to, you know, these seeds are ideas, right? And you never know whether the seeds are going to hit fertile soil or rocks. And I would often tell, you know, young leaders too. I said, you know, in your last few months that you're privileged to be in the position of leadership, you've got two bottles on your hip. You're walking around with — one of them's got fertilizer and one of them's got Roundup. And your job in that final few months is to take a look at the seeds that you planted and truly determine whether they hit fertile soil and they've grown roots, and if they've grown roots, you pull out the fertilizer, and the fertilizer you're putting on it is to make it part of the institution not associated with you, right? You want somebody some years from now say, “Hey, how do we ever do that whole squadron thing?” The right answer is, “I have no idea, but look at how much better we are.” That's the right answer, right? That's the fertilizer you put on it. But it's just equally important to take a look at the ideas that, just for whatever reason, sometimes beyond your control — they just didn't stick right. Get out the Roundup. Because what you don't want to do is to pass on to your successor something that didn't work for you, because it probably ain't going to work for her. Dr. Heather Wilson 47:46 That's right, which is one of the rules of leadership is take the garbage out with you when you go. Naviere Walkewicz 47:51 I like that. I like that a lot. Well, we are — just a little bit of time left. I want to end this kind of together on a story that you shared in the book about laughter being one of the tools you share. And after we share this together, I would like to ask you, I know we talked about mirror checks, but what are some things that you guys are doing every day to be better as well, to continue learning. But to get to the laughter piece, you mentioned that laughter is an underappreciated tool and for leaders, something that you both share. I want to talk about the time when you got together for dinner before you began working as chief and service secretary, and I think you may have sung an AF pro song. We're not going to ask you to sing that today, unless you'd like to JD? But let's talk about laughter. Gen. Dave Goldfein 48:31 The dean would throw me out. Naviere Walkewicz 48:33 OK, OK, we won't have you sing that today. But how have you found laughter — when you talk about — when the questions and the problems come up to you? Dr. Heather Wilson 48:40 So I'm going to start this because I think Dave Goldfein has mastered this leadership skill of how to use humor, and self-deprecating humor, better than almost any leader I've ever met. And it's disarming, which is a great technique, because he's actually wicked smart. But it's also people walk in the room knowing if you're going to a town hall meeting or you're going to be around the table, at least sometime in that meeting, we're going to laugh. And it creates a warmth and people drop their guard a little bit. You get to the business a little bit earlier. You get beyond the standard PowerPoint slides, and people just get down to work. And it just — people relax. And I think Dave is very, very good at it. Now, my husband would tell you that I was raised in the home for the humor impaired, and I have been in therapy with him for almost 35 years. Naviere Walkewicz 49:37 So have you improved? Dr. Heather Wilson 49:39 He thinks I've made some progress. Naviere Walkewicz 49:41 You've moved the ball. Dr. Heather Wilson 49:44 Yes. Made some progress. I still don't — I used to start out with saying the punch line and then explain why it was funny. Naviere Walkewicz 49:52 I'm in your camp a little bit. I try. My husband says, “Leave the humor to me.” Dr. Heather Wilson 49:54 Yeah, exactly. You understand. Gen. Dave Goldfein 49:58 I used to joke that I am a member of the Class of 1981['82 and '83]. I am the John Belushi of the United States Air Force Academy, a patron saint of late bloomers. But you know, honestly, Heather doesn't give herself enough credit for building an environment where, you know, folks can actually do their very best work. That's one of the things that we do, right? Because we have — the tools that we have available to be able to get things done very often, are the people that are we're privileged to lead and making sure that they are part of an organization where they feel valued, where we're squinting with our ears. We're actually listening to them. Where they're making a contribution, right? Where they believe that what they're being able to do as part of the institution or the organization is so much more than they could ever do on their own. That's what leadership is all about. Dr. Heather Wilson 51:05 You know, we try to — I think both of us see the humor in everyday life, and when people know that I have a desk plate that I got in South Dakota, and it doesn't say “President.” It doesn't say “Dr. Wilson.” It says, “You're kidding me, right?” Because once a week, more frequently as secretary and chief, but certainly frequently as a college president, somebody is going to walk in and say, “Chief, there's something you need to know.” And if they know they're going to get blasted out of the water or yelled at, people are going to be less likely to come in and tell you, right, what you need to know. But if you're at least willing to laugh at the absurdity of the — somebody thought that was a good idea, you know. My gosh, let's call the lawyers or whatever. But you know, you've just got to laugh, and if you laugh, people will know that you just put things in perspective and then deal with the problem. Naviere Walkewicz 52:06 Well, it connects us as humans. Yeah. Well, during my conversation today with Dr. Heather Wilson and Gen. Dave Goldfein — JD — two lessons really stood out to me. Leadership is not about avoiding the fall, but about how high you bounce back and how your recovery can inspire those you lead. It's also about service, showing up, doing the hard work and putting others before yourself with humility, integrity and working together. Dr. Wilson, Gen. Goldfein, thank you for showing us how courage, compassion and connection — they're not soft skills. They're actually the edge of hard leadership. And when you do that and you lead with service, you get back up after every fall. You encourage others to follow and do the same. Thank you for joining us for this powerful conversation. You can find Get Back Up: Lessons in Servant Leadership, wherever books are sold. And learn more at getbackupeadership.com. If today's episode inspired you, please share it with someone who can really benefit in their own leadership journey. As always, keep learning. Keep getting back up. Keep trying. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. This has been Focus On Leadership. Until next time. Producer This edition of Focus on Leadership, the accelerated leadership series, was recorded on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. KEYWORDS Leadership, servant leadership, resilience, humility, integrity, influence, teamwork, family, trust, listening, learning, purpose, growth, accountability, service, courage, compassion, balance, values, inspiration. The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation
From aircraft maintenance officer to professional fitness champion to executive coach, Tanji Johnson Bridgeman '97 has exhibited leadership on many stages. SUMMARY In the premiere episode of Focus on Leadership, she joins host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 to share how resilience, self-care and feedback transform challenges into growth — and why caring for yourself is key to leading with presence and impact. SHARE THIS PODCAST LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK TANJI'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Lead with a Whole-Person Approach: Effective leadership requires nurturing mind, body, and spirit, not just focusing on one aspect. Reframe Failure as Feedback: View setbacks as events and learning opportunities, rather than personal flaws or endpoints. Consistency Over Perfection: Strive for regular, sustainable effort and give yourself grace rather than aiming for flawless execution. Self-Reflection Builds Authenticity: Regular reflection (e.g., journaling, meditation) helps clarify values and stay true to yourself as a leader. Executive Presence Matters: Project confidence through body language, eye contact, and purposeful communication to influence and inspire others. Take Inventory and Set Self-Care Rituals: Assess mental, physical, and emotional health, then develop small, habitual self-care practices to maintain energy and focus. Recognize and Address Burnout: Leaders must be attentive to signs of burnout in themselves and others, emphasizing rest, breaks, and boundaries. Normalize and Model Wellness in Leadership: Leaders should model healthy habits and make personal wellness a visible priority to support team well-being. Focus on Connection and Service: Shift focus away from self-doubt by being intentional about serving, connecting, and empowering others. Adapt and Accept Change: Growth requires adapting to new realities, accepting changes (including those related to age or circumstances), and updating strategies accordingly. CHAPTERS 0:00:06 - Introduction to the podcast and guest Tanji Johnson Bridgeman. 0:01:07 - Tanji shares her journey from the Air Force Academy to wellness and leadership. 0:04:13 - Discussing wellness strategies and advice for cadets and young leaders. 0:12:10 - Recognizing burnout, setting boundaries, and maintaining consistency in habits. 0:17:39 - Reframing failure as feedback with examples from Tanji's career. 0:27:58 - Exploring the concept of executive presence and practical ways to develop it. 0:38:07 - The value of authenticity and self-reflection in leadership. 0:44:21 - Creating sustainable self-care rituals and adopting healthy habits. 1:00:54 - Emphasizing wellness in leadership and the importance of leading by example. 1:02:18 - Final reflections and a summary of key takeaways from the episode. ABOUT TANJI BIO Tanji Johnson Bridgeman graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1997, where she distinguished herself by navigating the rigors of cadet life with both determination and initiative. As one of the first women to serve as Group Superintendent during Basic Cadet Training for the Class of 1999, she honed her leadership and public-speaking skills by addressing hundreds of incoming cadets nightly. Following her commissioning, she served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force — initially in the Academy's admissions office as a minority enrollment officer, then as an aircraft maintenance officer at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, where she led over 200 personnel across six specialties supporting KC-135 air-refueling operations. After four years of service, Tanji pivoted to a second career in fitness and wellness, becoming an 11-time professional champion in the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB) and competing for 18 years in 54 pro contests. She later leveraged her competitive success and military-honed leadership into executive-presence and lifestyle-coaching, founding the “Empower Your Inner Champion” brand and offering keynote speaking, coaching, and wellness solutions. CONNECT WITH TANJI LinkedIn Instagram: @OriginalTanjiJohnson CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP 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 Guest, Tanji Johnson Bridgeman '97 | Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Naviere Walkewicz 0:00 If you love the Long Blue Leadership podcast, you'll want to discover Focus on Leadership, a Long Blue Leadership production of the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation. Here on Focus on Leadership, we move beyond the “why” and dive into the “how,” exploring the habits, mindsets and lessons that turn good leaders into great ones. In each episode, host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99, sits down with accomplished Air Force Academy graduates and other influential leaders to uncover their stories, their insights and real-world actions that drive excellence. Focus on Leadership: Offering impactful and actionable lessons for today's exceptional leaders. Without further ado, sit back and enjoy this premiere episode of Focus on Leadership. Naviere Walkewicz 0:58 Welcome to Focus on Leadership, where we take a close look at the practices that make strong leaders even stronger. I'm your host, Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. Today we're joined by Tanji Johnson Bridgeman, Class of '97, an Air Force Academy graduate whose journey has taken her from aircraft maintenance officer to professional fitness champion, American Gladiator known as “Stealth,” entrepreneur and executive coach. Tanji is here to teach us about leadership through the lens of health and wellness, how caring for yourself physically and mentally fuels your ability to establish presence and lead others with confidence. Tanji, welcome to Focus on Leadership. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 1:36 Thank you, Naviere. It is so good to be here. Naviere Walkewicz 1:40 Such an honor to see you. I mean, as a ‘99 graduate to have a ‘97 trainer here in the presence, I'm already feeling wonderful. And you know, it's been about 10 years since you've been at your academy. How are you feeling? You came back last evening. What are your thoughts? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 1:54 Wow, I was here nine years ago for my 20th reunion. I just feel so much gratitude. I mean, it's so surreal. Even last night, we went to work out. And you know, you're driving up the hill towards Vandenberg, and all these memories are coming back to me from the good times. But the biggest thing I'm feeling is pride, you know, pride and gratitude. Because, you know, we don't always reflect, but just being here, it forces you to reflect, like, this is where it all started. I mean, it really started with my upbringing, but the Air Force Academy, my experience here, laid the foundation for who I became, and I'm so grateful for that. Naviere Walkewicz 2:29 Well, let's go back to the fact that right off the bat, you got off the plane, you met me and we went to work out. So wellness, no joke, is right at the top of your foundation. So how did you get into this space? Let's kind of introduce that to our listeners, because I think it's important for them to really understand the depth of what wellness means. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 2:46 Well, the funny thing about it is I never would have imagined that I would be doing what I'm doing today, because I was a die-hard — I thought I'm going in the military, and I'm staying in for 20 years. So when I was here, you know, I was on the cadet Honor Guard and I cheered, and that's when I fell in love with lifting weights. So I got into competing, even as a lieutenant, and I just I fell in love, and I turned professional. And so there was these transitions where I had an opportunity to be a professional athlete, and I took it, right? And so I became a professional bodybuilder, fitness champion. And then next thing you know, I'm on NBC's American Gladiators. That was wild. And so I did that for a while, and then I became a trainer and a coach and a promoter and a judge, and did all the things bodybuilding. And then I retired in 2016, and that's around the time I met my husband, and so really that's when my real wellness journey began. Because prior to that, it was heavily around physical fitness, but wellness for me began when I transitioned and retired from competing. And really, I had to figure out what is my fitness life going to look like, because it's not going to be working out three times a day on a calorie-deficient diet. Naviere Walkewicz 3:57 Three times a day… Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 3:58 Right, none of that. I was like, I'm done. I'm done. But I really had to design the rest of my life and really figure out what that was going to look like. So I got into functional medicine, health coaching. I married a chiropractor, so we believe in holistic medicine, and that's where it started. Naviere Walkewicz 4:13 Excellent. And so this is not a traditional career path. So let's kind of go back to the cadet mindset. For example: How would you — knowing what you know now — maybe talk to yourself as a cadet, or actually, cadets that might be listening, of what they should be thinking about in this priority space of wellness, in leadership? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 4:30 Absolutely, I think that's a great question. The disadvantage for young leaders, whether they're cadets or lieutenants, is that they don't have the luxury of having a lot of life experience. And so building a foundation is important, and it takes mindfulness and just, “What should we be aware of?” So what I would want to impart on them is to adopt the philosophy of looking at wellness from a whole-person approach, because high performance is going to demand it. And so when I say whole person, wellness is multi-dimensional. So we want to look at the mindset, we want to look at the body and we want to look at the spirit, and being able to start from a place where you're going to go into all of those. Naviere Walkewicz 5:13 Well, as a cadet, there are so many hats they have to wear. No pun intended. They have to be on top of their game in the academic space. They have to be on top of the game in the military, and then also athletically. Can you talk about, or maybe share an example as a cadet, how you navigated that journey of wellness and what that looked like? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 5:32 Well, let's go back to — so I didn't get a chance to break down. So mind, body, spirit. Why is that important? Because in anything, any philosophies that we adopt, we have to really see where it's important. So when you think of what is an officer, what is a leader going to have to do with their mind, this is where they have to have clarity. It's going to help with focus, creativity to innovate new solutions. And so we need to be able to prioritize our mindset and our mental health. And then there's the body, right? So a lot of us are going to be going on deployments. We're going to work long hours. Our body is what's going to give us the fuel and energy and the stamina to get through a day. It's literally bringing our energy. And then you think about the spirit, and this one is really special, and it's probably the most neglected. So when you think about the spirit, this is where you're going to anchor in with your emotional health. What is your purpose? What is your “why?” You know, earlier today, I was having a great discussion with Gen. Marks, and he shared with me that one of his goals for the cadets is that when they graduate, you know, they're going to be committed to being leaders, but are they committed — like really committed — and bought in to knowing what their purpose is going to be? And I think that a big part of that is being able to explore their spirit in advance, so they can discover their identity and their strengths in advance and to be able to go off into the leadership and fully own it. And so an example that I would like to present: When I was coaching bodybuilders and female athletes, I remember I started a team. And now this is going to be a team of women that they have the common goal of competing. So they're trying to pursue physical excellence with how they transform their physiques. But what I did was I brought this team together, this sisterhood of women. So a couple of things that I wanted to see, I wanted sisterhood and support. I wanted them to have the commonality of the same goal, and I wanted them to be able to support each other, and I wanted to be able to support them by elevating their mindset. And so one of the things that I did that was really unique at the time, that a lot of other coaches and leaders weren't doing, — when somebody wanted to work with them, they just sign them up. But I would have a consultation. It was kind of more of an interview, because one of the questions I would ask is, “Naviere, why do you want to compete?” And then I'd give them examples, like, you know, “Is this a bucket list? Are you trying to improve your health? Is this for validation and attention? Is this because you're competitive? Because, if you're competitive, and you're telling me that you just started working out last year, maybe we need to wait a couple of years.” You see what I mean. So when you go back to the “why,” it keeps you in alignment to move forward, in alignment with your why, but a lot of people don't know what that is, and sometimes all it takes is asking the question. Naviere Walkewicz 8:17 So the question I'd love to ask you then, is going back to the cadet side, because I think talking to Gen. Marks and the purpose piece, you know, you actually, I think as a cadet, remember, you were on Honor Guard. You were also a cadet… I think you were the cheer captain of our cheerleading team. I feel that that is such a great testament to the fact that you have to figure out, you know, the purpose of, how do I do more and give more and still stay connected to my purpose of where you said in the beginning, “I was going to serve 20 years in the Air Force.” How do our cadets get that same level of interviewer coaching with someone without having that life experience yet? Like, what would you share with them now, from your learning experience? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 8:55 So when I think back to… OK, so when you look at wellness, and you think of mental wellness, physical wellness, emotional wellness, you know, I think what happens here at the Academy — and I remember starting this way — we prioritize physical fitness, right? I remember being in that fight-or-flight mode like, OK, if I can just show that I am, you know, prioritizing physical fitness, that strength is going to get me respect, and I could definitely feel the difference in how I was treated. The problem sometimes with prioritizing physical fitness… It's great because, you know, it can strengthen your mind. So if your body's feeling strong, your mindset is strong, but it becomes problematic when your body fails. So what happens when you fail? And I have plenty of stories and memories, my goodness, of being on Honor Guard, one that I remember distinctly is, you know, if you had me doing push-ups or pull-ups, oh, I was in a zone. I was impressing everybody. I was passing all the tests, but you put me in a formation where the short people are in the back, you throw a helmet, M1 Garand, and we have to go run 3 miles now, now I'm falling out and I'm getting exhausted. And you know, the body goes — the stress goes up, the blood sugar goes down. It's just physiology, right? And so what happens is, now mentally, my mind is becoming weak. So when the body fails, my mind is getting weak, Naviere Walkewicz 10:13 And you've been training your body right? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 10:14 Right, right. And so I look back, and I just, I remember those days in Honor Guard where I would feel doubt, like, “Am I going to make it do? I deserve to be here? Am I good enough?” I would feel discouraged, right? And I would go back to my room and then something happened. So after about two weeks of suffering through this pain and this big challenge, I remember thinking, “Gosh, every time they beat me down physically, I feel so weak mentally. But I was in my room and I remember having anxiety for the next day, like, “Oh, I'm going out there again.” And for some reason that meme, you know, with the Asian guy that says, “But did you die?” Right? That's always in my head, and I remember saying that to myself, like, “It was hard. Today was hard, but did I die?” No. And actually, after two weeks, I'm like, “It's actually getting easier,” like, because I'm getting more fit, right? I'm able to do the push-ups. I'm running further. And I remember that was the mindset shift where I realized, “OK, now, tomorrow, when I go out to practice, I'm not going to be as afraid, because I've already decided that I can do hard things.” And so now, when I was enduring the practice, right, and the leadership of my Honor Guard cadre, I was prepared with that mental strength, right? And so that's what we need. We need to be able to train so that when our body fails, our mind prevails, right? Naviere Walkewicz 11:39 Love that — those three facets of wellness, and that's a really strong way to explain it. And so you gave a couple examples about when the body fails, so when we think about how we're wired, and I think many of us are this way, as cadets, as graduates, as those who really want to succeed in life, right? Thinking about resilience, how do we balance? Or maybe balance isn't the right word, but how do we make sure we're very mindful of that line between healthy discipline and then harmful overdrive. How do you navigate that? Maybe, what would you share with some of our listeners? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 12:11 Well, you were asking like, how do we recognize when it's happened? You know, the good news is, your body will leave clues. You will have emotional clues, you will have physical clues, you're going to have behavioral clues. Your body will leave clues. So the first thing is, I think that if we can be willing to evolve — you know, look at what culture are we in now, like you and I, we come from a culture where the philosophy was grit at any cost. Push, push, push, push, and drive, drive, drive. You know, I think about, as an athlete, you know, especially if you're motivated. You're thinking, when I was training my body, I remember thinking, “I want to get these results, and so I'm going to do what it takes. So every day I'm doing the lifting, I'm eating the food, and I'm going to train every day.” And I remember on that seventh day, you know, I had done all the things, I took the supplements, I got all the sleep, and I went in to train, and my body was exhausted. And it's because I was physically burning out, and my body needed the rest. And then it really transferred into how I would choreograph my training and so with routine. So I was a fitness competitor. I did these fitness, crazy fitness routines where I'm doing push-ups and squats and gymnastics and flying around, right? And it's two minutes long. So think of doing like a crazy CrossFit routine for two minutes straight without stopping, and smiling. And so I remember being strategic, right? And how I would lay out those practices athletically, where I would do a portion, 30 seconds — I would train 30 seconds at a time, and then the next day I would do the next 30 seconds, a week later I would go for about a minute. But the part I want you to know is, right before the competition, I would decrease that training load. I would actually do less, because the year that I trained full out, all the way up into the competition, I didn't do well on stage because my body was exhausted. So again, our body is going to leave us clues, and we have to be willing to evolve, to say that self-care — it's not selfish, but it's strategic. And so we need to pay attention to those signs, because we're going to have a choice to either pivot and be intentional and strategic with taking care of ourselves, or we're going to stay stuck in this old-school thinking that's not going to serve us. Naviere Walkewicz 14:38 So if it's not the body telling you — because we talk about how wellness is more than just physical — how do you recognize signs on the spiritual side, on your emotional side, that you might be in this harmful space of it's too much give, give, give, and not enough fill, fill, fill. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 14:55 I think that's a great question. So here's some telltale… So going back to physical, you know, like the examples I gave, you're going to feel exhausted, you're going to have muscle tension, you might even start to have stomach issues. Those are all great physical signs that you're reaching burnout. Now, when you think of mentally, if you notice emotionally and mentally, that you start getting irritable and you've become more impatient and you're having a harder time making decisions, those are also great clues that mentally, you're starting to get burnt out. And then when you think of behaviorally, you know, let's say you had a great morning routine, and now all of a sudden, you find yourself in this season where you've abandoned that, or you have deadlines that you're usually very protective, and you can get things done, but now you're starting to procrastinate, and you're thinking like, “Who am I right now? I'm procrastinating. I've abandoned my wellness routine. I'm not even… I don't even have a morning routine.” That's when you should really step back. And I think one of the practical tools that everyone can do is check in with themselves on a regular basis. So I'm being very transparent. I check in with myself daily. So let's say I do three back-to-back hours of Zoom calls: Maybe ones with an executive coaching clients. Maybe another one is a team Zoom, where I'm training a group of folks, and then another team meeting. After that three hours, I will stop, and I'll check in with myself, and I'll take a deep breath and say, “How am I feeling? Do I feel like getting right back on a call? No, my brain is fried right now.” And then I'll pivot and I'll go take a 10-minute walk around break. And that's just one of my strategies. Naviere Walkewicz 16:30 So it does… A check in doesn't have to be this grand “I take time off and I spend a week.” It literally could just be a few minutes of [breathes deeply] and check in with yourself, because I think sometimes time is a challenge as well, right? We talk about, how do we prioritize all these things and we're within this 24-hour period. How do we make sure that the time piece is something that we can also utilize to take care of ourselves, and so when you said it doesn't have to take a lot of time to check in. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 16:58 And think about it. So we just talked about how to check in with yourself daily. What about like in your career? You know, I was helping physique athletes with poise mastery, basically teaching posing to athletes for over 15 years, and towards the end of that career, what I started to notice when I would mentally check in with myself, is I would notice that as I was driving to the office to go work with another client, I just did not feel as energized. I didn't feel as passionate. My motivation was going down, and this was a sign for me that I was getting burnt out from this specific way of serving, and it was my first clue that it was time to pivot and to look at something else. Naviere Walkewicz 17:38 That's really interesting, because when you think about when you're making big decisions, whether in career, whether in leadership or just, you know… The fact that you have these signs help you make those decisions, but I also wonder if it helps you at times think about part of the growth is maybe not totally pivoting, but it's recognizing that I'm supposed to go through this period of hardship. So what I'm kind of alluding to right now, is failure, right? So failure, as we go through some of our experiences are inevitable, right? How do we make sure we're using failure in a way to grow, as opposed to the easy button of, well, I failed, so I'm pivoting. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 18:18 OK, so that would be like a reaction. You're reacting to what happened, and you think what you need to do is flee from it. So you have to be able to discern, “Am I pivoting because I'm afraid, or because I feel like I'm not good enough, or because my purpose and my spirit is telling me that my work is done here, and I'm looking for innovation.” I'm looking for something new. I'm looking to impact new people. So going back to failure — like public speaking, it's one of the top two fears, right? Naviere Walkewicz 18:52 What's the other? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 18:53 Oh, public speaking, flying, swimming [laughs]. No, I'm just kidding. Only if you grow up like me. But going back to failure, I think that people fear failure a lot because they make the mistake of connecting it to their identity instead of realizing failure is an event. It's not your identity. And so how many times do we do something, and maybe it's a competition, or it's an event or an application, and you fail. You don't get the desired result. It's an event. So what we need to do is reframe failure as feedback. That's it. So I have a great example. When I think about a great example of someone who was able to show in person, in reality, that when they failed, it did not disrupt their identity at all. So I don't know if there's any boxing fans out there, Naviere Walkewicz 19:46 Oh, we have some, I'm sure. Yeah. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 19:47 The Canelo and Crawford fight, it was a couple weeks ago. Did you see that? Naviere Walkewicz 19:50 I didn't, but I did hear about this. Actually, honestly, I fell asleep. I planned to watch it. My husband watched it, but I fell asleep. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 19:57 Oh, they went all the rounds, right? It was a great fight. Really, really great. You saw two physical specimens, you know, at the top of their game. They were both undefeated. I believe Canelo was favored to win, but he didn't. He lost the belt, right? And so Crawford wins. And so I'm always very intrigued with how people respond to failure when it's public, right? And so Crawford got to make his speech, and then when Canelo made his speech, you know, one of the first things they ask is, “OK, so you didn't get the result you were hoping for. You didn't win this bout. How are you feeling?” And he gave an answer that I totally didn't expect. He said, “I feel great.” Naviere Walkewicz 20:39 Just like that? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 20:40 Yes. He was like, “I feel great.” He was like, “It was a great fight,” you know. He affirmed Crawford, you know, edified him. Talked about how great he was, you know, but he maintained his identity, and you could feel that in his spirit. He said, “I feel great. I came out here. I did a great job. I did what I was supposed to do. Obviously, there's room for feedback, to learn. You know, I didn't get the result I wanted. So whether it was endurance or I wasn't strategic enough, or I didn't prioritize my offense, there's feedback there.” He's going to learn from that. But he basically had such a great attitude. And he ended it by saying, you know, “I feel great and it was great time.” And I remember thinking like, “Wow, now there's an example of someone who did not own the failure and make it a part of his identity. It was just an event.” And his legacy will still be restored, right? And to be honest with you, it made me think about my own career. Naviere Walkewicz 21:31 Yes, so did you, have you experienced anything like that in your career? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 21:34 Have I experienced failure? Over and over again. Naviere Walkewicz 21:39 And how did you respond in your, you know, the wellness side of it, when you think about, you know, what you're trying to do, your purpose. How did you use that? Did you use it as feedback? Or what did that look like for you. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 21:50 So let's say in sports, if you don't win, then that event is deemed as a failure, right? And so if you think about it, I did 54, I've done 54 professional bodybuilding, fitness competitions. Naviere Walkewicz 22:04 Wow. OK, what year did you start, just so we can get some perspective? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 22:06 I started in 2001 and retired in 2016, so about 17 years. And I won 11 of them. So that means out of, and that's a lot, actually. So out of that many, that means I lost all the others. And there's one particular competition that will always be dear to my heart, and it was the Arnold Classic. Yes, the Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know, he has this gigantic competition every year. And midway through my career, I started I got in the top five. So I would get fourth, and then the next year I'd get third, and then I'd go down to fourth, and then I'd get second, right? I think I got second maybe four years in a row. So basically, in my 10th year of competing, I finally won the darn thing. So Arnold comes from across the stage, and I'm already crying, and, you know, with his accent, “Why are you so emotional?” And there's a picture of me taking the microphone from him because I had something to say, and in that moment, because it was a special moment, I realized, yes, all of these years of failure, every time I competed, I missed the mark. I missed the mark. I missed the mark. But what did I do? I took that feedback and I went back and said, “What do I need to do differently? What does this mean? How can I improve my physique? How did I need better stamina in my routine?” And every year, I was coming back better and better and better. But guess what? So were the other athletes, right? And so when I won in that 10th year, I actually would not have had it any other way, because I don't think it would have meant as much to me. Because what was happening, I may have won the Arnold Classic on that day, but I was becoming a champion throughout that whole 10-year process. You see what I did there. So it's not your identity, it's an event. So if you look at it and reframe it as feedback, then you can leverage that and use it as an opportunity to win. Naviere Walkewicz 24:00 So failure, and we're going to say synonym: feedback. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 24:03 Exactly. Naviere Walkewicz 24:04 I like that. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 24:05 I mean, and I'll give you another example. So you know, I did my first TEDx Talk last year, and I was a part of this coaching group. And here's the thing: As leaders, we get to create and build culture. And I think it's very important for leaders to create a culture where they normalize failure and they teach their teams that it's meant to be for feedback. So encourage courage, and then help them leverage the failure or the mistake as lessons learned so that they can grow and move forward. So I'm in this coaching group, and they told us, “We're going to have you send out probably an average of 80 applications. Now we're going to guide you and tell you what to do, but every application is different, because the event promoters are different. So we can't tell you exactly what they all want, but you're going to find out when you apply.” So I remember applying, I think, to UCLA Berkeley or something, and I applied to do a TEDx Talk, and midway through my application, they asked me, what was my scientific evidence and proof of my theory and my great idea? And I didn't have one at the time. And I remember thinking, “I'm going to go ahead and finish this application, but yay, I just got some feedback that I need to include scientific data in my pitch and in presenting my idea.” And it was shortly after, I think I did five more applications and I got selected. And so now I have been so trained to see failure as an opportunity to grow and excel, that when I am afraid of something, I reframe it immediately, and then I actually look forward to it, like, “Oh my gosh, I can't wait to get out there and do this thing, because I'm going to get this feedback, and that's going to make me better.” Naviere Walkewicz 25:39 Well, I think that's really wonderful in the way that you frame that. Because, you know, in the military, and I was actually just at a conference recently, and they were talking about how failure should be a part of training. Failure is actually the most important part of the training, because when it comes time to actual execution, operationally, that's when we can't fail, right? So, like, you want that feedback through all the training iterations, and so, you know, the way you just, you know, laid that out for us, it was in a sense that, you know, you had this framework, “I'm getting feedback, I'm training, I'm training, I'm training.” And then, you know, of course, when you took the champion spot… Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 26:10 And I love… I think back to when I physically learned to appreciate failure was through weight training. And I know you've done it too, because can you go back and remember the first time you know, as a bodybuilder, when you lift weights, you're trying to grow your muscle, and to grow the muscle, the muscle fibers have to tear, and so there has to be a certain level of intensity and hardship in doing that. So if you're one of those people that you go to the gym and you're doing, you know, 15 easy reps, four sets, you never break a sweat, you're toning and you're getting some movement in, but you're not tearing your muscle fibers, and that's probably why they're not growing. So when I worked with the trainer and we were doing overhead military presses, and I physically felt like I was done at about 12 reps, but he was spotting me, so he just kept force repping me through six to eight more. I mean, until my arms were done, and I put my arms down, and they started to float up in the air. And he looks at me, because I'm looking at him, like, “Dude, what are you doing?” I'm like, “Wow, are you trying to hurt me?” And he just said, “No, but I do need you to learn that you're going to have to fail in order to grow and win.” And I was like… So then after that, we're going in the gym, like, “All right, Naviere, we're going to hit failure today. Oh yeah, we're going to learn how to fail.” “Did you fail at the gym last night?” “Yes, I did.” So in the bodybuilding community, it's celebrated. You know, it's a concept where that's we're trying to work through failure because we know it's on the other side. Naviere Walkewicz 27:34 Yes. Oh, I love that. That's fantastic. Well, and then you said you retired in 2016, so that was probably quite a transition in the fact where you had to… You probably have been doing all the wellness check-ins. “Where am I at? What am I thinking?” How did you make that transition into the executive presence space? Because it doesn't seem like it's a direct correlation from someone's body building to executive presence. Or maybe it is. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 27:58 So, in in body building, I developed a niche. So I started off as a trainer, and then very quickly, probably because of some of my Honor Guard background, I mean, we did precision drill, and I just realized that I can… I learned things really easily, and then I can teach it. I can see something and break it down in detail and teach it. And so I got really good at doing that for the athletes proposing to where I was able to build a whole career and get paid really well through poise mastery. Now what I think? You know when I think back to all the things we had to do as a cadet, from standing at attention, keeping your chest up, you know, your chin in projecting we were all we were already starting to work on our executive presence, but we just didn't know realize it, right? And so in the real world outside of the military, where people are not building habits of standing up straight on a regular basis, they don't. I go into board rooms. I go to events where I see people get on stage. They're looking down, they're fidgeting, they're not making eye contact, they're speaking too softly. And so executive presence is the ability to project confidence in how you show up and the way that you communicate and how you get people to experience you, because, unfortunately, we live in a society where perception shapes opportunity. So as a leader, if you're not commanding that authority right off the bat, you may you may be missing the mark on being able to influence, and that's what leadership is. And so I was basically elevating all of these athletes to just present the best version of themselves, and in leadership, that's what we want, too. We all have strengths, we all have learned skills. We all have something to offer. But if we're not projecting and presenting our inner power externally, a lot of times we miss that mark, and I want to connect the dots. And that's kind of what hit me when I thought about moving into the executive space, is, you know, I can… sure I can teach you how to stand in front of a red carpet and some power poses, but it goes beyond that. It's how we communicate. It's our body language. And so there's, there's a lot of skills that can be learned. Naviere Walkewicz 30:09 Well, let's start with maybe just sharing a couple. How can our leaders, our listeners start to display a stronger executive presence every day? What's the first couple things you might have them start thinking about? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 30:22 OK, so physically, I would start like, let's say with body language is eye contact. So my concern with this, the generation that we have now is they're dealing with a disadvantage that we didn't have to deal with. You know, when we were in school together 20 years ago, we were connecting all the time. It wasn't even a challenge. We were always together in person, building relationships, connecting, communicating. And now we're in a digital world where our attention is, is we're fighting for it, right? And so a lot of times I will watch people, and I realize whether they're going out to dinner and they are not maintaining eye contact because they're distracted, and they really haven't been, they haven't been trained to really be present. So for example, when you're speaking with someone and you're making eye contact with them. They feel seen,, you know? And so that's, that's one of the strongest ones. OK, Naviere Walkewicz 31:16 OK. I like that a lot. That's perfect. So as they're starting to think about the first thing is being present and making eye contact, from a — that's a physical standpoint. Maybe what, from a mental or emotional standpoint should be they be doing from a starting point for executive presence? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 31:33 OK, so being intentional. So when you think about your leader, and let's say you're going to speak in front of the Cadet Wing, or you're going to start managing a team, or you're going to a networking event as an executive, and you're trying to pick up a few sponsors. Before you even go to the event, you can be intentional about who am I meeting with, what is my goal and how do I want them to feel. So when you think about networking, a lot of times, there's people, I have a client. You know, she hired me because she has a little bit of social anxiety. She's younger, and so she's on a board where everybody's older than her. So there's a little bit of that mental insecurity of, you know, “Am I good enough? Do I have what it takes? Are these people going to respect me,” right? And so she's coming into the situation already insecure, and she's thinking about herself. “How am I going to be perceived?” instead of going there, focused on connection, right? So if she was to go there and say, “This is who's going to be there. This is how I want to make them feel. So I'm actually going to be very intentional about asking questions that's going to connect with them, that's going to make them feel a certain way. If I want this audience to feel respected, what do I what do I ask them, and what do I say? What do I highlight? If I want them to feel accepted and warm. What can I say?” And so it just gives you more power to show up, be present and be intentional, and you'll feel more confident, because now you've taken the focus away from yourself to how you're going to serve others. Naviere Walkewicz 33:02 That is excellent, and that leads us into a bit of the mental piece of it, right, the mindset. So earlier, you talked about how you had a mindset shift when you were getting beat down in Honor Guard, you know, you're in the back, you know, because of the vertical challenge, and you're running, you know, and you're hanging in there, and you got better. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 33:19 Well, it makes me think about when I was auditioning for American Gladiators. And again, I'm going to go back to this executive presence and where I use my mental training to serve me, so when I was auditioning, so if you guys don't remember, the old show was, there was no water, right? It was just everything was over big, you know, pillows and just a flat area, OK? So when I went in there to audition, I remember there was for the sake of diversity, there was like, two of everything. There was two Black women there, there was two redheads, two blondes. And I remember looking around thinking, “OK, both of us are not getting this job.” And so the very last part of the audition, after many rounds, is you had to go in front of the executive committee, and you had a one-minute pitch. You could say whatever you want, but they're all sitting there with their arms crossed, and you just get to go in there. And I remember thinking, “OK, I am shorter than her, but I'm more muscular. And, you know, she's been on tons of fitness magazines. She's, you know, super beautiful, more popular. I want to go in there, and I want to be intentional about showing them that what I'm going to present is the right fit for the show.” And so I walked in there and I called the room to attention. I used my Honor Guard diaphragm, and I called the room to attention. And then I went in and I started telling them about how during basic training, I was like one of the pugil stick champions. And they thought that was great, because we had an event for that, right? And so, you know, going back to that mental training, you know, part of it is just that intention of being prepared, you know, what is it that you want to achieve? What are you going to do? And then you strategize and have a game plan for how you're going to go in there. Now, another example: So once I got… I got the job, yay, right? And then we go to Sony studios, and I look at the set, and I realized that half of the set is over water. So half of the events, the joust, Hang Tough, the rock climbing, it's all over water. And you guys remember when I talked about a little bit not, not being a big swimmer. And so this was fascinating to me, but I didn't want anyone to know, because I didn't want to lose my job, right? And so here's where I tapped into my mental and mindset training. So as an athlete, I did this a lot: To preserve my physical body, because of all the gymnastics and routines, I didn't overtrain, because there's damage when you over train. But I would visualize myself going through my movements, and I would picture myself being successful, so I didn't visualize myself messing up or anything like that. And there was, there would be repetition after repetition after repetition. And so what I did to face that fear of having to do events that were going to land me in the water is I had to use logic, you know, so I literally would say, “OK, if I end up being in the joust and I get hit, I'm going to fall in the water. And this is how far away the edge of the pool is. I'm going to take a deep breath. I'm going to I know how to do the stroke, so I'm going to get over there.” But I had to visualize myself falling and then I use logic to just keep myself calm. So I visualize myself hitting the water and being calm, because I would prepare myself to be calm. If I wasn't, I probably would have panicked and drowned. And so I think back to that, and I never told anybody, but I was ready, and I was not afraid, because I had already went through the mental training to prepare myself to do something that I was uncomfortable doing. Naviere Walkewicz 36:50 And so did you fall into the water, and did it play out the way that you had mentally prepared it for? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 36:56 So here's what's crazy. I'm probably not even supposed to talk about this, but the way they film some of these shows, they're not in sequence. So imagine that I'm filming a water event from Episode 1, 3 and 8. OK, well, for me, like, my third day there, I actually tore my ACL falling off the pyramid. And so, you know, those viewers at home didn't know that. So actually the answer is no, I actually didn't even get put into a water event because I got injured beforehand. But I was ready mentally. Regardless, I was actually disappointed, because I was ready to see that courage come to the surface. Naviere Walkewicz 37:32 Oh my goodness! These are all such wonderful examples of how you have really almost embodied wellness throughout your decisions as a leader throughout your career. I'm really curious, as you think about how you've been true to yourself in this journey, because there's an authenticity to you that only Tanji could bring. And so I'm wondering, how do you know who is your authentic self as a leader, and how have you continued to really show up for yourself in that way? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 38:07 I think this is very important. And you know, my heart goes out to the young leaders, because, again, like I was saying earlier, they haven't had the experience yet. And I even remember when my sister, my younger sister, she was struggling to figure out what she wanted to do for a living, and she was a college graduate, and she still didn't know. And a lot of it is because when you don't have that personal life experience, you know — experience is a teacher. It tells you, it leaves clues. So when you don't have that, you kind of feel like you're just shooting from the hip trying to figure it out. And so what I think is important is to start the art of self-reflection early. I will never forget I was on a TDY during the Kosovo crisis. I was at RF Mildenhall, and I was a maintainer, and I remember having, you know, a lot, I think, over 200 troops over there, but it was kind of a lonely season for me, because all my peers were pilots, and they were all flying, and, you know, I didn't have anyone to hang out with, and I wasn't home, you know, I was, I was TDY. So I remember just spending my time. I would go to the gym, and then I would go for walks, and I did a lot of journaling. And I don't know why I had the foresight been but I would, you know, ask myself questions like, “Who am I? What matters to me? What values are important to me?” And the process of doing that really helped me solidify my identity. And so, for example, I knew that I thought self-love was really important to me. It was a value that I care about. So when I see people that are self-deprecating, they're talking poorly about themselves. They don't believe in themselves. This hurts my soul. It's a part of who I am, right? And so I've always believed in self-acceptance, you know. For me, as a Christian, you know, I want to celebrate how God made me and have that level of self-love. So when I was a cheerleader at the Air Force Academy, I remember I didn't have self-esteem issues with my body image. Nothing about it, right? And then I go off an become a professional fitness competitor — now I'm competing. And in that industry, breast implants were very prevalent and they were starting to get really popular. And it made me really insecure. So if you think about it, I did not change, but my environment changed. So as leaders, how often are we going to be in situations where your environment is constantly changing and maybe you feel that pressure to conform? And so in my environment, most of the women around me, as a means to an end, were getting breast implants to change how their body looked, to look more feminine, to be more accepted. And there's nothing wrong if that's what you want to do, but I remember feeling like, “Now I'm insecure about my body. Now I don't feel as pretty. Now I don't feel as feminine.” And I remember that being problematic because it wasn't in alignment with my identity. And so, again, knowing what my values are, I thought, “Well, I could go get the operation like a lot of people do. But this is problematic because I don't want to lead a life — and how am I going to go back and coach other women and lead a team if now what I'm saying is whatever is true to who you are and your identity, it's OK to abandon that.” And so, for me, that's why I chose not to have that surgery. And I started this journey — it took about two years — of being able to redefine beauty, redefine femininity. And this is kind of where all the different tools came in. So I started looking in the mirror and I would do positive — because it's self-taught. Instead of looking at my chest and saying, “You're flat and it looks masculine and you're not feminine enough,” I would say, “Girl, do you know what this chest cand do? We can do crazy push-ups.” And I would say, “Wow, you're strong.” And over time, I changed how I felt about myself. And it was a very proud moment for me, because I look back, and that's why identity is so important. You need to take the time to reflect on who you are, what do you stand for, so that when those moments of pressure come, you're going to be able to make a decision to stay in alignment with who you are. Naviere Walkewicz 42:15 So you said — and maybe it's by grace — that you hadn't really planned. You just started journaling in those moments of quiet when you're feeling a little bit alone as TDY. Is that the best way, you think, to spend some time figuring out who you are? What's important to you? Or are there other tools you might suggest? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 42:33 There's going to be multiple tools. You know, for me, I like to write. You know, for some people, they will pray and they will just ask a higher being to guide me and to make me more aware, make things known to me. For other people, they're going to meditate. You know, I liked journaling. I also have the strength of curiosity. And so, because of that, I was always not only asking myself a lot of questions, but I was asking other people too. And so, for example, if people don't have that strength of curiosity and they're thinking, “I really don't reflect very much and I'm never asking myself those questions,” you know, you don't necessarily have to journal it, but you can just take time to spend in reflection. But some of the work that I do, I take people through identity activation drills where I will list several, several different lists of values, different lists of strengths, and they'll think about each one and they'll really start to think about, “Let me think of a time where I experienced one of these strengths.” Or, “What's the last thing somebody celebrated?” Or, “What do people tend to tell me or complement?” And then all of a sudden they realize,” I didn't realize this was a strength, but, wow, this is a strength!” And now they can own it because they're aware of it. Naviere Walkewicz 43:48 That is outstanding. So, you've really taken wellness into practice with everything you've done. You started to elevate others around you to have this ability to discover themselves and then have this executive presence. You know, if all the things you are doing, it takes energy. How are you… Because I know you talked about not overtraining and making sure you preserve that and doing mental reps. Is that really the special sauce? The mental training so that you don't find yourself in a period where you just lack energy and burnout? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 44:22 So basically, how do you sustain energy when it comes to wellness? So again, you go back to mind, body and spirit. So what I would do is I would — and this is for each person… You just break it down. You ask yourself, “OK, mind. How am I going to keep energy in my mind? What can I do?” One of the easiest things to do is to just take a short break. So when I gave you the example of how my mind was working at full capacity for three hours straight. So when I was done, it needed a bit of a reset. And so what I do every day when I'm at home is I go outside and I visit with my chickens. So I have chickens and I have four cats. And so I will take a mental break and it's a habit for me now. I get up from the table and I will walk, because it decreases your stress hormones when you have movement, and I will give my mind a break and I will allow myself to observe. That's my favorite thing: I call it mindful walks where I just go outside and I will just take a moment. You know when they say, “Just stop and smell the roses.” No, seriously. Naviere Walkewicz 45:28 Or the chickens… Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 45:29 So the chickens make me smile because when I come out there I typically have treats. But they just come… They bumrush me. So I go out there and they make me smile and then something wonderous will happen, like I might see my cat just sprinting up a tree and I'm just thinking, “Wow, what a hunter,” right? They're so fast. Then, you know, I see my dahlias that have been sprouting and I just can't believe how fast they grow overnight with sunshine. And that's just 10 minutes. And then I come back in and I instantly feel recharged and I sit down and I'm restored and ready to focus again on the next task. So, mentally, I like taking breaks. When it comes to physically, just getting into movement. And, you know, a lot of times people will think, “Well, I don't have time to go to the gym for an hour.” Naviere Walkewicz 46:16 Or, “I'm tired already. How am I supposed to go workout?” Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 46:17 Exactly. So when I think about the body, you know, there's four pillars that you can focus on. And if you feel like you're not mastering any of them, just start with one. So food is one. Food is fuel. And then we have hydration. You know, my husband's mom actually went to the hospital because she works all the time and she had been out in the sun and we discovered that she was dehydrated and it put her in the hospital. So sometimes when we're going after the mission and we're doing one task after — you know, when people forget to drink water and eight hours later you're dealing with brain fog, you're irritable, you don't understand what's happening. But you didn't fuel the body. So hydration, movement, food and sleep. So those are like the four pillars. And I would just ask yourself — so if I'm working with a health coaching client, I would say, “Out of those four areas, where do you want to start?” They'll say, “Sleep. My sleep health is terrible.” And then I can take it step further and say, “Have you heard of a thing called sleep hygiene?” They're like, “What's that?” “Sleep hygiene is literally, what is your sleep ritual? What are your habits to prepare for bedtime? Do you have a consistent bedtime? Do you decrease blue-light therapy? Do you put the phone away? Do you take a bubble bath to relax?” When you think about your environment and what your habits are, when some people tell you, “I do not feel rested,” we look at your sleep hygiene. What's going on? There's things that we can fix, and that's just with sleep. And so I ask people, “Where would you like to start? And you just pick one habit that you can commit to over time and once you've mastered that, you start to habit-stack.” Naviere Walkewicz 47:57 Amazing. So that was — you talked about, from the energy, when it comes to your physical and then your mental. What about from the spiritual side? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 48:07 OK, so, this is — and I think this is important because, again, I talk about the spirit is the anchor for your emotional health, right? And so you want to think about activities that's going to feed your soul and your spirit. Now I'll give an example. If you're going through, let's say, a season where you're irritable and you're feeling ungrateful and you're pessimistic and everything just seems bad. We're actually kind of in a season like that right now sometimes. One of the things I do — so this is just an exercise, but it's a gratitude process. Write down 100 things you are grateful for. I did this for three months straight. It took me about 20 minutes, but I got really good at it. And when you have to list out 100 things, you know, at first you might do 20 and you're like, “All right. Where do I go from here?” But you're forced to dig deeper. And when I came up with my 100 list, first of all, I would think about my husband. And 10 things, I would get specific. Grateful for his provision. Grateful for support, for his sense of humor, for his hot, fit body. You know, I'd just go down all the things, right? And then every day I'm grateful for my home, for my physical abilities, for my flexibility, my mobility. You're just in a different frame of mind. And anyone can get there if they choose to do an exercise or a prompt that shifts them from their current circumstance. And that's why I'm most passionate about empowering people that they truly can design their life utilizing these tools. Naviere Walkewicz 49:47 Can you share an example when you've seen someone that was maybe in that season… Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 49:53 What kind of season? Negative season? Naviere Walkewicz 49:54 In the negative season. And how going through some of these, kind of, wellness check-ins or activities — what did it allow them to do? What did it open on the other side that changed for them with your help? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 50:06 OK, so, one example would be we have social media; we have digital devices. And we can easily… Everything is about habit management and that's one thing I would tell people to do, you know? If you were to take inventory, look at how you live your life every day, and if you were to put every single action you did down as a habit — brush your teeth is a habit. Stop by and grab the Diet Coke is a habit. Sit down on the couch to watch TV is a habit. If you put it in a category of what serves you; what doesn't serve you. You know, one of the most… Naviere Walkewicz 50:41 So first list out all your habits and categorize them? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 50:43 Right, right. So then you would recognize, “Oh my goodness. I have a habit of scrolling Instagram. Or social media.” And then you ask yourself how much time do you spend doing that. “Oh, I get caught up in a loophole of 30 to 45 minutes. And then what are you consuming? You know, so let's say the things that have happened in the last couple of weeks, you know, say something negative happens in society that's getting a lot of public attention and you're just ina rabbit hole reading about that incident over and over and over again. And when you're done scrolling, the question is, “How do you feel after that activity?” And most people would say, “I feel tense. I feel angry. I feel disappointed.” They list off all of these negative feelings. And so what I do is I help them realize, “OK, so does that serve you? Because you were in this negative health space, when you went to dinner with your family or when you went into this next assignment, how did you show up? How did you perform?” And then they realize, “Oh, wow. Not very well. I treated my wife like crap because I was irritable.” And so then you go back again. Your experience… We leave clues with how we're living our lives. So then you go back and you realize, “That is a habit I need to change. And I just need to make a decision, and I have to have a compelling reason. So let's say you want to work on your marriage and you want to show up better for your spouse, but you're always showing up with negative energy because of this habit that you do right when you get home, then you can — so we just come up with a plan, and it's different for each person. You know, “What could you do that would be more positive?” “I could come home play a game with my kid, because, you know, my kid is amazing, and it makes me smile and laugh,” and you're in a good mood, you know? And this is why, if I am stressed during the day, I already know if I get exposed to my chickens, my cat, or just go outside, I'm so mesmerized by the beauty of nature. All of those things I know fill me in a positive way. And so I am very intentional and aware of when I need to shift, and I know what my go-to are. So when I work with clients, I help them discover what their database of go-tos are going to be. The first part is just helping them become more aware of when it's happening so they can decide to shift. Naviere Walkewicz 52:57 Right. So that awareness is really critical, but then the next step is probably the discipline and actually doing something about it? Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 53:07 Right. Naviere Walkewicz 53:08 How can you take the lessons that you've had in bodybuilding, and then, you know, in all of your journey to help those now move from the awareness bucket to actually… Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 53:17 To making it happen? So I think that the first goal should be consistency, not perfection, right? And I learned this the hard way as a bodybuilder, because in the beginning of my career, I hated dieting. I've always hated dieting. I love food. Naviere Walkewicz 53:31 You and I are kindred spirits in that way. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 53:32 I don't mind being, yes, I don't mind being on a structured, you know, meal plan. But, you know, being on a strict diet can be hard, so anytime you set a goal to do something that is difficult, you know, the first thing that I tried to do was be perfect. So I would hire a coach, and my nutritionist would tell me, “This is what you're supposed to eat for meal one, two, three, four, exactly down to the macros. And maybe I would do great for three days. And then, you know, I would fail. I would cheat or have something I'm not supposed to have, and I would feel so bad again. Going back to a lot of these principles are coming back up. I was letting the failure identified me as a bad person, so now I'm feeling shame, and that's making me feel discouraged. And I kept doing this thing, like, “Well, I blew it, so I'm just gonna take the whole day off.” Like, how dumb is that, right? Like, there's four more meals you can eat and you're just gonna sabotage the rest of the four. So think about if I did that every day. So if you messed up every day and you sabotage three out of the six meals every single day, where would you be at the end of the week? Naviere Walkewicz 54:31 Worse off. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 54:32 Fat. [Laughs] No, I'm just kidding, Naviere Walkewicz 54:33 Worse off than you were when you started. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 54:35 You would be, with no results. Naviere Walkewicz 54:37 No more Oreos in the house so you wouldn't have to worry about eating them anymore. Tanji Johnson Bridgeman 54:40 So that's when I realized, “Oh, I'm getting caught up with perfection, and that's causing me to sabotage.” So then I changed. I said 80/20, 90/10, I just want to be consistent. And so when you fail, you know you give yourself that grace, right? And so I always like to say courage, grit and grace. You have to have the courage to do something uncomfortable, the grit to endure and then the grace to embrace when you've messed up and then move forward. And so the first thing I would do with wellness habits is, you know, you build one habit at a time, and you do what you can to be consistent, and when you fail, again, here's that theme, you take that failure as feedback. “Why did you fail? Did you get hungry? Did you have temptation in the house? Did you not set your alarm?” Right? You know? “What could you do differently?” And then you just recommit to being consistent. Naviere Walkewicz 55:31 That is excellent. So talking about everything, this has been a wonderful conversation. When I think about lasting impact, right? So you know, you've had this incredible journey. You've helped people understand how to be more aware of their wellness, how to take action, be consistent and really drive change. What is one challenge you might have our listeners take in the w
This week the Late Crew is TDY. So this episode contains hilarious clips from our past shows: First, we debate who should be the official patron saint of the U.S. Space Force (01:28). Then, we test our knowledge with a fast-paced Space Movie Quiz—can you beat us on the classics and cult favorites? (13:11) Finally, we dive into the hilarious (and sometimes bizarre) world of military codenames in the Operation Name Game. (34:31) Tune in for laughs, history, and some out-of-this-world insights! https://lateforchangeover.com/
Send us a textPeaches returns with another banger, torching bureaucratic blunders and Joint Force nonsense. From the Pentagon flexing like it just invented drone grenades, to the DoD accidentally letting Chinese engineers tinker with our cloud—this one's a spicy ride. He dives into the F-35 budget cut drama, Space Force cosplay, uniform updates that no one asked for, and yes, another near-miss in the skies. Also: Nashville OTS still has slots, and you might even get Uncle Sam to foot the bill (if your chain isn't lame). Buckle up—your commute just got smarter and more sarcastic.
Send us a textBuckle up, aspiring warriors and pipeline survivors – the Ones Ready crew is back with a savage takedown of military myths, featuring Tac P legend Alex Chiapetta, who joined the Air Force at the ripe old age of 27 (gasp!) and somehow didn't shatter like fine china in the pipeline. Spoiler: He crushed it, thanks to mobility stretches, protein overloads, and bedtime at 7:30 PM – because who needs video games when you're building an empire? Alex spills the tea on ditching desk jobs during COVID, dodging Army officer boards like a bad date, and why Tac P's strategic battlefield wizardry hooked him harder than a Hellcat obsession (pro tip: Skip the 28% interest muscle car, kids). From land nav in the woods (no, not that kind) to JTAC brain-melting chaos, he exposes how the pipeline's "easier" rep is total BS – it's all rucking, radios, and refusing to be that washout marching lines at Medina. But here's the real mic-drop: Alex played the long game, stacking VA loans for free rent via house hacks, maxing TSP like a boss, and snagging Air Force Cool certs while you were blowing TDY cash on nonsense. Now he's bailing for Texas McCombs MBA, networking with vets like a pro, and plotting to buy businesses from retiring boomers. Oh, and don't get him started on getting fat post-military – he's aiming for "hot dad" status, not "retired slob." The crew throws in pool training plugs, fat-shaming roasts (RIP Tony's BMI), and why your network is your net worth. If you're grinding the pipeline or plotting your escape, this episode's your no-BS blueprint to level up – or end up checking IDs at the gate. Hell yeah, brother... or nah?Key Takeaways:Age Ain't Nothing But a Pipeline Myth: Alex joined at 27, outlasted cocky 18-year-olds by prioritizing recovery, mobility, and sleep – turns out discipline beats youth every time. Pipeline Real Talk – It's Brutal, Brainy, and Doable: From rucking hell to land nav nightmares and JTAC multi-tasking madness, the Tac P grind builds unbreakable confidence if you shut up and grind. Military Benefits = Wealth Hacks: Stack TSP, snag VA loans for multi-unit houses (live rent-free, idiots), and use Air Force Cool for free certs – Alex turned four years into generational weSupport the showJoin this channel to get access to perks: HEREBuzzsprout Subscription page: HERECollabs:Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code: 1Ready ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code): ATACLeteCardoMax - Promo Code: ONESREADYDanger Close Apparel - Promo Code: ONESREADYDFND Apparel - Promo Code: ONESREADYHoist - Promo Code: ONESREADYKill Cliff - Pro...
Three time zones. One car seat. Two hotel WiFi connections held together by hope. In this Bro Chat, “Rain”, “Vader”, and “Bender” catch up on everything from flying jets to why flyovers are a lose-lose game. Vader's knee-deep in the IPUG grind, Bender's dodging work at a chill TDY, and Rain's flying big ole fat planes around the world. We break down F-35 vs Viper radar logic, relive the Indy 500 flyover chaos, and the Netflix Thunderbird doc (what happened with “Primo's” rejoin ). Also: Iranian strikes, the death of the F-35 order, AI drones that headshot mannequins, and why Waymo might trigger Skynet. Come for the jet talk. Stay for the tuna sandwich fight story.
This is the VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran, during Veterans Month in America. SUBMITTED BY: Grant Yeakey _____________________________________________________________ Jesse Ray Hughes and SGT Harry Allen Tribute to SPC Jesse Ray Hughes and SGT Harry Allen I would like to honor the memory of my mom’s cousin Specialist E-4 Jesse Ray Hughes. Jesse Ray Hughes, Born 19 December 1944, arrived in Vietnam 05 May 1965. He was KIA while on a search and destroy mission on 05 October 1965 when his unit was hit by Viet Cong machine gun fire. He was one of 8 young men killed in that battle. Jesse Ray was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his actions that day. The words of Mr. Harry Allen We were in 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. Jesse and I had come from Okinawa on May 5, 1965 to Vietnam. We were both about 14 months into an 18 month Okinawa deployment. They told us we were going TDY (temporary duty) for 90 days. At the end of our TDY period they told us we were PCS (permanent change of station) and would have to stay for a year. Jesse was killed on 5 October which was exactly 5 months into our year. At the end of my year on 5 May 66, I extended for 90 days because I only had a little over 5 months left in the Army, and if I came back from an overseas assignment with less than 90 days left on my contract I would be discharged early. I ended up spending about 29 months overseas and was a Sergeant E-5 when discharged at 20 years and 9 months old. It was 3 months before I could vote or drink but I’d run an infantry squad of 10 men for a while. Special thank you to Harry Allen who I reached out to a little over a year ago after finding a tribute he had written about Jesse Ray on a fallen warrior website. He has become a very good friend, and I consider him a true American Hero. ________________________________________________________________ This is today’s VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran, during Veterans Month in America on NewsTalkSTL. With support from our friends at: DG FIREARMS - PATRIOT HEATING AND COOLING - BEST BUY FLOORINGSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What kind of a reaction should you expect when you enjoy a nice treat in rough seas? Is it possible to go on a TDY and get your travel paid for quickly? Find out, the answers to these questions and more on this weeks "sode" of The Cammo Comedy Show Podcast! If you have any funny military stories of your own that you would like to share, drop us a line at:stories@cammocomedy.com or Leave a voicemail at (531) 222-6146 Sadly, the voicemail will only record in 2 minute blocksWe are here to make you laugh, but behind this there is the imbedded philosophy of, "No One Left Behind." Sadly, 22 vets per day commit suicide, approximately 67,500 vets are homeless and thousands struggle with everyday life after service. What we hope to accomplish is providing a fun place to gather that will have a similar feel to the conversations that happen at the VFW or American Legion between vets. Since the latest generations of vets are not really going to these places anymore, we are making it happen online. We believe that the sense of community will help some who struggle, while providing stories about the good times that we can all laugh at!An additional part of this show is capturing the oral history of the military over the past few decades, so if you happen to know a veteran who served during WW2, Korean War or Vietnam eras, we would love to hear from them. Obviously, we want to hear stories from all eras, but we have special respect for the older generations.
Send us a textIn this extended Daily Drop, Jared unleashes a tactical nuke of sarcasm on the Pentagon's parade of WTF decisions. From billion-dollar contracts imploding to Airmen stuck in retirement limbo, it's clear nobody's steering this defense dumpster fire. Cyber Command wants to be SOCOM now (because that worked so well before), troops can't move because the PCS fairy ran out of money, and SpaceX is somehow our last hope in space. Also: PFAS water, political drama, and Congress failing military families… again.If you like your military updates with a side of rage and real talk, you're in the right TOC.
Aaaand we're back! Jon is flying solo today for Pittsburgh's Spirits of the Burgh 2025. He is, however, joined by a few great guests and TDY friends throughout the event. If you would like to listen for that special someone, names and timestamps will be below. Have a listen, and hopefully we'll see you there next year! Cheers!Alex Ramsey, Heist Spirits - 04:25Katie Sirianni, Love Katie - 16:25Heather Papiernik - 23:25Mel Luke, King Fly - 36:59Harold Walker - 46:18Laurel Oak FarmLaurel Oak Farm purchase linkIf you would like to purchase a hat click hereCheck out our YouTube Channel!If you would like to become a patron of the show, please check out our Patreon site. Be sure to rate and review us on iTunesFind all other info on our site!
Welcome to the One CA Podcast. Today, Brian Hancock interviewed Ismael Lopez about OHDACA and Humanitarian Relief and his experiences as a Marine Civil Affairs Officer. Brian's profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-j-hancock/ Ismael's profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishrlopez/ Transcript available below. --- One CA is a product of the civil affairs association and brings in people who are current or former military, diplomats, development officers, and field agents to discuss their experiences on the ground with a partner nation's people and leadership. We aim to inspire anyone interested in working in the "last three feet" of U.S. foreign relations. To contact the show, email us at CApodcasting@gmail.com or look us up on the Civil Affairs Association website at www civilaffairsassoc.org --- Great news! Feedspot, the podcast industry ranking system rated One CA Podcast as one of the top 10 shows on foreign policy. Check it out at: https://podcast.feedspot.com/foreign_policy_podcasts/ --- Special Thanks to the creators of Jazz & Bossa Cafe for the sample of Positive March Music. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHeCxa0rMQ4 --- Transcript: 00:00:05 BRIAN HANCOCK Welcome to One Civil Affairs Podcast. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Brian Hancock, and I will be your host for this session. Today we have with us Major Ismael Lopez to discuss civil affairs, special missions, and the ongoing relief effort in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Lopez is the Excess Property Program Manager for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. He's also a major in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. where he serves as the Latin American Foreign Area Officer and Detachment Commander with the 1st Civil Affairs Group. At DSCA, he oversees ODACA -funded Humanitarian Assistance, HA, supporting disaster relief and capacity -building efforts in over 28 countries, including the responses in the Afghanistan refugee crisis, the Ukrainian crisis, and humanitarian support to Gaza. In his expanded role, he acts as a liaison for civil affairs, focusing on training, project continuity, and aligning civil affairs efforts with strategic goals. 00:01:09 BRIAN HANCOCK With over 15 years of experience in security cooperation, Mr. Lopez has supported humanitarian assistance operations globally, including key relief efforts following Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and Iota. Major Lopez, welcome to the show. 00:01:25 ISMAEL LOPEZ Thank you, Brian. 00:01:26 BRIAN HANCOCK Boy, you've been busy. 00:01:27 ISMAEL LOPEZ I certainly have. Unfortunately, I've been really busy to do the things that I love. 00:01:32 BRIAN HANCOCK Now, let's talk a little bit about this mysterious full -time job that you do, the excess property manager for a defense security cooperation agency. Security cooperation being one of the three most important missions in the world, in my opinion. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do as the excess property manager? And if you're in the business of giving away property, how do I sign up for this? 00:01:54 ISMAEL LOPEZ What's funny is that, as you mentioned that, There is a running joke down at the Southcom HA office where they say, if you need a new refrigerator, Ish is the guy to call. Basically, what I do in a nutshell is I work with the combat commands and all the way down to the country teams to identify partners, to provide them non -lethal excess property in an effort to achieve very specific objectives in the country. What the program does is it'll take items that are basically pretty much brand new to a little bit of wear and tear, which we can refurbish in our warehouses. And then we issue them out or we donate them to the partner with the intention of meeting a very specific objective in that country. So aside from that, I also support DOD humanitarian aid efforts for any initiatives that are... utilizing the overseas humanitarian disaster and civic aid. So in a nutshell, that's pretty much what I do. And yeah, if you need a fridge, if you need a microwave, if there is an effect that could be achieved by me donating it to you, sure. 00:03:06 BRIAN HANCOCK We're expanding NATO a little bit. And many of the NATO countries, about 32 of them, they're putting a little bit more money into defense these days for a wide variety of reasons. And if they decide they want to send up a new office somewhere in Poland or something like that, How would they go about saying, hey, all those esks and chairs and things that you have in Dermo, we'd like some of that. And who pays the shipping? 00:03:29 ISMAEL LOPEZ The folks sitting in NATO would have to work with ODC and Poland first. They will validate that requirement, then submit it on up to UCOM. UCOM will have their lawyers look at it. And then from there, it will make its way up to DSCA for execution. Now, what pays for all this is the Odaka appropriations that gets earmarked from the Odaka budget that provides transportation for this program. So the program comes at no cost. It's all funded exclusively through the Odaka appropriation. 00:04:05 BRIAN HANCOCK Awesome. Let me talk a little bit more about that and ask you a few questions. Odaka is kind of a hidden gem that a number of us in the civil affairs community know about. Many other people don't, and you can definitely achieve effects with this, especially in competition, which is something that we're, I think, as a joint combined army, really struggling with, is how we get after having those influence and deterrence effects in the competition phase. ODACA is one of those tools that's available to us. It's the Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic Aid Fund. Now, I have very limited experience with that program. Can you tell the audience a little bit more about the ODACA creation, how large it is, what it usually funds? 00:04:54 ISMAEL LOPEZ Yeah, absolutely. I'm able to see it from two perspectives, right? I'm able to see this from my seat at DSCA and then my seat in the reserve component as a civil affairs officer, where to your earlier point, ODACA is a bit of this hidden gem and it could be leveraged to help. achieving effects in the competition phase, but where there are issues is the lack of understanding of what you can and cannot do with the appropriation or how you can actually link it to creating those effects. And I get that because rewind the clock back to 2013 when I first delved into civil affairs, one of the metrics that are utilized to determine our success in country is How many projects can you nominate or how many projects did you complete? So then when you're aiming to achieve or hit that metric, you're not necessarily looking at the linkage. You're almost betting on that someone will create that linkage for you that you're providing the activity in support of. So Odaka, generally speaking, we're looking at about $26 to $30 million a year. But then that money... gets divvied up across the combatant commands and is prioritized based off of national defense strategy. So if it's called out very specifically country X or region Y is the priority when it comes to DoD humanitarian aid efforts, then preponderance of that money will be earmarked for that country or that region globally. Once you pull the thread on that, then there's different tiers. for the countries that are located in that combatant command or in that region of the world, and we're able to allocate money for those countries as well. Where it gets tricky is that what will factor into it is how proactive and how thorough the ODCs and the SCOs are with executing those HA projects and then the end -use monitoring piece of it. So their requirements are tied to these project nominations. The country team, the HA managers, the civil affairs teams that are assigned to or are deployed in that country are not providing the feedback necessary to determine the return on investment. Then the following year, what could end up happening is this country is a priority, but what we're not able to tell Congress is, are we actually achieving the effects that we're desiring in that country or in that region? And if we can't answer that with tangible metrics, then that will factor into a reduction of ODACA funding for the following year. Recently, in Indo -PACOM, the focus has been very heavy on the mill -to -mill engagement piece. What is starting to catch up now is the sieve mill piece. And so we have money allocated, but they're sort of playing catch up with the rest of the COCOMs as it pertains to. getting those funds and then executing projects and us being able to sustain them over an extended period of time. 00:08:01 BRIAN HANCOCK Yeah, it is a challenging problem set. One of the taskers that we get annually here in our command is to measure the strategic effect of DACA projects, which are largely tactical, in a bunch of different countries. and were given one week. Now you've got a rotational force here of about 15 civil affairs folks of various persuasions. Maybe a couple of them can be dedicated to that task. They had nothing to do with the inception of these projects. They were not part of the construction. They saw none of the... assessment or staff estimate documents related to them. All they saw was probably, if they're lucky, the proposal that went into the website to get them. And they don't have time to do extensive interviews or measurement. And it's pretty tricky to take something very tactical and then indicate not as an MOP you completed the project, but as an MOE it actually influenced the local populace towards U .S. and NATO objectives. That is a very tough thing to do mathematically, especially without the data, documents, and time to be able to do that. 00:09:18 ISMAEL LOPEZ is a 00:09:28 BRIAN HANCOCK What is the standard that is accepted by the panel who's controlling those funding and appropriations? What realistically do you have to prove? 00:09:39 ISMAEL LOPEZ So this has been a challenge for several years now. I saw it firsthand. As a civil affairs team leader in the South Com AOR, where I deployed to support a very specific commander, but as a, hey, by the way, while you're down there, there's these products that were funded several years ago. Do you mind taking a look? No context behind it. I can't do pre and post surveys on the local populace because I don't know what it was or what the baseline was prior to the construction or the completion. And then now. So it was very arbitrary. It was very much, yeah, it's good. Is the government still funding it? Sure. Are they employing people that are maintaining it? Sure. And I think back then, 2013, 2014 timeframe, I think the blanket answer to all that was, we're countering Russia, China. And so as long as you were saying that, then it was all gravy. And we've obviously have evolved from that to we're now tying these very tactical actions. to operational objectives, right? So are we supporting CoCom LOEs? And if we're supporting CoCom LOEs at the minimum, we understand that we should be integrated into strategic objectives, right? Because the LOEs are derived from those strategic documents. And we've gotten to that point, but now where we are able or unable to get that data or the metrics. really falls on the lack of funding to do it. So the easy button is, well, you have your security cooperation professionals that are assigned to the embassies. They should be. They can do that. Yeah. But the reality is all embassies, regardless of the size, they are overextended and under -resourced. So they're always dealing with VIP visitors. They're dealing with taskings from the State Department. They have their steady state activities they have to be supporting, and they're falling in on, let's just say, 30 projects over the last three years. And, oh, by the way, all these assessments need to be done, but your TDY funds are X. And there's no way of doing it. So then it trickles down to, hey, do we have any civil affairs teams coming downrange? Can they support? And I think we've gotten to a bit of a sweet spot. is this mutual understanding that civil affairs teams in country, as long as they're not being detracted from their main mission, are able to provide some sort of support in conducting those surveys and assessments. However, it's still not the right answer because they're falling in on rudimentary information, background information, and it's still very much from their perspective. At DSCA, we have increased our budget for AM &E purposes to help country teams that are in the red, so to speak, when it comes to conducting these assessments, especially countries that are a priority where we understand, hey, we need to continue engaging on the HA side of things and not the MIL side of things. So we need to get as close to valid or reality as we can. So we have contractors now that are assigned to the combat commands, folks within my office that can. be requested to go out and support. And again, we're working across the command and commands to see as appropriate where we can support. So a lot of work still has to be done there. But again, looking back to 10 years ago, even five years ago, I think across the board, DOD has gotten significantly better at providing metrics to validate activities vice. simply stating we're countering Russia and China and we're going to call it good. 00:13:35 BRIAN HANCOCK As they should. All of these projects should be tied to a line of effort, tied to a strategic effect that's in line both with the COCOM and the chief of mission. And then you would need a way to measure them at a granular level and then aggregate them to measure progress against a line of effort aligned to strategic intent. I don't think that framework has been built. I hope we eventually get there. If you ask some of the SCAs in the embassy, at best, they're going to give you anecdotal information. So there's a lot of things that we would have to do. And if we send a civil affairs team, depending on their training and background, that can be more or less successful. Now, you're probably tracking that in the Army side of civil affairs, we've built that 38 golf program where I can have an engineer with 20 years of experience. It seems to me that's the guy we should be attaching. to a civil affairs team to go do one of these assessments. What do you think? 00:14:33 ISMAEL LOPEZ I completely agree with that. And that's 100 % a step in the right direction. On the Marine side of the house, we sell the capability for civil affairs to do engineering assessments, bridge assessments. And I'm like, who here is an engineer? Who amongst us realistically do that? I mean, one example is I got asked to do a port assessment in Panama. And if you look at the J -SIMS form, It's very, very specific, very detailed, talking depth of water. And how am I supposed to do that? But A, because you're in the environment and you're there, you claim as a capability that you're able to do that, then go on and do great things. And I think one of two things need to happen. Either one, we need to re -wicker the capability to a more realistic set or... Very similar to the 38 golf program is start incorporating or cross -training those specialized folks that can actually bring that capability to bear and then have that as part of the team. And then now we're being more honest with what it is that we can do in our assessments and the information that we're providing to hire. Right. 00:15:41 BRIAN HANCOCK I appreciate that. I watched as the Navy discontinued its civil affairs program. Obviously, the Marines are part of the Department of the Navy, so I don't want to. miscommunicate that. But the Navy had its own civil affairs for a while. And when we as the Army Civil Affairs came out and were asked to do port assessments in Rim of the Pacific, quite frankly, we couldn't do it. And we had functional specialists because there's quite a bit of difference between a great engineer who's used to large infrastructure and other things go out and assess the full range of capabilities of a port, especially after a major disaster. We had to bridge that gap. We had to go to German portmasters, which is great when you're working with combined partners. I think that's an opportunity. And they knew this business, soup and nails. They went out there and everything on the Jason and more they did and could even do follow -ups to see the progress as repair work was going on. That was fantastic that we had a joint partner. I don't think we have an organic capability in DOD to do things like that. And when we're talking having to project power to your port of debarkation, that seems like a gap that we need to fill right now. 00:16:59 ISMAEL LOPEZ Yeah, I agree. And I have some good news for you. The Navy is reconstituting their civil affairs program. When we were out at Balakatan in the Philippines last spring, we had a full -up Navy civil affairs team. I was the first of its kind in this reconstituted form, but I was part of a combined Marine Navy team in the Philippines. So Big Navy has realized that understanding where we're going as DOD, that they're bringing it back. And hopefully that's part of the equation there. I hope so. One of the reasons it was closed down is because the way they scoped their mission for Naval Civil Affairs. 00:17:34 BRIAN HANCOCK of the reasons it was closed down is because the way they scoped their mission for Naval Civil Affairs. was somewhat redundant with what the Army and the Marine Corps were already doing. So instead of focusing on those things where they have almost unique capabilities, such as assessing aquaculture and water -based commerce and those effects and the port stuff, they were doing a lot of land -based types of assessments and other things. And I think they became a victim of budget shortfall if they were seen as a redundant capability. both in the Army and the Marine Corps, you and I both have responsibility since we both need naval partners to do our job to help shape their burgeoning program and make sure as it's resetting that it doesn't make some of the mistakes that were made previously and help them be a vibrant addition to our larger civil affairs community because I think we really need them. 00:18:32 ISMAEL LOPEZ I wholeheartedly agree. There are fortunate scenarios. When you look at the reserve component where you can have these very uniquely trained individuals that can come in. I had a ship captain as a corporal, so he could speak to that. But that is luck, right? I shouldn't be planning on, I'm going to have these uniquely talented and experienced folks that are going to be able to pour a mission set. Now, 00:19:01 BRIAN HANCOCK you're a major in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. and you serve as commander of Detachment 3, the first civil affairs group. What is that like? What's a day look like on that job for you? 00:19:15 ISMAEL LOPEZ So at first, it's been the funnest job that I've had. I was a civil affairs team leader before, but as a commander, it's been more fulfilling because I'm able to... lead and mentor Marines who are interested in this space or really want to make a difference and have a better understanding of how their actions support operational and strategic objectives. I think that's often missed by the less experienced civil affairs Marines. My typical day as a commander is just dealing with admin, to be honest. It's making sure that my Marines are able and ready to deploy, enabling them to be able to go and execute the mission. is really what I spend a majority of my time doing. 00:20:01 BRIAN HANCOCK Let's talk a little bit more about that training piece. I know you kind of build it. A lot of things you do as admin, but part of readiness is being able to do your job. The Marine is an expeditionary force, perhaps becoming even more expeditionary with the expeditionary advanced base operations construct the chief of the Navy signed off on. So very interesting training opportunities for the fleet right now. And you mentioned Balakatan and some of those other exercise -type missions that you've done. And I know you've probably done Marine Corps Warfighting exercise and mentioned JRTC. But what are some of these other missions you've done? You've talked about a dock -up. A dock -up is joined at the hip with Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, HADR. The Navy has a huge role in HADR for just a whole bunch of reasons. Has your detachment participated in any HADR missions? Is that another training opportunity that you have with your Marines and detachment?
For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. You can easily explore flight upgrades on your TDY travel flights. It's 100% legitimate and in line with government regulations and JTR. After using government contract flights and booking on your GTC in DTS, you can check your upgrade options. On this flight, Jamie was able to see United upgrades on an 8-hour flight for only 20,000 United miles or ~$1300 each way. He was able to transfer credit card points instantly to his United account. 40,000 points for round trip, lie-flight, first class experience is a great redemption! You can easily earn well over 40,000 points with the welcome offer of just ONE annual-fee waived credit cards for military servicemembers AND their spouse. Remember, you can EACH get your OWN account and each enjoy the benefits. Our new TSP course is live! Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE! If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email podcast@militarymoneymanual.com. If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com. I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.
Going TDY can be stressful. We try to ease a bit of the stress by finding a furnished home to fit your needs for any TDY or training longer than 30 days. Bringing your whole family? Looking for a single room in a shared home? Need a pet friendly rental? We'll find you the perfect home away from home. The post MMP #1038: Crashpad Connections first appeared on Mission: Milspouse.
Going TDY can be stressful. We try to ease a bit of the stress by finding a furnished home to fit your needs for any TDY or training longer than 30 days. Bringing your whole family? Looking for a single room in a shared home? Need a pet friendly rental? We'll find you the perfect home away from home. The post MMP #1038: Crashpad Connections first appeared on Mission: Milspouse.
Dive into the latest episode, as Andrea Motley Crabtree shares her groundbreaking journey from joining the Army in 1977 to becoming the first Black female deep-sea diver across all U.S. military branches and the U.S. Army's first female deep-sea diver. Conquering intense training, her story of perseverance and the power of support will inspire you. This is truly a story of courage and determination. Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas. Show Notes: Bio: Andrea Motley Crabtree, Ret. U.S. Army Master Sergeant enlisted in May 1977 and served through April 1998. Her MOS were 35E series, Signal Corps/Ordnance and 00B Deep Sea Diver, Second Class, Engineer. She entered the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) in February 1977 to May 1977 (PV1). Then was shipped from Detroit MEPS to Basic Training at Ft McClellan, Alabama in May of 1977, and then graduated in July 1977 E 1st Battalion 1st Brigade (PV2). Attended Advance Individual Training (AIT) Ft. Belvoir, Virginia 35E20 and 35E30 Senior Special Electrical and Electronic Device Repairman August 1977 to January 1978 (PFC). Then participated in Hometown Recruiting Program USADRC January to February 1978. Duty stations: 513th Maintenance Battalion 3rd ACR Ft Bliss, Texas February 1978 to May 1979 (SP4), 614th Maintenance Battalion Attachment 71st Maintenance Battalion Nuremberg, Germany July 1979 to May 1980 (SP5). Reenlisted for Ft Ord California to get SCUBA certified. Then stationed with Co A 707th Maintenance Battalion 7th Infantry Division Ft Ord California June 1980 to September 1981. Fourth permanent duty station. 86th Diving Detachment 30th Engineer Battalion Ft Belvoir Virginia Oct 81 to Jan 83. Petroleum Distribution Systems Pohang Korea January 1983 to January 1984 (SSG). 511th Diving Detachment 30th Engineer Battalion Ft Belvoir, Virginia January 1984 to 1985 reclassified. HHC USAG, 313 SIG CO, then to HHC USAG, G1, Ft Hood Texas 1985 to 1986. DA selected for recruiting duty. TDY To Ft. Benjamin Harris for recruiting school and graduated May 1987. Recruiting duty. Newburgh Recruiting Battalion, Newburgh New York June 1987 to July 1988. Ft. Gordon, GA for ANOC August 1988 to December 1988. HQ&A 360th Signal Battalion, 15th Signal Brigade, Ft. Gordon GA. Assigned as instructor November 1988 to March 1990. Drill Sergeant School, Ft. Jackson, SC. January 1990 to March 1990. Assigned as Drill Sergeant C Co. 360th Signal Battalion, 15th Signal Brigade, Ft. Gordon, GA March 1990 to March 1992. HHC 17th Signal BN. APO, AE 09225 April 1992 to December 1993. HHC USAG Ft. Carson, Colorado January 1994 to October 1995. Headquarters & Headquarters, 307th Signal BN. Camp Carroll Korea, APO Area Pacific 96260 February 1996 to September 1996. HHC DISCOM, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT), Ft. Campbell, Kentucky 42223, FORSCOM September 1996 to April 1998. Certified by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and the National Association of SCUBA Diving schools (NASDS). But then turned down promotion to Staff Sergeant to be eligible for dive school. Enroute to Ft Rucker Alabama, assigned there for UCMJ while TDY to United States Navy Diving & Salvage Training Center Panama City Beach, Florida. In October 1981 arrived at dive school, failed swim test. She was given one week to practice, and retake swim test, but failed second swim test. She disenrolled herself and this allowed for the opportunity to come back to school later, as flunking out would not allow a return to the course. In October 1981 assigned to HHC 30th Engineer Battalion Ft. Belvoir Virginia home of the 511th Diving Detachment, and 86th Diving Detachment. She went swimming every day to improve her time. In November 1981 TDY Ft Eustis, Virginia to attend two-week diver pre-screen course. January 1982 went back to dive school and in April 1982 graduated. She has also participated and medaled in the National Senior Games in shot put, discus, javelin, and table tennis. She loves Pickleball and tries to play five days a week. Her picture hangs at the U. S. Army Women's Museum at Fort Gregg Adam's, the painting of her by Henry Taylor hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Before We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room, Tavares Strachan did a piece titled: In Plain Sight, Distant Relatives a piece at displayed at the Marian Goodman Gallery. She was a consultant for the book Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. She is included in the book The Only Woman by Immy Humes, (A book that spotlights 100 historical photographs of lone woman hidden among groups of men). Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America. Member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, and her Website: www.reddiverdown.com. She owned and operated Crabtree & Sons Lawn Maintenance, Inc., substitute taught for two years, and studied computer science at Aiken Technical College. She has three sons and a grandchild on the way. Andrea is also a two-time cancer survivor.
Want elite status with Hertz for free? Want to skip the line at the rental car counter? Want a free upgrade? Easy! As a military servicemember or spouse, you get top-tier credit cards with amazing benefits like this with no annual fee. Today we discuss: What is Hertz President's Circle? How do military servicemembers and spouses get this elite status for free? How do you maximize Hertz President's Circle benefit on your next TDY or vacation? Our new TSP course is live! Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE! If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email podcast@militarymoneymanual.com. If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon at or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com. I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.
In this podcast episode from Waiting Warriors, host Michelle Bowler engages in an insightful discussion with guest Amanda Scott, a military spouse, on the challenges and possibilities of maintaining one's career amidst the unpredictable and hectic TDY schedule. Michelle and Amanda offer actionable advice on building resilience, leveraging opportunities like remote work, and remaining proactive to ensure that careers are not solely dictated by military life. Amanda also discusses her personal experiences, underscoring the importance of mindset, openness with superiors, flexibility, and planning ahead to ensure career progress. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Waiting Warriors Podcast 00:39 Guest Introduction: Amanda Scott 01:01 Understanding the Impact of TDYs on Military Spouses 01:26 Amanda's Career Journey and the Role of RTX 02:10 The Challenges of Maintaining a Career Amidst TDYs 04:17 Defining 'Career' and 'Maintaining' in the Context of Military Life 05:07 Amanda's Personal Experience with Career Progression and Military Impact 11:43 Strategies for Maintaining a Career During TDYs 17:31 Examples of Workplace Accommodations for Military Spouses 20:23 Workplace Accommodations for Military Spouses 20:53 Understanding FMLA and Its Benefits 22:33 The Importance of Having a Plan 25:16 Advocacy and Communication in the Workplace 30:24 Overcoming Challenges and Thriving in Your Career 36:12 Connecting with Resources for Career-Minded Military Spouses 37:47 Amanda's Key To Thriving
Douglas Valentine is the author of four books of historical nonfiction: The Hotel Tacloban, The Phoenix Program, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, and The Strength of the Pack: The Personalities, Politics and Espionage Intrigues that Shaped the DEA. He is the author of the novel TDY, and a book of poems, A Crow's Dream. He is also the editor of the poetry anthology With Our Eyes Wide Open: Poems of the New American Centuryhttps://amzn.to/422cImI
In this episode of "Your Story Doesn't End Here," host Rachel welcomes guest Chris Elder, a retired Senior Chief Petty Officer. Chris discusses his transition from the military and shares insights on the importance of mental health. He also talks about his own podcast and the impact it has had on his journey. Tune in to hear Chris's inspiring story and learn about the tools for successful transition. [00:01:25] Transition and success in podcasting. [00:06:30] Finding resources and making changes. [00:10:02] Transitioning out of the military. [00:14:05] VA claim and skill bridge. [00:19:18] TDY and TAD acceptance. [00:22:21] Thoughts on TAPS class. [00:28:23] Allowing Last Minute Transition Decisions. [00:29:47] Transitioning out of the military. [00:34:47] Transition and finding support. [00:38:24] Overwhelming freedom after transition. [00:42:07] Monetary challenges after military service. [00:45:18] Social media and the grass is always greener. [00:50:06] Support from communities for veterans. [00:53:31] Increasing awareness of mental health. Website: www.mil2vet.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rtrmil2vet/?mibextid=uJjRxr ________________________________________________ If you are experiencing suicidal ideations or have experienced sexual assault and need help or someone to talk to, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673** **Any views discussed in this episode are strictly personal views and not views of the United States military. This podcast is in no way affiliated with any branch of the United States military. Some names have been changed in order to protect the identities of speakers and/or names mentioned throughout episodes. ** Thank you to all the supporters of the podcast, to join the listener support squad click here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yourstorydoesntendhere/support Website: www.ysdeh.com Sign the petition for Better Mental Health Care in the United States Navy here: https://chng.it/z2M6WR2WcM Follow Your Story Doesn't End Here on IG at https://www.instagram.com/_ysdeh/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/ysdeh --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yourstorydoesntendhere/support
Welcome to Season 6 of the Hearts & Stripes podcast with encouragement from host, Bree Carroll. Today we are chatting with Air Force veteran and author Patricia Q. Throughout our talk we go back to the basics of what is needed to thrive in your family and marriage relationship. Here are our highlights from this episode: Marriage First - Make time for you to connect with your spouse. Consider scheduling a day to yourselves during TDY or deployment reintegrations before spending time with the entire family. Individual Relationships - As parents try to foster individual relationships with your kids. Take them on one on one outings or join activities that they enjoy so you each have a special connection collectively and individually. Resources - I love that we went back to basics as Patricia shared the following resources: Family Readiness, Spouse Club, Chapel, First Sergeants and fellow service families. Remember When You Were New - If you see someone new, take the first step towards them to assist. More About Patricia: Patricia became a mom early in her military career and spent most of her career tackling both service and motherhood. Her husband was also a member of the United States Air Force. After retirement, Patricia worked as a contractor with the Air Force before deciding to professionally pursue her passion for writing. She published her first book in December 2022. She is currently working on a book of poetry and a companion book to her first book. Website http://www.patriciaqaiyyim.com Social Media Handles https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaQaiyyimAuthor/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-qaiyyim-veteran-author/ If there is a topic you'd like to hear more on Hearts & Stripes Podcast, reach out on social @militarymarriageday or email militarymarriageday@gmail.com. Today's Heart Track is by: We Are Family https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyGY2NfYpeE Let's Connect: To get even more on Hearts & Stripes podcast, resources, community and more head to https://www.militarymarriageday.com Connect with Military Marriage Day on IG & Facebook @militarymarriageday and check us out on YouTube Connects with Bree on IG https://www.instagram.com/itsbreecarroll
Good morning and Good Afternoon, depending on where you are. Why? Because 1 half (the REALLY better looking of the 2 Old Farts) is away on business and in Germany! What a rare treat it is for me to be here in Germany for work. I really cannot get enough of this beautiful country. I have been stationed in Germany twice throughout my Army career. The 1st time was from 1986 - 1990 and the last time was from 1992 - 1996. I did have a few pit stops in Germany when I was station in Italy from 2001 - 2004 and a few TDY's to Germany while I was stationed with US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) at Fort Bragg, NC. Lucky me! Well, I cannot get enough of the beer and schnitzel over here! The food is so awesome. The people are just the best and the people that I am working with couldn't be any cooler. I am honored to be working alongside some of the finest cyber professionals that Switzerland has to offer. We hope you enjoy this episode - and I especially hope my Swiss cyber cohorts enjoy this episode and all the others. Take care and Bonjour! IYKYK.
Are you craving better communication during your spouse's deployment or TDY? I'm breaking down the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to deployment communication, and providing actionable tips to improve communication that allow you to connect deeper with your spouse, even across different time zones and limited availability. Deployments and TDYs bring unique communication challenges, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can maintain a healthy and meaningful connection with your partner. So don't just accept that deployment communication will not be great while they're away. Join me in this episode as we explore: Four practical ways to improve communication during deployment How you can get what you need most when your spouse is away Ways to approach the conversation when there is something pressing you need answered or you have something bothering you An effective tool you can use anytime to improve communication How your mindset plays a crucial role in all of this FREE CHALLENGE! How to get through deployment without dread, resentment or fights: https://lindsaycavanagh.com/july-2023-challenge Check out my course for more support during deployment! In The Trenches: Mastering Deployment for a Stronger Marriage: https://lindsaycavanagh.com/in-the-trenches Connect with me for a FREE Military Marriage Breakthrough Call: https://marriedtomilitary.satoriapp.com/offers/236651-military-marriage-breakthrough-call Follow me on Instagram so you don't miss a thing! https://www.instagram.com/marriedtomilitary/ Continue the conversation in my private Facebook group Married to Military: https://www.facebook.com/groups/449431269700869
Are you craving better communication during your spouse's deployment or TDY? I'm breaking down the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to deployment communication, and providing actionable tips to improve communication that allow you to connect deeper with your spouse, even across different time zones and limited availability. Deployments and TDYs bring unique communication challenges, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can maintain a healthy and meaningful connection with your partner. So don't just accept that deployment communication will not be great while they're away. Join me in this episode as we explore: Four practical ways to improve communication during deployment How you can get what you need most when your spouse is away Ways to approach the conversation when there is something pressing you need answered or you have something bothering you An effective tool you can use anytime to improve communication How your mindset plays a crucial role in all of this FREE CHALLENGE! How to get through deployment without dread, resentment or fights: https://lindsaycavanagh.com/july-2023-challenge Check out my course for more support during deployment! In The Trenches: Mastering Deployment for a Stronger Marriage: https://lindsaycavanagh.com/in-the-trenches Connect with me for a FREE Military Marriage Breakthrough Call: https://marriedtomilitary.satoriapp.com/offers/236651-military-marriage-breakthrough-call Follow me on Instagram so you don't miss a thing! https://www.instagram.com/marriedtomilitary/ Continue the conversation in my private Facebook group Married to Military: https://www.facebook.com/groups/449431269700869
In honor of Memorial Day, I present an excerpt of my interview with Air Force SSgt (Ret) John “Andy” Anderson. Andy grew up in Belford, New Jersey and joined the Army in 1947 at 17 years old. He attended Basic training at Lackland AFB, TX, followed by his first assignment at Ft. Lewis, WA. He went TDY (temporary duty) to Howard AFB, Panama, before being reassigned to Ft. Slocum, NY. There he was given the chance to cross-over into the newly formed Air Force. Afterwards, he was sent to Lowry AFB, CO where he married his wife of 60 years. In 1952, he was assigned to March AFB, CA as part of Strategic Air Command (SAC). Two years later, he was assigned to Guam. After that he went to Lincoln, NE, Taiwan and then retired in 1967 out of Holloman AFB, NM. After retiring from the military, he became a Deputy Sheriff for Arapahoe County, CO. Later, Andy joined the Post Office and returned to the work he did in the military. He retired from the Post Office in 1988.
On this week episode I sat down with me, myself and I to talk about some great options for going TDY and have some military fun.
In this episode we meet The Mayor and J-Dub, also Black Beard returns as a full-time host!!!!! We find out what the flight line was like in the 1900's and if they had to walk uphill to work both ways in the snow. Join us as we talk about TDY stories, being arrested on flight line, and of course...dicks drawn on airplanes!!!! What more could you ask for in a sweet podcast like this???? Kick back in your robe while you enjoy a Coors Banquet or several and let us take you back to shooting the shit with your buddies at the smoke pit and in the truck.
This week's episode we will be discussing:- Can I Boost My High 3?- Accurately Calculating High 3?- Should I Take a TDY (temporary duty)?Click the subscribe button to stay up to date!Find us on Facebook!https://www.facebook.com/CDFinancialLLCOur Site:https://cdfinancial.org/CD Financial is a registered investment adviser. Lic #0G46793Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Any references to protection benefits generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investment products. Insurance and annuity product guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Our firm is not affiliated with the U.S. government or any governmental agency.
Happy & Healthy Life with Yoga with Claire Nutton | Episode 231 of Witchy Wellness Radio Podcast Just about everyone and their grandmother knows about yoga these days but that's just usually referring to the physical practice. Did you know the physical practice, asana, is just one of the eight limbs of yoga? Claire Nutton shares how to take the age-old wisdom of Yoga to actually apply it to modern day life and incorporate it into your mindset. If you love moving your body (and doing yoga) and want to extend that beautiful yogi bliss for your entire day, listen to this episode! ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ This video will cover: ✅ Focus: applying Asana to everyday life ✅ Sutras: taking age old wisdom and applying it to today ✅ How to change your habit loops ✅ Putting Your Inner Being First ✅ Getting Clear on Your Values ✅ How the breath regulates your Nervous System …and so much more! ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST: Claire coaches women how to use the tools of yoga to transform the bodies minds and lives. There are so many of us today struggling with body confidence, self image, burn out, exhaustion, stress, depression and overwhelm and she want to show you it doesn't have to be this way. Using the TDY method we disrupt the traditional satire of yoga to find no bs, real world solutions to our modern day problems. Claire believes all women deserve to live a life of purpose, happiness and freedom from their self limiting beliefs. And she wants to show you how we can go beyond the poses and use the principles of yoga to change your life. ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ Claire's Links Mentioned: website: www.thedisruptiveyogi.com fb: www.facebook.com/thedisruptiveyogi ig: www.instagram.com/thedisruptiveyogi email: Claire@thedisruptiveyogi.com ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ Listen to Witchy Wellness Radio Podcast YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@lorencellentani iTunes | https://tinyurl.com/2e4nec5z Spotify | https://tinyurl.com/a4wxrfyb Stitcher | https://tinyurl.com/5n7nvnyp IHeartRadio | https://tinyurl.com/yc53c5rh Google Podcasts | https://tinyurl.com/3ycceamw ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ ⬇️ More stuff you should check out ⬇️ ** 20% OFF MY TRUSTED CBD BRAND WITH CODE “WITCHY”: https://evohemp.com/ ** FREE QUIZ TO USE YOUR ANXIETY TO MANIFEST YOUR DREAMS! ** https://www.anxiousquiz.com/ ◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️ SAY HI ON SOCIAL: Website: https://lorencellentani.com/ Loren's Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lorencellentani/ Witchy Wellness Radio Insta: https://www.instagram.com/witchywellnessradio/
In this episode we introduce our special guest Black Beard, where we see 4 dumb "janitors" talk about beards, butt plugs, Fab surfing Grinder, some airplane stuff, and some TDY stories!!! Sit back and enjoy while we stimulate your ear holes with another episode filled with dick jokes and shenanigans. Thank you for listening, catch us on all social media platforms, and share with family and friends.
In this episode we talk about flight line pranks, TDY pranks, truck missiles, basic training shenanigans, and shark BBQ!!!!! Hope you all enjoy it and share it with everyone you can!!!!!
Join Margo & Kathleen for the second half of their conversation about being separated from your soldier during TDY & field time.
Join Margo & Kathleen for the first part of their conversation about short term seperation in the military due to field time and TDY assignments. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
In this episode we meet Trash Panda, a jar head who loves crayons and loves boats, Red reads a submission, Hieroglyphics, TDY shenanigans, and MORE!!!!!
Welcome back sister! Grab a notebook and pen -- you don't want to miss my best Secrets, Tips, & Hacks for Pumping, Maintaining Supply, Storing & Transporting Breastmilk while In the Field, Tactical Training Courses, Traveling, or Other Low-Resource Operational Environments. Whether it's long days at work, nights & weeks or even month away from home due to field training, TDY, deployments, or other military requirements, we can often feel torn from our babies as moms in the military. Balancing breastfeeding/pumping and duty is incredibly challenging. Not only is it heartbreaking being away, but it can make us doubt whether it's possible or worth it to continue breastfeeding and pumping for them, even if we deeply desire to. So today we're continuing the series and I'm diving into my biggest tips & best practices for the unique, often remote situations where you do want to keep it up, so you can keep going strong -- even through everything the military throws your way. You can do this mama! Let's help you figure out how, and make a plan that works for you, and allows you to feel confident you're giving your all to both your family, and the mission without having to sacrifice this part of your journey. BOOK A FREE DISCOVERY CALL OR CONNECT: Email: megan@armedtotheheart.com 1:1 Coaching Call PREGNANCY & POSTPARTUM FITNESS RESOURCES: Free Postpartum Fitness Guide: How to Return to Fitness Postpartum for Military Mamas + Beyond Free Pregnancy Exercise Guide: How to Safely Exercise + Maintain Fitness Through Pregnancy Strong + Resilient Postpartum Fitness Program (18 week+ Plan for Busy, Active Mamas in the military + beyond who want to get stronger, heal their core + pelvic floor + regain confidence in their bodies again after giving birth, and get back to everything you want to do - performing on the fitness test & more) RESOURCES FOR MORE BALANCE IN FAMILY & WORK-LIFE: Overcome the Overwhelm (Feel like your to-do-list is never-ending, and pulled in a million directions? Grab my FREE guide to help you balance work + mom life with less guilt + more peace, with God at the center) Renew: My LIVE Group Coaching Mastermind of like-minded women within & beyond the military who are pursuing greater work-life balance, with Jesus at the center.
Welcome back sister! Grab a notebook and pen -- you don't want to miss my best Secrets, Tips, & Hacks for Pumping, Maintaining Supply, Storing & Transporting Breastmilk while In the Field, Tactical Training Courses, Traveling, or Other Low-Resource Operational Environments. Whether it's long days at work, nights & weeks or even month away from home due to field training, TDY, deployments, or other military requirements, we can often feel torn from our babies as moms in the military. Balancing breastfeeding/pumping and duty is incredibly challenging. Not only is it heartbreaking being away, but it can make us doubt whether it's possible or worth it to continue breastfeeding and pumping for them, even if we deeply desire to. So today we're continuing the series and I'm diving into my biggest tips & best practices for the unique, often remote situations where you do want to keep it up, so you can keep going strong -- even through everything the military throws your way. You can do this mama! Let's help you figure out how, and make a plan that works for you, and allows you to feel confident you're giving your all to both your family, and the mission without having to sacrifice this part of your journey. BOOK A FREE DISCOVERY CALL OR CONNECT: Email: megan@armedtotheheart.com 1:1 Coaching Call PREGNANCY & POSTPARTUM FITNESS RESOURCES: Free Postpartum Fitness Guide: How to Return to Fitness Postpartum for Military Mamas + Beyond Free Pregnancy Exercise Guide: How to Safely Exercise + Maintain Fitness Through Pregnancy Strong + Resilient Postpartum Fitness Program (18 week+ Plan for Busy, Active Mamas in the military + beyond who want to get stronger, heal their core + pelvic floor + regain confidence in their bodies again after giving birth, and get back to everything you want to do - performing on the fitness test & more) RESOURCES FOR MORE BALANCE IN FAMILY & WORK-LIFE: Overcome the Overwhelm (Feel like your to-do-list is never-ending, and pulled in a million directions? Grab my FREE guide to help you balance work + mom life with less guilt + more peace, with God at the center) Renew: My LIVE Group Coaching Mastermind of like-minded women within & beyond the military who are pursuing greater work-life balance, with Jesus at the center.
Hey beautiful mama! Today we're diving into a topic that's been a significant part of my journey as a mama in the military, and I know it may be for you too. Breastfeeding, Pumping, Lactation Support in the Military, all things related to this! *Be sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss this whole series! I've been there too. Trying to make breastfeeding work while juggling the demands of crazy work schedules, field operations, TDY & time away from baby, PCS', parenting alone, etc. Scrambling to figure out how store milk during field training time, how to PCS with a freezer full of pumped milk, or how to bring breastmilk along when traveling by plane. Figuring out how to handle breastfeeding or keep breastfeeding past 1 year, given the CDC rules. Stressing over keeping up your milk supply and worrying whether you're making enough to meet your baby's needs. Wondering if there are policies to protect us in pumping because you feel like you don't have the support you should from your unit, or are being told to go pump in the bathroom or your car, or worse, that you aren't allowed to take time to pump. Wherever this finds you -- years into your breastfeeding journey, just beginning, or preparing for it and hoping to make this work, I pray this brings you both encouragement & practical tips to help make it easier to navigate all the challenges that can come with balancing your breastfeeding and pumping goals, with the demands of military life. We've come a long way in the recent years in increasing the support required for this by policy, but I know oftentimes we're still far from where we need to be and fighting uphill battles. In this series, we'll cover the biggest challenges I see us all going through on this journey as moms in the military: How to maintain your milk supply Tips to balance your fitness & weight loss goals and breastfeeding so you're not sacrificing your supply when trying to get back to fitness and meet the height & weight standards Returning to work & finding time to pump with a demanding job & schedule (without guilt) Overcoming any stigmas around pumping in male-dominated environments How to have conversations & advocate for yourself/your family/others to ensure you're supported by your leaders and peers and have a place to pump How to make it work to maintain your supply & make a plan to store & transport your milk even during field training, duty away from baby, or other remote or "austere" operational environments with no running water, little to no electricity/refrigeration. How to deal with the pressure, anxiety, stress, guilt or feelings of failure that can come with trying to keep up with breastfeeding goals, especially when it gets really hard to stick with it What to do & where to turn if you're running into a lot of roadblocks How to deal with feeling forced to end your breastfeeding journey not on your own terms because of time you'll have to be apart from your baby, or other circumstances I'll see you inside! A couple recommended resources: Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: Regulations & Resources for All Branches of the Military: LOTS of great tips & info here! Learn more about Paced Bottle Feeding & how it can Protect your Breastfeeding Relationship Your local Mom2Mom Global Chapter may have good in-person support and even have a military "branch" of the chapter to join! And in case you need the reminder today, you're doing an AMAZING job. You are exactly the mama your little one(s) need. Lifting you up sister and here for you!
Hey beautiful mama! Today we're diving into a topic that's been a significant part of my journey as a mama in the military, and I know it may be for you too. Breastfeeding, Pumping, Lactation Support in the Military, all things related to this! *Be sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss this whole series! I've been there too. Trying to make breastfeeding work while juggling the demands of crazy work schedules, field operations, TDY & time away from baby, PCS', parenting alone, etc. Scrambling to figure out how store milk during field training time, how to PCS with a freezer full of pumped milk, or how to bring breastmilk along when traveling by plane. Figuring out how to handle breastfeeding or keep breastfeeding past 1 year, given the CDC rules. Stressing over keeping up your milk supply and worrying whether you're making enough to meet your baby's needs. Wondering if there are policies to protect us in pumping because you feel like you don't have the support you should from your unit, or are being told to go pump in the bathroom or your car, or worse, that you aren't allowed to take time to pump. Wherever this finds you -- years into your breastfeeding journey, just beginning, or preparing for it and hoping to make this work, I pray this brings you both encouragement & practical tips to help make it easier to navigate all the challenges that can come with balancing your breastfeeding and pumping goals, with the demands of military life. We've come a long way in the recent years in increasing the support required for this by policy, but I know oftentimes we're still far from where we need to be and fighting uphill battles. In this series, we'll cover the biggest challenges I see us all going through on this journey as moms in the military: How to maintain your milk supply Tips to balance your fitness & weight loss goals and breastfeeding so you're not sacrificing your supply when trying to get back to fitness and meet the height & weight standards Returning to work & finding time to pump with a demanding job & schedule (without guilt) Overcoming any stigmas around pumping in male-dominated environments How to have conversations & advocate for yourself/your family/others to ensure you're supported by your leaders and peers and have a place to pump How to make it work to maintain your supply & make a plan to store & transport your milk even during field training, duty away from baby, or other remote or "austere" operational environments with no running water, little to no electricity/refrigeration. How to deal with the pressure, anxiety, stress, guilt or feelings of failure that can come with trying to keep up with breastfeeding goals, especially when it gets really hard to stick with it What to do & where to turn if you're running into a lot of roadblocks How to deal with feeling forced to end your breastfeeding journey not on your own terms because of time you'll have to be apart from your baby, or other circumstances I'll see you inside! A couple recommended resources: Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: Regulations & Resources for All Branches of the Military: LOTS of great tips & info here! Learn more about Paced Bottle Feeding & how it can Protect your Breastfeeding Relationship Your local Mom2Mom Global Chapter may have good in-person support and even have a military "branch" of the chapter to join! And in case you need the reminder today, you're doing an AMAZING job. You are exactly the mama your little one(s) need. Lifting you up sister and here for you!
Hello and welcome to The Swearing In Podcast, I am your host Marty Smith. Today is a special episode of the Podcast. Yesterday, on January 10th 2023, we lost a brother in service. Air Force Staff Sergeant (Ret) John Anderson passed away at the age of 92. In his honor, I am re-posting his interview from December 2021. Thank you, John, for your service to our country, and may God bless you and your family! Today, my guest is U.S. Air Force SSgt (Ret) John “Andy” Anderson. Andy grew up in Belford, New Jersey and joined the Army in 1947 at 17 years old. He attended Basic training at Lackland AFB, TX, followed by his first assignment at Ft. Lewis, WA. He went TDY (temporary duty) to Howard AFB, Panama, before being reassigned to Ft. Slocum, NY. There he was given the chance to cross-over into the newly formed Air Force. Afterwards, he was sent to Lowry AFB, CO where he married his wife of 60 years. In 1952, he was assigned to March AFB, CA as part of Strategic Air Command (SAC). Two years later, he was assigned to Guam. After that he went to Lincoln, NE, Taiwan and then retired in 1967 out of Holloman AFB, NM. After retiring from the military, he became a Deputy Sheriff for Arapahoe County, CO. Later, Andy joined the Post Office and returned to the work he did in the military. He retired from the Post Office in 1988.
Daniel's BioHello, I'm Daniel – husband to Anna, widower to Sarah, Air Force veteran, business owner, writer, speaker, CFP® Professional, financial planner, and Christ-follower. I'm the founder of Wise Stewardship Financial Planning where we offer fee-only, fiduciary financial planning and investment advice with a special focus on young widows and widowers as well as servicemembers and their families.Grief changes everything. I know that all too well from personal experience as I became a widower at 31 and before that, father to 3 children in heaven. My passion and purpose now is to take what I've learned from those experiences combined with financial planning and advice to be a help to you in your own unique grief journey. Wise Stewardship works together with you to help gain stability in your current financial situation, prioritize next steps, and walk with you into a new and different future.Here's the rest of my story and why I became a financial planner. I've always been interested in money since I was a little kid, including out-bidding my siblings for chores-for-hire, to providing loans to my siblings and friends when they had spent all their money and diligently saving my allowance for future goals. Over time this evolved into reading the stock pages in the newspaper as a young teenager and then choosing to major in economics in college. After completing Air Force ROTC at Purdue University, I commissioned as an officer into the Air Force in 2009 but continued my personal interest into personal finances, investing, and all things money-related.In my college years and early 20s, I read hundreds of books and spent thousands of hours studying financial planning topics. I also had the opportunity to be a volunteer financial counselor during many of the years when I was on active duty in addition to helping and educating family and friends over the years. Thanks to countless help along the way, I learned more about the financial services industry and found my way to fee-only, fiduciary financial planning. It was through these experiences that sparked my passion and helped me realize what I wanted to do whenever I decided to leave the military!As an officer on active duty for almost 9 years, along with a brother, sister, and brother-in-law in the military, I experienced firsthand the benefits and challenges that military life can have on all aspects of life especially finances. Frequent changes like TDY's, deployments, and PCS's add unique potential opportunities and obstacles to meeting goals and dreams. Add in the often disparate and sometimes confusing military pay, benefits, scattered military benefits and discounts, and countless people offering advice or services, and there is often a lack of clarity on how best to optimize all of these to best meet goals.I've seen almost everything military life can throw at you and been through much of what you probably have questions about. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't; what's important and what isn't. I'm now able to use these vast experiences to help my clients navigate the challenges of the busy military life, get the most out of your hard-earned benefits, and help you achieve your goals.Social:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmkopp/Twitter: @danielmkoppInstagram: wisestewardshipfinancialplanMusic in this episode was obtained from Bensound.
I'm so excited and honored to bring you this episode! Cindy has been an Air Force spouse for 37 years and she is a passionate advocate for service members and their families. She managed a presidential service award program at the White House and also worked as a senior writer for proclamations and messages in the Office of Presidential Correspondence. She has developed innovative support programs for military families and is an incredible mentor for spouses. Having been through multiple deployments and countless TDY's, she shares with us her lessons and tips. Cindy is married to General Ken Wilsbach who currently serves as commander of Pacific Air Forces. They reside at Hickam Air Force in Hawaii; it's their 23rd move in their nomadic military life. What do you do when your partner is deployed for a year? What do you do if you do not like the city you moved into or feel powerless in front of the unknown?Cindy answers these questions with brilliance and brings up so much wisdom! I can't wait for you to hear her! I'm also joined by the wonderful Jen and Kirst from Wives of the Air Force who helped make this interview happen. Keep up with them on instagram @wivesoftheairforce and keep up with Cindy @altogetherlovely.blog. Highlights of the episode include: ● Introducing Jen (2:39) ● Introducing Kirst (4:14) ● Introducing Elizabeth (5:20) ● Meet Cindy (6:41) ● The challenges of moving as an airforce wife (8:23) ● cindy's advice for this lifestyle (11:34) ● Ways to cope with difficult situations (16:01) ● The power of a spouse group (21:05) ● Don't be afraid to reach out to other spouses (27:32) ● Be open to the unexpected of what your life could be in a location (32:54) ● How did Cindy discuss crossroads in her relationship (36:21) ● How to accept the volunteer role as a military spouse (40:01) ● How did Cindy make it through her partner's several deployments? (48:45) ● Cindy's regrets (60:15) ● conclusions (63:00) Did I not tell you that Cindy's insights would have a lot of wisdom? If you loved this episode as much as I did, if it helped you shift your perspective on difficult situations that being a milspouse brings, let me know on social media! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theamericanmilspouse/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theamericanmilspouse/support
DID YA MISS US?!! Your Two Favorite People In The World Are Back In Effect. The Leave, TDY, Rest & Recuperation is over and y'all already know we have ALOOOT to catch up on. If ya love us like we know ya do. Tune in this weekend and let us know what's been going on in your world. Hope to see you all soon, until then…Be Safe, Stay Happy and Never Let Up.Support the show
I have a highly requested episode for you this week, Married to Military family! Today, I'm bringing on a guest who literally made me Married to Military - active duty U.S. Navy pilot and my husband, Sean Cavanagh. We're diving into all the tough topics as Sean answers questions submitted by you - my incredible audience! We discuss prepping for deployment and long separations, reintegrating into the family after time away, what it's like being married to a psychologist and coach (I was really interested to hear this one!), and so much more. Wondering how Sean feels about airing our “dirty laundry” on the podcast? Join us for this one. We're exploring:Military 101: QLE (I've had 5 of them in the last 12 months!)Sean's military journey in the U.S. Navy One of the BIGGEST changes we've had to make in our marriage because of the militaryHow military members can better support their civilian spouses in acclimating to the military lifestyleSome of our favorite tips around communication when your spouse is away (for the good stuff & for when you're struggling!)The MOST challenging part of coming home (from deployment and TDY's)And so much moreConnect with me for a FREE Military Marriage Breakthrough Call: https://marriedtomilitary.satoriapp.com/offers/236651-military-marriage-breakthrough-call Follow me on Instagram so you don't miss a thing! https://www.instagram.com/marriedtomilitary/ Continue the conversation in my private Facebook group Married to Military: https://www.facebook.com/groups/449431269700869
I have a highly requested episode for you this week, Married to Military family! Today, I'm bringing on a guest who literally made me Married to Military - active duty U.S. Navy pilot and my husband, Sean Cavanagh. We're diving into all the tough topics as Sean answers questions submitted by you - my incredible audience! We discuss prepping for deployment and long separations, reintegrating into the family after time away, what it's like being married to a psychologist and coach (I was really interested to hear this one!), and so much more. Wondering how Sean feels about airing our “dirty laundry” on the podcast? Join us for this one. We're exploring: Military 101: QLE (I've had 5 of them in the last 12 months!) Sean's military journey in the U.S. Navy One of the BIGGEST changes we've had to make in our marriage because of the military How military members can better support their civilian spouses in acclimating to the military lifestyle Some of our favorite tips around communication when your spouse is away (for the good stuff & for when you're struggling!) The MOST challenging part of coming home (from deployment and TDY's) And so much more Connect with me for a FREE Military Marriage Breakthrough Call: https://marriedtomilitary.satoriapp.com/offers/236651-military-marriage-breakthrough-call Follow me on Instagram so you don't miss a thing! https://www.instagram.com/marriedtomilitary/ Continue the conversation in my private Facebook group Married to Military: https://www.facebook.com/groups/449431269700869
The Springs in the Desert Podcast: Catholic Accompaniment Through Infertility
In this episode, we welcome Springs in the Desert contributor Kim Colby to the podcast along with returning guest Natalie Blackford. Each of these women has experienced infertility while being a member of the military community - Kim and her husband both served on active duty and Natalie's husband currently serves. We talk about the culture of family life in the armed forces as well as the challenges that come with deployments and temporary duty travel (TDY) that form a part of military life. Listen in for advice on how to approach long periods of separation from your spouse and ideas for how to be fruitful in the waiting! Resources: Military Council of Catholic Women Catholic Military Life Podcast: "Kimberly Colby on Infertility in the Military"
Do you struggle with your health and wellness routines as a military spouse? Perhaps you've set a physical fitness and nutrition goal for yourself. But then life has gotten in the way. You moved, got pregnant, or your spouse left on another deployment or training. And you wind up frustrated because you know that your health matters. You're just not sure how to make it a priority and a habit that you can stick with long-term. Today's conversation is with Hannah Hensley, who absolutely gets that struggle. She's a personal trainer and mom of three littles four and under (including TWINS), whose husband was off on anther TDY as we recorded this episode. We have a real conversation about why your health matters, how to build sustainable wellness habits as moms with young kids, how to balance the need for workouts with the need for sleep, and how to combat those feelings of discouragement and the desire to quit, when another life circumstance prevents you from reaching your goals. We chat about what this has looked like in Hannah's life and how she is turning her frustration and challenge into her purpose. I can't wait to share this conversation with you! Better Together, Christine MENTIONS Free Unstuck Coaching Session Connect With Hannah @HannahDHensley LINKS START HERE: How To Get UNSTUCK And Craft A Life With PURPOSE (FREE ASSESSMENT) https://milspousemastermind.com/growthwheel STOP THE OVERWHELM: How to Prioritize What Matters Most to You (FREE WORKSHEET) https://milspousemastermind.com/values FIND YOUR TRIBE: Join the Free MilSpouse Mastermind FB Community https://milspousemastermind.com/community DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE MEANT TO BE: MilSpouse Purpose Playbook https://morethanamilspouse.com GET SUPPORT: Request a Get Unstuck Coaching Session hello@milspousemastermind.com LEARN MORE: https://milspousemastermind.com LEAVE A SHOW REVIEW: https://milspousemastermind.com/show CONNECT VIA EMAIL: hello@milspousemastermind.com CONNECT VIA INSTAGRAM: @milspousemastermind
Military life is full of separations, and while they can be difficult for you and your whole family, it's a great time to get extra work done in your small business. I recently experienced a TDY with my service member, Nick, and this episode goes over my top tips (and things I did wrong) during our TDY when it comes to running your small business. This is episode 130 of the Moments with an MEO podcast.In this episode, I chat about: The importance of healthy boundariesGoal setting during TDYs and other separationsWhy you shouldn't give in to hustle culture just because you're aloneThe cost of burn outIf you have tips for small business ownership and TDYs, feel free to message me on Instagram: @new_altitudesCheck out MilSO Box here: www.milsobox.com
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