Rally Point 86

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, folks, rally Pointers, it's a horseshoe. Gather around, there's
a solemn heart. Today we're going to dedicate today's show
to Leah and Rick Karen. They are part of the
original rally Point family back when we first started. We've
had a loss. The Karen family has been one of
the instrumental contributors of the show and most importantly part
of our family. That said, out of respect of the

(00:22):
family keeping things really tight, I wish we from the
rally Point family wish you guys deepest condolences.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Anything you guys need.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
We're always there for you and we consider you part
of our family. Now then and always fallout.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Rally Pointers fall in. Good morning everyone.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
This is justin Lefford, along with James Hemingway, and also
we get Paul Palezi here.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm here all right, Paul, take it away.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
Good morning. On the phone today we have Jason Piccoloh.
He's an author that is going to give you some
advice on after military life, interviewing and so forth. Jason,
why don't you give us a little bit of your
bio and where you came from and how you got
to this point.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
Where I've come from geez, I don't even now nowadays,
I'm fifty two years old, so I've been around the
block a couple of times as far as locations. But
I'm originally from New Jersey. But the really nice part
of the Green Park by the Appalachian Mountains, and the
nice part not by the chemical factories and stuff. But no,
I was in I joined the US Army in nineteen
ninety three, so as I thirteen Bravo Candic Cream member,

(01:30):
I listed and then I went into an intel unit
in the National Guard when I get done with active
duty service. So from nineteen ninety three to nineteen ninety nine,
I was enlisted, and I was a simultaneous membership as
a cadet in RTC, so meaning when I was done
with college in ninety nine, I commissioned as an infantry officer.
Instead of going back active duty, I went into the

(01:52):
US Border Patrol, and then I went on and became
a special agent with the former US Customs and worked
with a whole bunch of agencies over twenty three years
recruiting acting as a hiring manager. So that's kind of
what I'm talking about today, is hiring for veterans. But backtrack,
a little bit. In two thousand and five, I was
recalled the active duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom, where I

(02:12):
served as a captain attached to the Combined Joined Special
Operations Task Force as her anti terrorism officer. So I
found a little bit difficulty transitioning back to the civilian
federal world when I got back. So I've had a
lot of different transitions with the military over the years,
and that's kind of where I'm at today. I'm now

(02:33):
retired after twenty three years and writing books and podcasting myself.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
I'm sorry, Yeah, this is justin So, yeah, I kind
of went through the same thing. So I was in
the army for twenty two years and I got out.
I had a job at one place for a couple
of years, quit that, got a job somewhere else for
a couple of years, and so I was, you know,
talking to my wife about it because I was just frustrated,
and she's like, well, it's because you're terrible at being

(02:58):
a civilian. And you know, we get so institutionalized and
indoctrinated and we don't even realize it.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
You know, you know, we're not that guy. We're not
We're not the Huho Gung ho guy.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
But then you get out and you find out, yeah,
you probably really are so uh yeah, so so my
wife kind of kind of talked me through that, and
uh so that's I started a nonprofit here in Southwest
Florida called Warrior Wellness, And that's kind of the basis
of that is like.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
How how to be you again? Really? Or what does
you even look like?

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Because you know, when when when I retired at forty one,
I come out of the military, I'm basically eighteen again
thinking about what do I want to do when I
grow up?

Speaker 5 (03:43):
You know, Well, that's the biggest thing is having a
mentality of what it's like to be a civilian. And yes,
we do get the transition assistance program. And let's say
you're like me, you're are or are and got recalled.
You have nothing, You're just sent back to the civilian.
So you have to remember who you are. It's not
just like a person, but that you're You're not a

(04:06):
soldier anymore, You're not an officer, you're not an air man,
you're not a marine. In dot you have to be
able to transition and figure it out. And it's a
tough transition and a lot of people like to say, well,
you know what, I'm so ready to be a civilian.
But then when I get to that point, they're like,
well what do I do next? As well? Do I,
you know, do I just get a job like you

(04:27):
were saying before, or do you you know, find your
dream job. A lot of people think they're going to
get their dream job right off the bat, and they don't.
They don't have what I call a bridge job. And
I like this call a bridge job. It's like something
you do when you get out of the service that
kind of helps you build your your resume but also
helps you build your civilian mentality up, and then you

(04:49):
find your your dream job. So you don't necessarily get
right from you know, getting out of active duty, getting
out of deployment, and getting right into your dream job.
You get into what I call that bridge job and
then pivot into your next career.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
So can a bridge job count as like a practice job,
a job that just.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
A job that you just start because you have the
ability to quit, Like, oh, I can quit a job.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Let me do that.

Speaker 5 (05:13):
Let's call it what it is, it's called let's pay
the bills job. Yeah, let's pay the bills job. And
then but at the same time, you're focused on building
yourself up, and then you're not just like going nine
to five and working and then like playing you know,
playing ball or just partying after work. No, what you're
doing is you're using this job to get you to
where you need to be. So you go to that job,

(05:35):
you focus down on a job. You've used it for
everything you can. But here's the problem a lot of
us have with the military is we feel the sense
of I can't just quit. I just can't quit. I
can't leave this job. I committed to them. So you
have to understand it. In a civilian world, a lot
of people transition within months, years, two years, three years,

(05:57):
one year. You don't owe anybody anything. Well, it's not,
and I know that's harsh, but the reality is, Look,
if you get to a job and you're not going
to give it your one hundred percent effort, and you're
doing a disservice to them, but you're also doing a
disservice to yourself by not pushing yourself in the next job.
If that makes sense, one.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Hundred percent on that, sir. This is James Hemingway, by
the way, and I want to first off and say
thank you for your sacrifice with your service to our
United States military and to yourself, and thank you for
being on the show. One of the things I kind
of thought when you were talking is that transitional point
when we come back out of service. I had this

(06:33):
philosophy that we're no longer a person who we used
to be, and we went into it and we come out.
We're trying to rediscover, Okay, how do I fit in
this universe? Because you go back home to the same
thing going on in the same place, and you don't
fit there anymore. And you also discover that although that
we loathe the day to get out of the military,
once we're out of it, like you guys said earlier,

(06:55):
we were much more a part of that military structure
than we thought we were. And I have found that
same skill that has kind of transitioned to uh not
when you go to your next job, you have that
same mentality. I can go to work sick, and some
people around you don't have that same work ethic. And
sometimes it's it's interesting to see experience from from our

(07:16):
new perspective and first obvious say thank you for being
on our show. So again, thank you, sir.

Speaker 5 (07:21):
Oh yeah, thank you for having me, and I do
really appreciate this, and the more we could talk about
these issues, the better.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
I want to dig into your book a little bit
while we have while we have you on some of
the things I pulled out of your book, I'd like
to bring them up so we clear up a little
bit about when you're looking to get out of the service.
The first thing you mentioned was the timing of to
start that plan how.

Speaker 5 (07:45):
Safe, as soon as possible, because you want to have
your mission planned ahead of time. Remember, a lot of
us get out of the service and we feel that
sense of loss because we don't have a new mission,
we don't have the brother head sits your head. So
you start this plan as soon as you know that
you're going to be getting out of the service. Whether
that's a year or two years or whatever. The more
time you had to repair the better.

Speaker 6 (08:07):
Now.

Speaker 5 (08:07):
Listen, you can go to college, you can have that
plan as well. But we're talking about people who are
going to transition into a job, into an employment, into
a pre career or a career. So you want to
start as soon as possible. So let's say you want
to get out and you want to work in a
certain industry. You may need a certification now why you're
in the service. Try to get those certifications taken care of,

(08:27):
get the training you need, start learning about that job,
start learning about the lingo. So you want to plan
as much ahead of time as possible. It's almost like
you're getting as soon as you get that inkling that
you're going to get out, that's your war now, that's
your warning order, and then you just adjust and you
start going forward with it. Look at it as a
planning opportunity as well. So as you're getting into there,
maybe you change your mind that you don't want to

(08:49):
do that career, so you do a frag of you know,
you just change, change your adjustment, change your traectory, change
your pivot, and move on to that next thing. So, yeah,
you want to start planning, and that includes networking. Networking
is ideal. Yeah, we always talk about LinkedIn, but use
your current network, use LinkedIn, use everything you can to
find out about these career fields. Make informed decisions. So yeah,

(09:11):
try as far out as you want.

Speaker 4 (09:13):
I'm going to take another quote out of your book.
It says your military experience has given you incredible strength.
I agree with that. By the way, can you go
through the importance that in securing employment, you want to
bring up those particular things.

Speaker 5 (09:35):
What you want to do is you want to make
sure that you're reliable and you're consistent. A lot of
times in a civilian world is it's a fluctuating workforce.
Now we talked about people quitting. Yes, you might quit
that job, but the thing is about your military service
is you're going to be You want to focus on
that you're reliable and you're consistent and they show up
and you're dedicated to the mission at hand. Yes, we

(09:58):
always talk about team and family and stuff like that.
That's very cliche. But the thing is you don't want
you want to be a leader, but you also want
to be someone who could work as a team because
they're going to be work with them, But you don't
want to focus on like you are. That thing is
my way of the highway to make sure that they
understand that a military service member is not just a drone,

(10:18):
not just a machine, that they're a person. So you
have to show your humanity because a lot you have
to remember a lot of civilian workforces don't have any
clue what a veteran is or what anybody did in
the service. They just sometimes they look at you as
a machine. So provide a snapshot, a glimmer of your
humanity when you're doing these interviews and these processes.

Speaker 4 (10:38):
You know you brought up humanity. Let's talk a little
bit about You also mentioned the family factor.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
Yeah, I get your family on board. We always know that,
but it's going to be different when you get to civilian.
You know, you're not a twenty four to seven machine
as you are when you're in a military. You're not
on the call. And I mean yeah, if you get
in a law enforcement or somebody seals, you might be,
but you're still a civilian. But get your family board.
You don't want to say, hey, I'm going to take
a job, but it's going to send me to an
austerier environment because there, let's say you get a job

(11:06):
with the federal government and you send me some environment
on the southwest border that there's no schools, know anything,
for your family. To think about your family before you
make these big decisions and get them on board, because
they're part of your mission. They've always been part of
your mission, but they're also your support network.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
Now we're talking about family, what about salary and financial
How do you plan on that? What category should you
consider before you even go out into the field.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
It would be great to have listen. We know so
many military members are living paycheck to paycheck. So many
and sometimes a lot of times are behind. You want
to secure that employment before you get out. You want
to be able to find that job. And a lot
of times, a lot of a lot of us like, well,
I need my dream job before I take that step,
you know what. That's why I always say take that

(11:56):
bridge job, get the job to pay the bills, because
you're going to need to pay off those bills. Let's
say you have high interests, credit cards and everything else
that I mean, this is reality. Now that's going to get
out of the service with ten thousand dollars in the
bank can be like, oh, I could take my time
to get a job now. You you want to secure
your employment and secure any employment that's going to pay
the billess right as a that and then work on

(12:17):
getting that job.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
You want to piggyback that question, sir, do you feel
that prior to your departure the military prepared you to
exit properly? And I asked, say, do you provide you
with education on finances kind of you know, setting the
road straight of how to get yourself straight before you leave.

Speaker 5 (12:39):
Because so no, I did you know when I got
out in the nineteen nineties, I took how to use
Microsoft ninety five. Wow, you know so, I mean it
was like there was no transition. There was nothing to
do with finances. There was I mean, I remember my
CEO bringing into his office actually it was batter commander,
so it wasn't a company commander and saying, well you

(12:59):
can he got out of calculator and he started doing
these tabulations. He's like, you're never going to be able
to live on the outside world. You should re enlist.
I was like, you know what. I took that as
a nope, I'm going to do it. So I started
applying for jobs. I didn't plan on going to college
right away, but no, there was no financial and when
I got recalled with the IRR, I did eighteen months.
When I got back from eighteen months, there was nothing.

(13:20):
There was zero transition. Now I had a federal job already,
so I knew I was going back to a job.
But for a lot of these soldiers that I was with,
they did not have any guidance on what to do next,
and a lot of them had to leave jobs, and yeah,
there's ways to get your job back and stuff like that,
but a lot of them, hey we're talking a year
and a half deployed and they were going back to

(13:41):
They had no idea what they were going to do next.
Their mindset changed, their life changed over that year and
a half.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Well, you have the SFL TAP for the Army now
so Soldier for Life Transition Assistance Plan. But even then,
you know, it's kind of like a check the block.
This is what I got to do to get out.
You're telling me I have to be here, so I'm here.
And if I could go back and know all the
things that I should have paid attention to, you know,
like that would have been great. Yeah, because I think

(14:09):
the military has a plan in place to set you
up for success, but they don't really emphasize or you
don't really realize how much you need that until it's
too late.

Speaker 5 (14:23):
Well, the thing is, they have a lot of opportunities
in place, a lot of guidance, but when you're running
a lot of times when you want to get out,
you don't think about that. Right, when do I get
my two fourteen, and what else can I do just
to get away from this place that's working. The military
service is not the same for everybody, and sometimes you
just want to get out and you don't care about it.

(14:44):
You just want out. So you have to be able
to understand. That's one thing that's like use everything you
can that's available to you, because it's not going to
be there where you leave.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
Jason, you talked about when you left the military you
had several different jobs. What would you say are government
jobs that you would recommend that when you're transitioning you
should look for or look at.

Speaker 5 (15:09):
You know, there is something that could match to anybody
in the government. Like to me, if I could go back,
I'd probably go into like the for service, you know,
a National Park Ranger, special agent somewhere along those lines.
There are so many different jobs in the federal government.
There are so many different jobs series, So look into
what you want to do and marry that up to

(15:31):
what your career phil do you think you want to
do and the agency itself. A lot of people think
about the big agencies like the Department of Justice and
you know the big ones Treasury, but there's so many
different small agencies out there that are kind of niche
to what you might like to do. Yeah, the federal
government's kind of in a transition point right now as
far as trying to swim the employee workforce, but it's

(15:54):
always it goes in waves. So if you're interested in
the federal government, definitely look into that. But there's also
the state government. And the reason I like to talk
about the government is because you do have a retirement benefits,
so you know, they'll take your military and buy and
you could do a military buy back and you could
also use after your retirement. That's what I did, So
I mean there's a lot of different things you could do.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, I was pretty arrogant when I got out. I
thought that, you know, I retired as a first sergeant
and I didn't have a degree.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Which was on me.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
I had plenty of opportunity, told plenty of people that
they needed one.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
But anyways, I never got my degree. So I got out.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
I'm like, I got twenty two years in experience, and
I found out real quick that that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
The transitional the transitional component when it comes to education
is kind of a drop off of what we used
to be in the military structure, and then you crossed
that boundary. You're in civilian world. It's a dog eat
dog world, and they want that sheep skin of some
farm or another, especially in some form associate or bachelor's degree.

(16:58):
And I'm like whatever. I find that some of our
past experiences are invaluable in the transitional world of real life.
But getting to that point of being, you know, reintroduce
your oneself into the management structure can be a horrific
and traumatic feeling. Especially we have people who don't in
the same work ethic as we do.

Speaker 5 (17:19):
Have that thing too. You have the bridge keeper too,
which is Human resources, which is essentially your s one.
You don't see a hiring manager until after you get
through that HR block. So the HR person who has
no idea what a military service number does ninety nine
percent of the time, or if they do, they don't.
They don't understand what you've done unless you clearly stay
in there. You have to match your resume to that job,

(17:41):
and so unless you get through that HR hurdle, you're
never going to get a hiring manager to show them
who you really are. So I you know, you apply
for a job, and you know a week later, you
get thanks but no thanks, and you're going to get
a lot of thanks for no thanks. And that's a
lot of times where you get the networking in there.
So yeah, you're going to have a tough time trying
to navigate if you use your same expecting like you know,

(18:05):
let's say I get out as a captain, you get
out as a first sergeant. We know a lot of things,
you know, we've seen a lot of things. We know
how to manage people. But an HR person doesn't look
at that thing. Okay, boom boom boom. Well that doesn't
navigate to what the civilian career field is, so we'll
move on to the next one. So I just have
to really work on who you are as a civilian

(18:28):
more than you know. I've beans and.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Bullets logistics, right.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
That happened to be my job was I was the
beans and bullets guy. I was the ninety two Yankee.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
So yeah, Well, one of the things I will say
that we all have a I say a common background
is translating our careers in the military into business ease
of saying okay, I was a supervisor project manager but
for the military, and transitioning that language that the HR
person can understand is kind of a task and a

(18:57):
challenge when.

Speaker 5 (18:58):
You say, oh, absolutely, you know, and I AI all
the time nowadays for like cover letters and resumes. You know,
you have to really marry it up to that job description.
A lot of people are very hesitant to use it,
but HR understands that lingo and they don't understand our lingo.
So once you're navigatingto like, okay, you know what I managed,

(19:20):
I supervised this and that break it down to civilian
lingo as much as possible.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
I used to be very anti AI and I won't
even send a text without running through chat GPT.

Speaker 5 (19:34):
Now it's oh, I know, it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
Well, it does the job for us. And translating our
work experience into the HR linguo one of the things
I also I am thankful of. Justin here has had
a few resource fares for veterans, and I think, if
I'm hearing here correctly, I think that those type of
resources are definitely something that we as veterans would definitely
need and kind of transition, making that trans kind of

(20:00):
less turbulent. What things do you feel would add to
the transitional success for veterans If you had an idealist
to put that together. What do you think we need
as veterans to make that transition from military to business life.

Speaker 5 (20:15):
I think we really need mentors. We need who's ever,
we need a robust mentor or even if it's job forms,
somewhere where people can go and plug and be like, Okay,
how do I do this? You've been through this before.
I think mentors and that includes you later on becoming
a mentor, and if you're a mentee, you become a
mentor later on. That's many So you really need to

(20:37):
use your networks. That's that's really how it's going to
help your transition. And I do want to I do
want a caveat that I did write that book Pivot,
but that book is literally charged in twenty five cents
over whatever it cross Amazon to put out there. So
I only wrote a book just so people would have
a manual on how to have a transition into civilian
and subtle workforce. So, I mean, I just want to

(20:58):
make sure that that's it's very clear that I'm not
going to profit off of ever helping out a veteran
get a job.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
No, I really wish that we had more time. I
know that you're about to get on a plane. So
I was, uh, I was watching some of your your
videos this morning talking about border control and UH and
the youth coming across and but those were like six
months ago, so you know that that wasn't within the
current administration. So I would love to get your opinion

(21:25):
at some point on like how things have changed, how
we thought they were going to be versus what they
are now, and and and a lot of other things.
But I mean, unfortunately, we're just not gonna have time
to get into all that. But I was very fascinated
by some of the things that you're doing. It's it's
really great, you know.

Speaker 5 (21:41):
I just you just have to have a mission. Brother.
I I'm doing a new thing where it's like fifty
over fifty. I'm trying to do like fifty races, fifty trips,
just fifty things to be present in my life. Because
we always look at things as like you know, the
end of end of an er or end of our life.
We had a certain So the big thing is just
to kind of like, you need a mission, especially if

(22:04):
you're getting out of the military, you need a new mission.
And yeah, you know that's where your mental health gets in.
I mean we could. I could talk to you guys
for seven hours about mental health. I mean, it's it's huge.
So I mean, and that's the thing that if you
have a good career or one that's fulfilling, that helps
you with your mission.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
Yeah, because if you have a purpose driven life for
you know, so many years, you can spiral real quickly.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
That's for sure.

Speaker 5 (22:29):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
I wish we had more time, Jason. There's so many
facets of your book that I want to bring up,
but we just don't have the time. We need to
know where we can get your book and how often
you're going to put your next book out.

Speaker 5 (22:43):
Well, I'm writing a book on leadership now making it's
called make a decision, damn it or make the damn decision,
because how many times do we know, like you know,
come on the Young Leaders Net or even in law
enforcement field, you just don't know how to make that decision.
They're afraid too, So that one's then it works also
writing like I do, you can. The best place to
find me is at doctor Jason Piccolo at doctor Jason

(23:05):
Pickle on Instagram, and I do have the Protector's podcast.
Just look for a guy with tattooed. That's me on
if there's another one out there, I'm the only trademark
and registered one, and I've interviewed everybody from like every
military thriller author you can imagine every New York Times
bestseller out there. At five hundred and twenty episodes so far,
that's the best place and I'm always available. I'm on

(23:27):
LinkedIn Jason picclroll and I could you know, thanks to
the military, I was able to get my bachelor's, master's,
and doctorate, so I do always you know, I am
so thankful for being able to serve, and that's why
I want to get back to the vetmom community as
much as possible.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
Well, thanks for coming on, and we may tap on
you again.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
Most I'll have me.

Speaker 5 (23:47):
I would absolutely love to come back on and do
more of a longer interview as well. Apologize having to travel.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
Hopefully wendayse days, we can have you for a meet
and greet here in Florida.

Speaker 5 (23:56):
That's where I'm at right now, so the next.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
Time, Okay, thank you.

Speaker 5 (24:02):
Thank you gentlemen.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Calling all veterans.

Speaker 3 (24:03):
On August the night there's going to be a veteran
resource fair at m Vett's Post three twelve in Northport.
Come on out as Warrior Wellness and am Vetts three
twelve welcome veteran owned businesses and veteran resources. They'll be
serving breakfast from eight thirty to ten thirty, so come
on out join us. If you're interested in setting up
a booth, come out to seventy to fifty Chancellor Boulevard, Northport, Florida.

(24:27):
For more information, reach out to Justin Lefford at four
two three five nine nine nine five four six or
if Justin at Warrior dashw dot com.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
See you there, all right, So we're back.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
And that was an awesome interview that we just had
with Jason Piccolo. That was It's funny how how things
tie together because a lot of things that he says
about transition are some of the things that I always
discuss about Warrior Wellness and you know, trying to learn
how to be a civilian again and how to get
back to life and U you know, all those sorts

(25:02):
of things.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
So oh, definitely, And know I perked up when you
said he was it a doctor? I mind going good grief.
I have no excuses. This man has come out of
service and degree this and doctor that phenomenal guy and
the topic matter, I mean, spot on how transitioning from
the military can be. It's it's a trip if you

(25:23):
don't have a plan, and unfortunately a lot of veteran
family don't don't have a plan. And like I had
when I left.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
Yeah, no, no, my wife, she she did it correctly,
like just like Jason was saying. So my wife got
her bachelor, she got her masters, she's working on her
second masters. Because you know, you have you have the
GI bill, but then you also have a VOK rehab
and then from my VA disability, she now has.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
Chapter thirty five, I believe is what it is. So
now she's able to use that.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
There's so many benefits it's out there that we don't
think about. Like we were talking yesterday about if if
you have if you have one total TMP so which
is total impermanent, So if you have one hundred percent
total impermanent from the VA disability, then you know you
get dental and all.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
These other things that that people don't even read no much.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
And I'll be the first to tell you I did
not know one hundred percent TMP entitled you to free
dental at the VA from those who I'm a veteran
service officer. The gimmick is if you're not one hundred percent,
it goes two conditions you must have in order to
get it. One service connected, which means you had an

(26:43):
event that caused dental injury during time of service, and
you must be greater than you must be one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's what I was told. And then I start.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
Reading the VA rule book and regulations, and as of
last weekend, i'm you know. I go on YouTube and
watch she's from different veteran service officers. You're entiled the
dental at P and T, but one hundred percent is
one hundred percent P and T or TMP. Excuse me,
And there's a difference, folks. If you don't get that
T and P, you're not qualified.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
Yeah, it's it's crazy that, you know, we say that
the military is the only the only place that you
congratulate each other on being one disabilit disabled.

Speaker 1 (27:25):
It's interesting, and we served and we deserved I'm like this, folks.
We we gave up a hide, we gave up time
with our families. Uh, sacrifices of time that you cannot
get back. And I'm thankful our job as being the
rally Point is becoming a resource network to let people know,
come on, folks, that there are benefits for you waiting

(27:47):
for you. Phenomenal a guy, I mean wow in security
and I don't want to say thing, but you know
a ninety five Bravo that's like a little beat cop
versus you know, FBI agent. I want to get involved
in that conver how'd you find them?

Speaker 4 (27:59):
Well, I've found him through a mutual friend posted something
he was saying on They were talking back and forth
on the Internet and he mentioned that he had a
book called Pivot, So I reached out to him to
find out. I knew he was in the service. I
didn't know his background until I did some research on him.

(28:21):
So I'm always looking, Oh, we're going to fill up,
get some more in there.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
And if you're a veteran and you have a story,
First of all, every veteran has a story. Yes, if
you raised your hand like something significant happened to you.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
So don't feel like whatever we say.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
On here doesn't apply to you, because I can guarantee
that it does in one form or the other. So yeah,
if you're a veteran and you want to tell your story,
come on, and let us know about it.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yeah, and definitely, folks, the reason why we exist is
for the veterans and our fan our veterans' families. We
are becoming a resource because if there wasn't a problem,
we would here. And I'm thankful to have Paul and
Justin here end zaying the man all together to make
us sound so sophisticated on the air, the face that

(29:12):
the face that radio loves. Of course, I've had the
opportunity to watch resources resource and learn something new in
the Venter experience when we start this journey almost three
years ago. And for example, Justin he has Warrior Wellness,
which is a phenomenal program. It's not just about getting out,
walking and talking. It's about building relationships and connections to

(29:35):
get access to these resources. And yeah, Justin, you went
out not too long ago on a road trip.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
What happened there?

Speaker 3 (29:42):
I have a friend that well, actually he was a
friend of my wife's through work. He helps out with
a Venice police sparment quite a bit.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
His name is Barry.

Speaker 3 (29:51):
He has a business called Crazy Quill so he created
so it's pretty fascinating. So he took a a drone.
He took drone capability and put it into a tablet
and from that he controls like clay shooters, so he

(30:12):
can make them like turn different directions and and so
they shoot all at the same time. So this weekend
was the Outdoor Sportsmen's Group Editorial Roundtable. So what that
is is all the folks from guns and AMMO and

(30:32):
Waterfowl Magazine, the Outdoor Channel.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Who else was there.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
It's it all falls under the same umbrella of Outdoor
Sportsmen's Group. And so what they do, all the writers
and editors, they go there and you'll have the gun manufacturers,
so Smith and Wesson, Browning and you know, all the
different gun manufacturers. You know, these are our new toys.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
This is what we have.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
And so they go out and they shoot guns. You know,
they shoot guns, and they shoot the clays off of
the crazy quill, and you know it's man, I had
the time of my life. You know, I was in
the Army for twenty two years. Full disclosure, I'm not
a gun person. I had a lot of experiences and

(31:24):
so when I retired, I was like, no, I'm walking
away from this. I'm not touching it. You know, that's
a different story for a different day. But I'm not
a gun person, is the bottom line. I'm not anti gun.
I would love for you to have as many guns
as you want. I'm not a gun person, but this

(31:44):
weekend or this past week really.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
Changed me from.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
That perspective of Man, it was really just the time
of my life.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
And yeah, no, it was a great experience.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
Oh definitely. And in that experience, would you say that
there are resources that you think that we should know
about ore that could be shared with our audience. I
can only imagine clay shooting. I know it's an Olympic
sport and that's about it.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah. No, I mean it was. It was. It's pretty amazing.
It was fascinating.

Speaker 3 (32:20):
No, I loved it, and I met a lot of veterans.
Uh there's you know, there's military and hunting go hand in.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Hand a lot of time.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
A lot of a lot of veterans are hunters. Yeah,
and so yeah, I just I made a lot of contacts,
I'll say that, and hopefully some things will will pan
out in the future. But but yeah, I think I
think I've got some some guests lined.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
Up for the futures outstanding, So I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
Were there any individuals you've met that were more memorable
than others. I mean not saying most more important, but
anybody sticks out in your mind.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
So, yes, there was so Craig Babbington. So Craig Babbington,
he shout out, Yeah, so Craig Bavington. He has a
show on the Outdoor Channel. He's had several shows actually,
but I got to talking to him one night after

(33:24):
the event, and he was in the Marines for thirty years.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
So he's a Marine colonel. Yeah. So he's hunted.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Literally any animal that you can think of around the globe.
And very successful hunter, very respected hunter.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Definitely the the.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
The one in the room everyone wanted to know. Craig
an amazing individual. I love talking to him and hopefully
we'll have him on the show. I told him about
the show and he said he's willing to come on.
So Craig, I'm gonna hold you to that.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
So if you're listening, YEA, be prepared.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah, And so we were. We were out at the.

Speaker 3 (34:13):
At the at the shooting range out there in the
in middle of nowhere, Colorado, and they have a range
safety officer. I started talking to him. He was like,
I was like, what did you do.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
He was like, oh, well, I was in the Air Force.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
And I was like, oh god, another Air Force guy, right,
because Amanda, who is our co host, her husband went.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
With me and he's retired Air Force. So I'm sitting
here giving this guy a hard time about being Air Force.
He was a beef.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
He was a B two bomber pilot. Oh god, so
he's R s O out there on the range now.
He flew like four four missions, four major missions and
four campaigns and just like had huge resume. And I
let him know that I was Army and I was
still better.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Oh wow, no argument today, nothing, I'll say that. That's
and again it's just about making those relationships and networking
outside of our state opens another door and another caveat
of resources for our veterans to hear about and have
access to.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
No, absolutely, And like I said, I met all the
editors in chiefs and it was definitely an amazing experience.
And I don't want to start name dropping, because number one,
I'll screw their names up for the most part. But yeah,
hopefully we get to partner with some of those guys

(35:42):
in the future.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
And it was it was a great.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
Time, outstanding speaking on which I believe that we have
an event coming up this weekend, isn't that right?

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah? Absolutely, So we have a Veteran Resource Fair.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
The last one that we had was in May at
the Franz Ross YMCA and Port Show, Arlotte, and it
was very successful. So we have another one coming up
this weekend. It's going to be at am Vett's Post
three twelve in Northport. It's August, so August the ninth,
which I said was this Saturday, and it's.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Going to be from ten o'clock to one o'clock, from.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Eight thirty to ten thirty. They serve breakfast. I believe
it's eleven dollars per person. But I've eaten there a
couple of times. It was a great you know, it's
just like eating at a restaurant.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
Really it was. It was good food. So if you
are a veteran resource, someone who supports veterans, or a
veteran owned business, then you were more than welcome to
have a booth. Just let me know.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
My number is four two three five nine nine nine
five four six. Yeah, as long as you don't pop
up a scam, likely I'll answer and talk to you. Yeah,
just let me know, and I'll make sure that you
have a booth setup, So try to be there at
nine thirty and set up and it should be a

(37:09):
great event.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
And for all you that's out there looking for resources
or just trying to socialize and expand your horizons, please
show up. I'm hoping to have I'm going to say
that you will have a couple of VSOS Barion Service
officers out there during that event. And again, you serve
and you deserve and your benefits are mandatory for you

(37:30):
to receive in your family. So please make sure you
contend the event and do have anything else, Paul for.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
Us, these are great events for you to network and
find out what's available to you, So make every opportunity
to get out there.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
So Paul's being humble right now, but Paul is the
rock star of every event that we have, every event
that I've been to, whether it be South Gulf Cove
or at the Army Navy Game last year, or the
Veteror Recce in May, any event that I've been to
that Paul has been at, he is the focal point.

(38:07):
And why is that.

Speaker 4 (38:09):
Paul, Because I want the veterans story to get out there.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Oh yes, he does, But this man has a Vietnam
display second to none.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
It is amazing.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
Part of it is just Vietnam in general, but he
has a televised slideshow presentation of his unit specifically. But yeah,
I'm gonna tell it wrong, So tell us more about
what you do, Paul.

Speaker 4 (38:39):
It's a twenty four foot long display that shows just
one unit what one unit did in Vietnam from nineteen
sixty six until nineteen seventy two, when we were when
we left Vietnam, so it's more educational. Might have artifacts

(39:01):
that I won't tell you how we got them home,
but we have artifacts from Vietnam that adds to the collection.
So it's it's a great time for you to see
what your neighbor did, what we did, and for some
of us Vietnam vets to just bond at that display.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
And I think it's very important. I love having Paul
out there with me when we do our rock marches Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday seven thirty, So if you want to come join us,
But it's man Paul is so invaluable. It's it's so
important that he's there to tell his story and encourage

(39:48):
other Vietnam veterans to come out and tell their story,
because that's the that's the quickest path to healing, is
to be with those who know what you're going through,
know what you've experienced, and just be able to to
share that camaraderie with other veterans and folks.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
I've seen Paul's display many times, and one of the
most fascinating things I get to see almost every time
is that I've seen various military campaign veterans go before
the display, have a conversation and you'll find out the
guys in Afghanistan, You'll find out who's in Iraq, and

(40:29):
there are some commonalities despite the different eras. There's a
certain experiences that you have down range that are unique
to those who've seen combat from Vietnam and Afghanistan. Is
like having the conversation you knew each other for years,
and that's that's the gift of it all, being comfortable
and being to learn about how indifferent we all are
despite our time differences in our age gaps. It's it's

(40:52):
a certainly a wonderful thing. Please come down and support
and see it and learn something new about that that
time of our experiences.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
And it's never easy, but it can be easier if
you know someone who's been through the same things that
you've been.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Through thousand.

Speaker 4 (41:10):
I want to see you there, I'm there. Time is
running out, guys. We need to we need to tell
our stories, both from Vietnam and forward because they need
to be chronicled.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
Oh so, all right. So we had our.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
Warrior Wellness fundraiser about three weeks ago, I guess now,
at the Wyvern. So there was two ladies sitting in
the corner and I feel so bad now because we
didn't really talk to them. They were just kind of
there and as they were leaving, Amanda and I started
talking to him.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
So there were sisters.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
One was eighty nine and one was ninety and they
were both in the Korean War.

Speaker 2 (41:57):
It was a wild and it's another.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
Thing that I talk about, like when we go to
Charlie Foxtrot and hang Out, which is a veteran known
tap house.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
Here in Port Charlotte.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
You know, if you get the opportunity to go by there.
But when we go in there and we want to
talk to other veterans, we end up just talking to
the same group of people that we always talk to.
When there are so many veterans that we need to
reach and that we need to try to talk to.
And it was just another example of you know.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
If I wasn't. First of all, I was very busy
that day. Oh god, my god. Oh I was going crazy.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
And there was five pounds less on that day.

Speaker 3 (42:39):
Oh man, I was stressing anyways, but uh, you know,
get out of our we all could get out of
our comfort zone and just talk to other people. You know,
we're either tied to our same group that we're always with,
or we're tied to our.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
Phone or both.

Speaker 3 (42:57):
And so you know, just make an effort to talk
to a stranger, talk to somebody you don't know today
and just see how they're doing, what their story is,
because everybody's got a story. Some are better than others,
but you know, everybody's got one exactly.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
All right.

Speaker 3 (43:16):
And now coming into the studio, we got Jaha Cummings. So, sir,
why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 6 (43:22):
It's a pleasure meeting you. Well, for several years I
was on the Charlotte County Veterans Is it on? Get closer?

Speaker 4 (43:33):
Okay?

Speaker 6 (43:34):
Nothing, nothing, Well, I'll start different. Well, so I'm actually
a fifth generation pint of Guardian. I was out of
the country for twenty years, worked in Asia, came back,
served on city council three terms. Towards the end of
that time, I became involved with the Charlotte County Veterans

(43:58):
Council brain Sorry and and one of the things I
felt was most important, because during that time I also
had a radio show, was especially working with young veterans
who a lot of times their plight is not understood
that if they retire earlier their retirement age, there's that space,

(44:19):
and that space they're not told in advance, and there's
really not accommodation to really help them and their families
be able to adjust to civilian life. And so I
just find that it's very, very important, however, I can
be of service to be able to assist veterans overall,
but especially young veterans, to be able to transition into
life after service. And with that said, I think that

(44:41):
how the nation treats these veterans really is it is indicative. Really,
it's it's stayed itself. And as James has mentioned, we're
looking at this next two fiftieth. The country turns two
fifty July fourth, twenty twenty six, we're going into our
next two to fifty and I think this next two
to fifty is very important that we do much better
job of treating a vetors. I think that would actually

(45:02):
be the way forward for our country.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
No, I think that's awesome. I think it's I think
you're going to be a great addition to the team
for sure. Like we were talking to Jason Piccolo earlier
on in the show about transitioning, and that's pretty much
my basis for warrior wellness is you know, when you
when you get slapped in the face with reality and
you know, you get out of the out of the
service after twenty something years, and then you realize that, hey,

(45:27):
I'm eighteen again, what do I want to do when
I grow up? And you're sitting here as a forty
one year old man and just trying to figure out
life and how do you do that and what's the
next step because they don't really teach you that. You know,
we we go through the trans you know, the Transition
Assistance Program or whatever branch of service you're in, you know,
has different things when you're when you're getting out, but

(45:49):
then really once they kick you out of the nest,
you gotta fly and that's it.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
And all right, folks, I'm sorry. I gotta do my
Jack Reacher in piece stuff here and Jaha is way
two months on his background, so I play a little
put my little Jack Reacher hat on. I'll give you
a little background on Jaha here. Joe Jaha is a
global strategist and capital markets professionals specializing in public private

(46:17):
philip help me out with that film tropic partnerships that
drive inclusive economic revitalization. He is the founder and chairman
of the Blanchard House Institute and a credit MNGO advisor
to UNISEC UNESCO, supporting the two hundred and fiftieth historically

(46:37):
underinvested US communities through culture, heritage, civic infrastructure, and narative change.
He also is the co architect of the American Dream
Fund Storeboard USA, a mixed capital initiative designed to reshore
the United States creative economy by investing in storytelling, production capacity,

(46:57):
and workforce develop Jah has spent two decades in Asia,
advertising governments and multinational firms on growth strategies, while co
funding UNESCO recognized Foundation in Micronesia pos not Correctly. He
is one of the two US publishers selected for the
Cannes Film Festival, shoot the Book Initiative, and a contribute

(47:21):
to the Venice Production Bridge. He served three terms as
city councilor in punter Go, To Florida, and has held
leadership roles in planning, tourism and healthcare. He served on
the Charlotte in Veterans Council, which I've seen a couple
of terms in my youth when I first came to Florida.
He serves as president of the Charlotte Desto Building Industry Association,
trustee of the Pundagoda Police Pension Board, and the board

(47:44):
member for the Area Agency Aging for Southwest Florida. Like
I said, folks, he came at for seats and he's.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
Way too modes.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
So in the agenda of the Plight of Veterans, Jaha
is set on the board and he's heard our complaints
in concerns for years while he's as a councilman, and
most definitely he's on our boards for CCVC. And let
me tell you something, he was proactive. He got things
done along with our Steven R. Deutsch, which I know
you know very well. But that being said, he please

(48:14):
explain to us at the Rally Point Network. How this
kind of your new programming is going to affect our
generation and generations to come.

Speaker 6 (48:27):
So with this was we find to be most important
as we reach the children. So two things. One is
that it creating a curriculum for fourth graders to really
let them understand the importance of Florida veterans and have
that be formative with them how they just go out
and view the world. Additionally, there's something called Zorafest. It's
the longest running urs and culture festival in the country.

(48:48):
Actually it's in Eatonville, Florida, just north of Orlando. We
want to actually have a number of veterans be able
to tell their stories as well as really have really
set a template for having outreach in terms of lenning
veterors know all the things that are available to them,
to include an emphasis on young veterans so that they
really understand and the and their families are actually able
to really seamlessly transition. And then on another level, something

(49:11):
we hadn't talked about. I think part of it also
is when we're doing this, when veterans are doing there,
we say pre veteran time. The kind of work that
they're doing in the service. I think we don't really
express what I think people are just doing their day
to day job and to understand really how important those
roles are when you translate that to the civilian world.

(49:32):
So I think all sort of there needs to be
I just think we need to be more proactive with
understanding the real strengths that our veterans are coming out
of the service with and really find the best opportunities
for them to reach their.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
Full potential, right, so like resume writing and more, you know,
assistance in the job market and what you know, just
job training, just letting people know like this is these
are the different things that you can do based on
your service because once again, like a lot of people
don't get that. And like I was logistics, so that's

(50:06):
a little easier to uh, to navigate.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Or at least I thought it was when I got out.

Speaker 3 (50:11):
But then you know, if you're an infantryman or you know,
you know your basic grunt, you know there's not a
lot of you know, how do you translate that into
the civilian world. There's there's still plenty, plenty of opportunities
for soldiers once they get out, but it's just trying
to figure that out and trying to figure out where
your place in the world is.

Speaker 6 (50:32):
It's kind of like howlet's saying with someone who's a CEO,
they don't necessarily have to be a subsequent expert in
that field. It's running how to run a company, and
I think you have someone that knows how to manage people,
how to run a unit. Those skills can be directly
applied to the management of a business and in managing people.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Right.

Speaker 3 (50:51):
Well, yeah, because you're you're infantrymen, they are going to
know much more about leadership and discipline than you realize
that those are the people that you want. That they're
going to be cool under pressure and be able to
make things happen for you.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
What do you think about that.

Speaker 4 (51:06):
Paul, Well, the other thing is is that there are
so many experiences in the military that do absolutely translate.
And one of the things veterans are most they're really
good at is making a transition and solving problems because
you have to learn how to solve those problems in

(51:27):
the military on the fly. You don't have time to
have a committee exactly. So those military experiences really benefit
you when you get out. But we need to teach
the veterans how to sell that. You know. One of
the other things too is we need to be letting
the families of the veterans know so they know what
is available to the veterans and to themselves so they

(51:48):
can continue to move forward. It's not just the veterans,
it's the entire family organization, and to understand what the
veterans have available to them so they can utilize them.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
Too, definitely. And folks, well we start myself there, Jaha,
could you tell people how to get in contact with
you and hopefully we'll be seeing you as a co
host here on our show.

Speaker 6 (52:11):
Well, the best way would be my email address. First
name is Jaha j a h a at Blanchard House
Institute dot org. Again, Jaha at Blanchard House Institute dot org.
We are an expansion of the Blanchred House Museum. We're
actually going to be opening again on September twentieth, and
we actually have so you know, the famous the Bailey Brothers.

(52:36):
We have a Bailey Brothers Park associated with our museum
as well, so we actually have a military park as well,
and so we just Blanchard House Museum.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
You can reach me there.

Speaker 6 (52:44):
But again, Jaha at Blanchreth House Institute dot org.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
Well, thank you very much, sir, and we will be
hoping to see you more of you on our network
as a co host and contributor. And with that being said, Paul.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
Thanks for having coming here. We will hope to see
you more future. We want to get involved with it.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
Awesome, Sterry's nice to meet you and with

Speaker 3 (53:06):
That, Rally Pointers fall out dismiss m.