Healing at Both Ends of the Leash with K9s for Warriors

Welcome to the "Militarily Speaking" podcast with Tom McLean and Jodi Vickery.

 

In this episode of “Militarily Speaking,” Tom and Jodi spotlight the life-saving work of K9s for Warriors—the nation’s largest provider of trained service dogs for military veterans. Guests Chris Luna and Wyatt Haynes join to share how the organization pairs veterans coping with PTSD, trauma, and transition with rescue dogs, offering a powerful path to healing, hope, and purpose.

 

The conversation delves into the array of services Vets2Industry provides, including Tune in to discover how Vets to Industry is making a significant impact on the veteran community.

“Militarily Speaking” is a podcast produced by Armed Forces Bank that is dedicated to the military lifestyle and all the things that makes the military community who they are.

 

Ep. 84 – Healing at Both Ends of the Leash with K9s for Warriors

Founded in 2011 by Sherry Duval after witnessing her son’s struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder following deployment in Iraq, K9s for Warriors has grown from a garage-based operation to four state-of-the-art campuses nationwide. Their mission: end veteran suicide by saving two lives – veteran and rescue dog – at both ends of the leash. Since inception, they've matched over 1,100 veterans with service dogs, and saved more than 2,000 shelter dogs.

Veteran Stories of Transformation

Navy veteran Chris Luna shares his personal story of transformation through K9s for Warriors. After battling isolation and turning to alcohol to cope, Chris found new life and purpose through his service dog, Astro. He talks about his “wind therapy” motorcycle group of combat veterans, the comprehensive training and pairing process, and the long-term support that helped him recover emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Many veterans, like Chris, face not only emotional wounds but also financial uncertainty during transition. That’s why Armed Forces Bank offers dedicated tools for veterans and military families, including military checking and savings accounts, Access Loans for emergency expenses, and VA home loans to help veterans build stability.

Training That Saves Lives

Wyatt Haynes, Chief Business Officer, provides insight into the training process – describing how each dog is uniquely prepared to meet a veteran’s physical and psychological needs. Dogs that don't meet service standards are often repurposed to assist first responders, further demonstrating the organization's impact beyond the veteran community.

With a two-year waitlist, the need for trained service dogs continues to grow. Wyatt calls on corporate sponsors, donors, and individuals to join the mission. Their efforts would not be possible without generous partners who understand the importance of supporting veterans through holistic services.

Military Career Advice and Financial Wisdom

In a powerful closing message, Chris shares advice for young service members and veterans navigating transition:

“Use the military as a stepping stone. Invest in your future—whether through education, skill-building, or your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Take full advantage of what’s available, because retirement and stability aren’t just dreams—they’re possible if you start early.”

This reminder speaks directly to the importance of long-term financial planning. Through tools like the TSP, retirement savings accounts, and guided support from banks that understand the military lifestyle, veterans can set themselves up for a strong future. Armed Forces Bank is proud to assist with military retirement education and financial readiness resources tailored to those who serve.

How You Can Help K9s For Warriors

Supporters can get involved by:

·      Donating to K9s for Warriors

·      Shopping their official swag store

·      Volunteering as dog fosterers

Every action contributes to reducing veteran suicide and giving pu

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Militarily speaking, episode 84.
Jody Canines for Warriors.
I know we're getting up there.
This episode we talk with Chris Luna andWyatt Hanes with Canines for Warriors.

(00:23):
Welcome to Militarily Speaking.
Brought to you by Armed Forces Bank.
This is Tom McLean, Jody Vickery.
I'm the military retail exec forA FB and Jody newly indoctrinated.
I can say that for the nextthree years, I don't think should
say newly anymore.
No, you get a three year whenyou get a job title change.
That's good.
Then I can't
get blamed for things in chief DigitalOfficer, you could say the previous chief

(00:45):
digital officer for our Porsche bank.
Was responsible for that.
We didn't have one.
Oh yeah.
Not my fault
at all.
Yeah.
Again, welcome to our show.
We're excited to have you listeningand learning about our guests,
Chris Luna and Wyatt Hayes.
I think Tom and I are gonna tagteam introducing both of you.
So we wanna take just a second and tellour audience a little bit about you.
Chris Luna has gone byLuna most of his life.

(01:07):
It was his nickname in theNavy and to friends and family.
He served from 1996 to 2018.
As always for all of our guests.
Thank you for your service.
It wasn't until after the COVID-19pandemic when he realized he was
struggling in his life after the service.
Luna is part of a motorcyclegroup with other combat veterans.
He says that was his therapy for a while.

(01:27):
He called it wind therapy.
I kinda like that.
But Luna admitted he didn't knowhow to healthily cope with PTSD,
so he had turned to alcohol.
That was always my crutch.
It was how I dealt witheverything he said.
One evening he had dinner with afriend from his motorcycle group
who brought along his servicedog from canines for Warriors.
Luna noticed the special relationshiphis friend had with his service dog.

(01:49):
Luna was hesitant but decided to applyfor his own battle buddy to ensure every
veteran is paired with the right service.
Dog warriors go through severalrounds of interviews, and this
allows the staff and trainers to knowmore about their lifestyle before
pairing them with a service dog.
The trainer asked Luna, what doyou want to get out of the program?
And he responded, I just want to be loved.
Luna then met his service dog.
Astro.

(02:09):
I think I need to see a picture of Astro.
I have a visual in my mind ofwhat Astro might look like.
Is, is Astro's not with you?
Right Chris?
She is, but I can figureout how to work this camera.
Oh, no.
All right.
Let's see it.
Look at a i my astro.
We say Aw, in the audience.
I know our audience can'tsee it, but rest assured
audience, Astro's beautiful.
We fact check.

(02:29):
Yes, and it's true.
Yes,
so thank you.
During their first few nights together,Astro woke Luna up with pitter-patter
of her nails on the wood floors.
I have five dogs, so I cancompletely relate Lunas, but Astro's
a lot cuter than your dogs.
Yes, probably much better behaved as well.
Luna assumed Astro had to, had to gooutside and use the bathroom, but night
after night, he would take her out and shewould just stand there and look at him.

(02:51):
One night, Luna realized Astro wastrying to wake him from a nightmare.
She was sensing changes in hisbreathing and movement, and while
canines for Warrior Service Dogs arenot necessarily trained to do this.
Service dogs will often wake theirveterans from a nightmare because
of their strong bond and the dogsensing when something is wrong.
Luna realized his service dogwas the perfect match for him.
He says his relationship withAstro has been life changing.

(03:13):
He sleeps better.
He doesn't drink the way he used to.
He feels a renewed senseof purpose and confidence.
He.
And he is now using his story andsuccess to inspire other veterans
to get the support they need.
Canines for Warriors is allabout two lives, one leash.
Everybody makes an impactand I am forever grateful.
He said That's a pretty good bio.
I know.
Very good story.
And we got to meet Astro.

(03:34):
Wanna tell him about our other kids before
I introduce Wyatt?
Yes.
So Astro.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here.
Okay.
Chris, it was named after somepitch for the Houston Astros.
Is that right?
Like Lance McCullers or something?
So actually Lance Mc Jr.Of the Houston Astros.
Is the sponsor for her?
It's the second dog.
Oh, very cool.
Yeah.
It's the second dog that he hassponsored through Canines for Warriors.

(03:57):
So he's, he's done it more than once, butthis time apparently he wanted to find a
Houston veteran so that he could name thedog Astro and be local here in the area.
That is cool.
That's awesome.
Do you know anything about the other dog?
I do.
I do not.
But if I could do a shout out for LanceMaulers Jr. Because he is getting a lot of
hate from the way he pitched this weekend.

(04:19):
Everybody,
you know,
as he should, people getcritical of performances, right?
They
they do.
But you know, everybody here inHouston wants to sit here and say,
oh, all he cares about is coffeebusiness, this, this, and this.
But look at something simplethat is not in the headlines.
That's.
Making a massive difference forsomebody like me, and I'm not the
only one that he's out there helping.
So,
or to him than just the pitching.

(04:40):
That is correct.
Publicity.
Yeah,
for sure.
You always hear stories about athletesdoing great things in the community
and giving back like that, but Idon't think we focus enough on that,
that we focus more on what theydo on the mound or at the plate.
Or at the goal line.
Right.
So yeah, thanks for theshout out for Lance.
Let's introduce Wyatt.
So as Chief Canine and Business Officer,Wyatt supports the senior leadership

(05:04):
team in enhancing and expandingcanines for Warriors and its mission.
I. He also oversees the canine trainingprogram, ensuring every dog is provided
the best care and training that meetsthe strict standards of the organization.
Whether our dogs become a service dog,a therapy dog, or are adopted by a
loving family, WT will ensure every dog.
Fulfills its purpose before canines.

(05:26):
Wyatt worked at UPS for over26 years, most recently as the
Florida Director of Transportation.
He also served four years in the US Navyas a gas turbine mechanic on the USS Hue
City parent at CG 66, Wyatt earned his is.
Bachelor of Science and BusinessAdministration from Southern Illinois

(05:47):
University is currently completing aMaster of Business Administration in
the University of Phoenix and a masterof Divinity from Liberty University.
Why?
It also volunteers and serves onthe board of directors for the
Blessings and a Backpack program.
We may have to talk about that.
Right?
Providing food to thousands ofchildren in Duval, St. John's,
clay and Nassau Counties.

(06:07):
Those are all in Florida.
He's married to Bridgetand has three children.
W enjoys spending time with his family,riding bikes and watching sports.
So with, with the bios sharedwith our audience, I'd just
say welcome to both of you.
It is an honor to have you on the showtalking about canines for Warriors today.
And I don't know which one of youwould like to, to tee this up, but

(06:28):
we always like to at least give ourguests a chance to tell us big picture
about the organization a little bit of.
A background about how it came to be, andthen we'll dive off into a plethora of
questions that, that we've got for you.
Yeah, you
stole it.
I did.
I did.
That's the word of
the day.
By the way, that's
our Easter egg word in every podcast.
Yep.
I can go ahead and kick it off.
Canines for Warriors is, is anorganization that is determined

(06:51):
to end veteran suicide.
That is our mission.
And Caymans four Warriors isthe nation's largest provider of
trained service dogs for militaryveterans who suffer from PTSD.
Traumatic brain injury and or militarysexual trauma and, and our whole goal
is just to serve these veterans as, ashonorably as they served our country.

(07:12):
Our, our program is a lifelong programthat is provided to the warriors at
no cost to, to help them overcomethose invisible wounds of war.
And Canines for Warriors is actuallyfounded on a mother's love, and her
vision is still very much alive.
It was founded back in 2011 by amom by the name of Sherry Duval.

(07:34):
She started this program afterjust seeing her son return from
from the war in Iraq with PTSD.
He ended up doing twotours on his first door.
Tours where he really suffered thisPTSD and when she was just watching
her son suffer from this condition,no matter how many pills he took

(07:54):
or how many therapy sessions hewent through, it just didn't work.
And she was determined to find analternative treatment for her son.
And she noticed that because he,he trained dogs, she noticed that
the only time he was himself.
Was when he was around his dogs.
So where doctors had failed.
Her son, Sherry realized that aservice dog could actually help.

(08:16):
So she also believed in rescuingdogs from high kill shelters.
So because we rescue dogs and, and they.
Who's recruited for this job?
We're actually saving two lives inthis process, and our motto is we
save lives at both ends of the leash.
So just a cool kind of story.
I mean, if you go back to 2011,Sherry started this out of her garage.

(08:40):
She literally had some veterinariansleeping on her couch and she was just
determined to, to do this one at a time.
And you fast forward now wehave four beautiful facilities.
Two in Ponte Vira, Florida.
One in San Antonio, Texas, and one rightaround the corner in he lotus, Texas.
And, and I'm proud to say that, you know,from this vision out of, out of a garage

(09:02):
back in 2011, we have now paired and, andpotentially saved over 1,100 warriors.
And on top of that, 2000 dogshave been saved from shelters.
And this is all with ofno cost to the veterans.
So very proud of where we've come,but we still have a long way to go.
That's awesome.
Well done.
Yeah.

(09:22):
Uh, you know, some of the stat, I'msure we'll get into some of the stats
too, but, and 20, I was reading about20 vets die by suicide every day and
a thousand plus dogs are euthanized.
Right.
So Jodi and I are bothfans of rescue dogs too.
We've, I've had three my daughters,I. I've had their share of
dogs that are rescue dogs too.
So we're putting them, that's puttingthem to good use and they just want
love and purpose a dog's purpose.

(09:45):
That's a movie
too.
We are unable to say noto dogs at our house.
We have four chihuahuas and a red healer.
So, and I think my husbandwould keep getting more.
You guys can foster for us andthat way you can give 'em back.
It works.
I think we're
actually at the limit for the county thatwe live in for how many dogs you can have.
That's
fair.
It's a fair, okay,
so there's a unit limit.
There's like a unit limit on dogs.

(10:06):
Really?
Yeah.
We have five and our neighbor has five.
So like in just this two house place.
13 dogs.
So
if you got a six, you'dhave to keep it hidden.
We'd have to, yeah.
STEs somewhere.
We'll, we'll keep going down the road too,because Jody and I, she and I have dealt
with other organizations like Canine.
So we, we kind of know a little bitof the process too, that there's
sort of the formality of it, right?
The application process.

(10:27):
And Chris, you may have had to gothrough that and, and maybe the process
has changed over the years since2011 when the organization started.
But either one of you or both of youwant to talk about the application
process or the criteria and managingthrough the process, because I'm
sure you get inundated with them.
And determine how you, thepairing up process, if you will.

(10:48):
So maybe talk about that for peoplethat are interested in going to your
website and being eligible for takingadvantage of the service you provide.
Can kind of talk about the criteriaand, and maybe Chris can talk about
the experience for, for us, you allwarriors have to have a diagnosis
of PTSD or traumatic brain injuryand or military sexual trauma.

(11:11):
They could simply go to ourwebsite, canines for warriors.org
and there's a place to sign up.
We do get a lot of applicationswith every application we get.
We speak to every warrior.
There's a lot ofinterviews that take place.
There's assessments that take placeand we have to also check and make sure
that they have the right home settingand, and most importantly, we've gotta

(11:34):
get to know their family a littlebit to make sure that their family's
accepting of this process as well,because they're that warrior's advocate.
And if the spouse, or thechild or the parent reject.
The dog and the warrior work tounfortunately have to give the dog back.
That could be detrimental for the warrior.
So we have to make sure that they'vegot the right setting and they've got

(11:55):
the right support system around them.
And then most importantly, they,they've gotta get this signed off by
a mental health provider that they'reeligible to come to our program.
And we do get a lot of applicationsand we go out of our way to try
to make every one of them work.
Unfortunately, this what I call a secretrecipe isn't gonna work for everybody.
I. But we go out of our wayto make sure, and if they're

(12:18):
accepted, they're put on our list.
We have a little over 300 peoplethat are on our list right now.
Wow.
It's about a two year waiting list.
And unfortunately with the statisticyou just said, that 20 of our
veterans a day taking their own life.
You know, there's a long way to go.
Our goal is to get thatnumber down to zero.
So we expect with more stuff like thispodcast and people learning more and

(12:41):
more about canines for Warriors, they'regonna find out more and more that this
is the, the healthy way to get thehelp they need to fight these invisible
wounds of war that they're dealing with.
Yeah.
Well said.
I agree.
That information awareness, and we talkedabout 45,000 military nonprofits out
there and sometimes the ones that are,are really doing good work out there,

(13:03):
just don't get showcased or peoplejust don't run into 'em and so mm-hmm.
Any way that we can get the message outfor you, we are proud to do that for you.
We thank you.
So Chris, why don't you talkabout the process you experienced
when you got Astro ultimately?
So one, whenever I first signed up,they did have about a four year wait
list at the time, whenever I signed up,which I was kind of okay with because

(13:25):
I. I wasn't sure if this is somethingI really wanted to do, so I was like,
okay, this gives me time to do it.
But with donations and with peoplecontributing and doing this and
that, or whether it's monetary orby property or whatever canines does
that allowed them to open up thefacility out there in San Antonio and

(13:46):
he lotus, which then cut the wait timefrom four years down to two years.
So cut the time in half right there.
Now, throughout that process, likeW had said, there is many interviews
that go into place and, and thereason they do these interviews is
exactly, they take, they take a lotof pride in their pairing process.
And so I did an initial interview and someof it's via paper and then some of it's

(14:11):
audio interview, you know, over the phone.
And then I think I did one at six months.
Then I think I did anotherone at 90 days out.
And then I think I didanother one at 30 Days Out.
And then the day before I got mydog Astro, they did another one.
And then when the process works,it's such relief for the canine staff
because it's like all this time andeffort that they put into their process

(14:33):
to see now this pairing worked out.
It's like, okay, everythingwe did worked out right.
Because again, it's it,it can't be easy for them.
And like he said, itdoesn't always work out.
So to kind of see it workout is, is a big relief.
And so even whenever you get pairedand you go through the program,

(14:55):
they do follow-ups as well.
So when we first get home, I thinkI did a week interview and, and
they actually did a live interview.
I think we did it via FaceTime or.
Or Zoom or something like that.
And then I think we did another onewithin 30 days and this and that.
So a lot of it, they wanna see how thedog is doing in that home environment.
Now that they have left the caninefacility to ensure that we're doing

(15:18):
well, the dog's doing well, thepairing is successful and we're good.
And then, 'cause some people canthink that's intrusive, so they,
they take it a step further backto where it's not so intrusive.
And they do follow up interviewsand they're just like, Hey,
how are you guys doing?
Do you need anything?
This, this, and this?
And this is kind of where I think Wyattmentioned it's, it's a lifelong adventure.

(15:39):
So just because you graduatedoesn't mean they're done with you?
No, I mean, I get a follow up at leastevery month from canine school warriors.
So that's, that's kind of how the processis for an end user is, yes, there's a
lot of steps that go into it upfront.
But it's really there tomake a successful pairing.
And then again, once you graduate,they want to continue to make sure

(16:02):
that both you and your battle buddy aresuccessful as you continue on the journey.
I.
I think another part of thatprocess I'd love to hear about
is the training aspect of it.
And so given that you're, you're tryingto save dogs as well and you're using
rescue dogs, I don't know if you are,if you find them when they're puppies
or if you're taking dogs at all ages.

(16:23):
But I'd love to hear a little bit abouthow that training process unfolds.
And then Chris, from your standpoint,at what point, so they're doing the
interviews that you just described at sixmonths, 90 days out, at what point did
you engage and how did you get engagedin the, the training and facilitation
of that transition as the dog waspreparing to come and live with you?
Maybe that's a, a twopart question, but Yeah.

(16:45):
Yeah.
I, I can, I can shed light on that.
The, the hard part in this industry,you know, a lot of people have breeding
programs and we're, we're pullingthe majority of our dogs from these
high kill shelters, so I. When itcomes down to what does the dog need?
You, you just, you never knowwhat the dog has been through.
Once you rescue this dog fromthat shelter, they could have

(17:08):
been abandoned, beaten, hoarded.
So there's so many different variations.
So some of the dogs that we take intake about six to eight months to
train and, and some take over a year.
And unfortunately not all of them make itbecause we are working in the rescue field
and it, it, it's, it's, there's a lot ofdogs that we, we say get career changed.

(17:30):
And I'm proud to say that we have theability to repurpose our, our dogs
get career changed in some cases toassist and help our first responders.
We have a station dogprogram, which is where.
If the dog cannot become a servicedog, but it's exhibiting a lot of
the strengths needed to become anemotional support dog or a therapy dog.

(17:52):
We place these dogs in first responderlocations, police stations, fire stations,
nine one one call centers, the borderpatrol, and we have about a little over
40 of those out and about, and that isstarting to get a lot of traction as well.
We're starting to get a lot morerequests for those dogs and any of
the dogs that cannot obviously become.

(18:12):
Either the service dog or the stationdog, they get adopted out and those dogs
go to a loving family and, and I cantell you again, if you're interested in
adopting a dog canines for warriors.org,you can go out there and see 'em.
And I promise you, there's achance you'll have the most
well-trained dog on your whole block.
Because these dogs are, they have agood basis of training underneath them.

(18:33):
There's just something about itthat we just don't feel comfortable
with pairing with a warrior, andwe're very transparent about that.
And I'll tell you, when I walk aroundthe town and people see the logo
on my shirt, I get more people thatsay, oh, I love your organization.
And I'm like, yeah, cool.
And they're like.
Because I adopted a dog from you.
I'm like, oh wow, okay.
Wow.
And they just go on tosay how great the dog is.

(18:56):
So again, it takes differenttimeframes for that.
But all of our dogs are fully trained thatwe pair with a warrior before the warrior
ever meets the dog and ever shows up.
And I want to hit on the puppy real quick.
You'd mentioned puppies.
We do have a puppy program.
We have puppies that are donated tous, and they usually come to us when

(19:17):
they're between eight and 12 weeks old.
And we use volunteers.
They are the most dedicated,amazing volunteers you can imagine.
They take these puppies after we receivethem and they take 'em into their
home and they spend sometimes over ayear with these puppies raising them.
Helping us teach them.
We partner with the razors.

(19:39):
We have our trainers go to theirhouse if they're willing or meet 'em
in a park or bring 'em on campus.
And we're working and trainingthese dogs from day one.
And when they get to be alittle bit over a year old, we
pull them back to our campus.
We fine tune the trainingof those puppies, and then
they're paired with a warrior.
So.
Again, if anybody's interestedin volunteering and raising

(19:59):
puppies, who doesn't love a puppy?
Just go on our website.
There's plenty of opportunitiesand we'd love to have all the
help we can, and it's fun.
It's not easy giving the dog back.
Trust me.
It's not easy.
Yeah, that would be super, but it's fun.
Yeah, no, I bet I did seeall the dogs on your website.
I was scrolling through.
I'm like, please let therenot be a chihuahua on here.
You won't find those.
No, you won't find those.

(20:20):
That's my husband would sign up quick.
Just look
away.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so then Chris, how did, how did, atwhat point did you engage and what kind
of side-by-side training did you get?
'cause the, you and Astro hadto figure out how to, how to
do things together, I presume.
Right.
So we, we don't get involved until it'stime for us to go show up on campus.
And so we show up on campus and then theywould, they have what they call dog day.

(20:43):
And that is whenever we get presented withour dog and we get paired up together.
So then we start, all they tellus to do is just go to your
room and go love on your dog.
And it starts that bonding process, right?
So we get to start buildingthat bonding process.
So then as we start the training process.
It just makes it that much easier'cause we've started bonding with

(21:03):
our dog and then boom, next thingyou know, you start training.
And I will tell you, thesedogs are so well trained.
'cause you gotta understand we'renervous, we're in a new environment.
We're this is this, you know,we're out of our element.
But I'll tell you what, caninesand, and maybe I'm just lucky with
Astro, but as we're going throughthe training process, sometimes she's
looking at me like, Hey, knucklehead.

(21:25):
This, she already knew the commandsbecause she had been trained so well
that as because the instructors, thewarrior trainers are demonstrating,
so she already knows what's coming.
And so then if I'm kind of messing up,she is, she's kind of looking at me like,
Hey knucklehead, here's what we gonna do.
But again, we show up on campus, it'sthree weeks worth of training and

(21:48):
their whole time is now spent to us.
Like, like Wyatt said, the dogshave already passed everything.
They know exactly what they do.
So now the concentration is on us thatwe are successful handling our dogs and
that the pairings are very successful,the bond between us, but they are
slowly feeding us this command andthis command, and then building us up.

(22:08):
And you also have to understand that someof it is building our confidence to be
able to go back out in public and to bein an environment that's that's out there.
So they carefully.
Build a training program that is notjust making us successful handling the
dog, but it's successfully putting usback out in public where a lot of people

(22:29):
are not successful, so, so canines hasa very difficult job and there is no
secret recipe, which I'm sure they haveto throw curve balls and audibles every
class that they have their curriculum.
But hey, this vets.
Not handling this.
So now they have to do this.
So understand, yes, the dogs arecompletely trained, but now they are
trying to make us successful to go outthere in public as well as they have

(22:52):
to assess how we are as, as veteransare doing in that public environment.
So I come in the canines fourwarrior staff on how they delicately
evaluate not just how we are doingwith the dog, but how we are also
doing out there in the environmentand how that dog is assisting us.
That environment.
And, and I will tell you, that was oneof the things my first, my first day

(23:15):
out with with Astro, we went out and wecame out and as soon as we come outta
the store, she just shook super hard.
And one of the warrior, yourtrainers had said something and
they're like, did you see that?
And I was like, well, yeah, I mean.
I didn't understand it, but hesaid what she's doing is she all
that anxiety and all that releasedeverything that you have, she's

(23:37):
filling it kind of through the leash.
Right.
And she's shaken all that out.
She's, she's releasing it kind of forboth y'all, so it, it's kind of cool.
That's so cool.
Again, it, yes, they're there to trainus, but they're also there to evaluate
and see how things are going and allthe dynamics and yeah, it's, it's,
it's a very cool program to go through.
It is.
That's amazing.

(23:58):
When Wyatt introduced caninesto our audience, you talked
about suicide prevention.
I mean, that's everyone's, you wakeup every day thinking about how
you're gonna make that go away.
Eradicate that too is it's one, it isjust one of the issues because I, I think
our veterans are facing homelessness.
They're facing food insecurity,they're facing the financial
challenges as they go through life.

(24:19):
But why, why suicide preventionand how passionate, what
are some of the things that.
Maybe why?
In your group meetings?
Team meetings or just missionstatements or speaking tours, why,
how are you taking suicide preventionto another level through canines?
Canines, we know that thatservice dogs save lives.

(24:41):
And if you go back to June of lastyear, on the front page of the
USA today in big, bold letters,it says four legged lifesavers.
And that article spoke of our partner,the University of Arizona, speaks to the
evidence that veterans with service dogs.
Actually have a decrease inthe severity of PTSD symptoms.

(25:03):
It says the anxiety and the preand depression were down and the
wellbeing and the behavior and themental health had all improved.
And, and I think for me, I, I thinkwhat is for all of us at Canines
four is, I won't just say me.
The most rewarding thingabout our job is every month.
A new set of warriors showup on site for three weeks.

(25:25):
We get to see 'em on day one, and we getto see 'em through the entire process.
And when you see 'em on graduationday, it's, it's just not the same
person who showed up on day one.
They're smiling more, they're,they're feeling love for life again.
They're feeling more confident,they're feeling more independent.
Uh, I think the.
What what is really gets you is whenthey love the loved ones of the warriors.

(25:50):
Just come to you and break downand thank you and say, thank you
for giving me my spouse back.
Thank you for giving me my parent back.
Thank you for giving me mychild or my friend back.
And it's just so amazing to to watch that.
That, that four-legged lifesaver, thatbattle buddy just changed the life of that

(26:11):
person even in that short period of time.
I'll tell you a quick story.
Just a couple weeks ago, I was witha warrior who was speaking in front
of a of, of a public audience.
She had been through ourprogram years ago, and she
had her mother there with her.
And she told the story of when shegot back from from war, she just
started taking a bunch of prescriptionpills, and next thing you know,

(26:33):
it led to a heroin addiction.
And she was on heroin foryears and years and years.
She said it was like a, there was abig hole around her, like a, a vacuum
that just sucked all of her familyor loved ones into this vacuum.
And, and her life was justbeing destroyed around her.
And she reached out tocanines for Warriors.
She, she was accepted into the program.

(26:55):
And she knew she had to get clean, soshe went to rehab and when she showed
up to rehab, her mom had wrote a letterto her and it said, look, if you don't
take this, this rehab seriously and getclean, I'm calling canines for Warriors.
And sure enough, she said she visualizedthat dog and she visualized coming to
our campus that got her through rehab.

(27:16):
And all these years later, she's on.
Stage telling the story to so manypeople with her mom sitting next
to me, bawling her eyes out, andjust giving the testimony of this
transition of her daughter's life.
And literally went from a heroinaddict and now she's working
for the sheriff's department.
So you just see such a transformationin so many of our warriors and it, it's,

(27:38):
it's just, it's so much fun to watch.
I mean, so many veterans have have toldme that this dog has, has saved my life.
Thing for a long time.
They, they don't know how to get the help.
And they did.
Just like Sherry Duval, our founder,said the pills weren't working, the
therapy wasn't working, but the dog did.
And you just hear those successstories of, to Chris's point earlier,

(28:01):
they're getting out, they're goingto their kids' ball games for
the first time they're going out.
I, I've, I've went out in public with someof the Warriors and they're like, man, I
haven't been in a mall in 10 years, or Idon't even go to my own kids' ball games.
So.
Again, it's just so incredibleto watch that transition.
Thank you for sharing that story.

(28:22):
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(29:32):
I also wanna touch a little biton some of the partnerships and
the support that you received whenyou talked about the expansion.
I think, Chris, you mentioned this, thatwhen they expanded the two facilities,
it cut that wait list in half.
I presume that some of the people thatyou partner with and the support that
you received can continue to chip awayat that, that wait list, that backlog,

(29:53):
to try and get it down to zero, which yousaid is, is really the goal here, right?
So what, what kind ofpartnerships do you have today?
What types of partnerships do you needto help continue to, to chip away at
that and make sure that you're ableto, to help each and every vet that
comes your way with the service dog.
And before you answer Wyatt too, thatyou have the Petco Love Canine Center

(30:13):
right in San Antonio, the name of it.
So that gives it away a little bit thatPetco's a, a fan of you and is supporting
you and I, but I, you know, the financialneeds are never, they're never gonna stop.
For organizations like you, so weneed to get the word out there about
how people can, can donate or sponsorand, and support canines for orders.

(30:34):
Yes.
You know, again, you, you, you look atfrom a garage to four beautiful facilities
from 2011 to now, and every bit of thathas been because of our generous donors.
None of it.
None of it is possible.
Without them, and we have a lotof very large corporate sponsors.
It's, it's hard to single just oneout because we have a lot of people

(30:57):
who align with our mission and arepassionate about serving veterans in
the community and open up their doors.
You, you mentioned Petco,they're a great partner.
They open their doors and, and theyopen their checkbooks and they make
sure that they are doing everythingthey can to help us take this, this.
This wait list down and, andget that number from 20 to zero.

(31:19):
So, but we also have a lotof individuals and families
that are just huge supporters.
It doesn't just end withcorporate partner sponsorships.
So the communities around us areincredible and, and it's just, it's
so, it's so refreshing for me as,as a veteran, to see so many people
in our community that are willing.

(31:40):
To do whatever it takes to support our,our, our veterans who serve our country.
And we, we still obviously have a long wayto go and we are, we are working on that.
But canines for warriors.org, youcan go there, you can donate there.
If you know of any corporatesponsorships, tell 'em you know all
about us so that they can get in touchwith us and, and we can do things

(32:02):
to continue to drive that list down.
Well, I'm sure it's driving the listdown, and I'm sure that's also how
you're able to do all of this atno expense to the veteran as well.
That is correct, yes.
Yep.
Absolutely.
So the competitive landscaperight out there, there's,
there's a few organizations.
We, years ago we had sort of sponsoreda dog through an organization too,
which was very rewarding and satisfyingfor, for me personally and for our

(32:26):
company to do that, to know thatwe were getting a dog trained to.
Help that at the endof that training cycle.
But there are a lot of organizationsout there that are doing
what you do.
You, you talk competitive landscape.
Spending.
A lot of my career in corporateAmerica, and I would even say in the
nonprofit world, you know, competitionagainst one another is common, but

(32:48):
in this, in this field, it can't be,it can't be competitive in any way.
It has to be a partnership.
It has to be all of us on this missionbecause there's lives on the lines.
So I know that I would not let anybody,any of the staff at canines around me
try to badmouth another organizationthat is, that is doing what we're doing.
And I will tell you that over thepast couple years, we're opening

(33:11):
our doors to all organizations thatwill come and, and visit us and
see what we do so they can take ourideas back to their own facilities.
And on top of that, give us advice.
We, we don't, we don't, don't, don't.
Don't sugarcoat it.
Don't filter it.
Tell us what you see.
Tell us how you feel.
Tell us some ideas or things youcan do differently because this is

(33:33):
too sensitive and too important.
Our, our job is to save lives andthat that cannot be anything other
than the best we can every single day.
So we have actuallypartnerships with wellness.
VSOs that will help the warrior bothbefore they come and after they come.
We have dog organizations that don't dealspecifically with veterans, but love what

(33:57):
we do and wanna come help us enhance ourtraining or find new outlets to get dogs.
So competitive isn't whatit's about, from my opinion.
And we've had other service dogindustries that do exactly what we
do just in the past couple months.
Come and spend time with us, andwe have to all do this together,
and that's the only way we'llwin this war on veteran suicide.

(34:19):
Yeah, and I don't know ifthat's unique to nonprofits that
serve the military community.
Yeah.
Or if it's maybe non, we, we spenda lot of time talking to different
nonprofits, not all in the, inthe service dog space either.
And there's just this,there's this sort of sold out.
We're here to help the community,and if we partner together
to do that, then so be it.

(34:39):
And if we can do more and helpmore together, think it's more
collaborative.
Yeah.
Especially when it's a military nonprofit.
I think it's becausethe mission is so clear.
Yeah, for sure.
Of the bond.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's unconditional.
And if I may.
On this and I, and I, and Ilove why it stands okay on this.
However, as a end user, I'm not gonna badmouth other organizations, but I will tell

(35:00):
you the reason why I chose Canines forWarriors is because I saw the end result.
You know, I've seen other, I. Some of myfellow veterans that have gone to other
organizations, and some of them it's,Hey, they showed up for two days and it's,
here's your dog, and it was a disaster.
I've seen some other organizationsthat have done something
similar and it didn't work.

(35:22):
So the reason I chose to go isbecause I saw the end result, and
now as an end user who's somebodythat has successfully graduated
and has successfully been paired.
For a year and a half, I will be anadvocate for canines, for Warriors because
the amount of effort that they put intoit, the program that they do, and then
the continued support that you get upongraduation, it's an effective program.

(35:46):
Is is it?
Is it Is a magic wand amagic pill that works?
No.
No, but it is a tool to helpa veteran navigate life.
More successfully than they did before.
Again, it's, it's not a cure, butit is a tool to help us navigate.
But they are extremely, extremelysuccessful at what they do.

(36:07):
So as an end user, I am going to advocatefor canines for Warriors because it
is by far the only program that Ihave firsthand seen that works, and
that's the only reason why I'm going.
Again, I love Whyt stance, butfrom my perspective, this is the
reason why I chose to go through theprogram for chain nuns four years.
Sounds like an endorsement to me.

(36:29):
Yeah.
Ringing, ringing and
your living proof of why, why youmade the choice and why that was
exactly the right choice for you.
So I appreciate you saying that.
I'm gonna go out of order herefor a second 'cause that's my way.
Yes, it is.
But Chris, I'm gonna stickwith, with you on this one too.
And we talked about you have a motorcyclegroup with combat bets and, but also we,
we've had, she and I have had guests that.

(36:51):
Therapeutically.
It might be one with nature, right?
It might be fishing, it might be bonfires.
Mm-hmm.
It might be biofeedback orwellness retreats or hiking.
And you may have to dabble you,because I know you had wind therapy
for a while, Chris, but you mayhave to dabble in different.
Treatments that correct, resonate,click, make a difference or

(37:11):
find out that this is the one.
But you might have to dotrial and error a lot too.
And you know what?
I don't, I don't knowif there's a formula.
I don't know if there's a solutionthat's not a one size fits all.
It's gotta, you gotta find yourpurpose and find what works for you.
But what do you think, is thereany particular rhyme or reason to
a formula that works so that wecan get to that solution quicker?

(37:34):
Or you just have to test the waters?
I.
So I, I think testing the waters, again,like I said, this, what Canines, foyers
does is not a cure, but it is a, it isa very useful tool to help you navigate.
So, kind of going to, to my group.
My group is the Combat Veterans MotorcycleAssociation, and it is a group of combat
veterans that like to ride motorcycles.
So what you did is it brought acommonality, a bunch of people

(37:58):
that have been to combat thatjust love to ride motorcycles, and
you get out there and ride and.
There's no care in theworld and you just go.
The downside for me was I drink a lot.
'cause where do we go?
We went to a lot ofbars and this and that.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing or,or whatever, but that was my therapy.
Now that I have Astro I and I usedto be on the Harley 90% of the time.

(38:21):
Wow.
So I got Astro and I startedshowing up in my truck.
People were like, whoa.
Oh, you have to get a sidecar.
I was, yeah, was gonna say that.
A sidecar for
get dressed some goggles.
So lemme get you on this road becausebelieve me, I have went through this
and I have talked to the canine staff.
So my buddy that, that again had,that has gone through this program,
he actually got a sidecar and canineshelped him work with they company

(38:42):
that donated a sidecar for home.
And again, this is what Ilove about canine four years.
They don't just, you justgraduate and you go, no.
They help you navigate life.
So this guy, actually, I soldhim one of, 'cause I had two.
Two Harleys.
So I sold him one of my Harleys,he got a sidecar donated.
They put it on, he put his servicedog in there and we would go
to events and this and that.

(39:03):
And this is kind of again, howI started learning a little
bit more about Canon's fours.
The downside is you can't ride themotorcycle the way it's made to be ridden.
But the sidecar, youcan't get into the curves.
You can't.
Lean and do this and that.
So then whenever I went through theprogram, 'cause again, I, I rode 90% of
the time, it's like, okay, I'll take aa trailer and convert it into something

(39:26):
for my dog, but then if I get rear-ended,she's gonna be the one that gets hit.
Or you get the fumes that come off,you get the exhaust that comes off.
So scratch that idea.
Then you have all these thingsthat go on the back behind
you, right on the backseat.
Talking to the canine staff,it's, well, you have two choices,
then one, you latch her in.

(39:46):
The downside is if you get intoan accident and you fly off the
bike and the bike goes flipping,she's gonna go with the bike.
What could potentially happen?
She gets killed.
The other option isyou don't latch her in.
You both go flying off.
You both potentially successfully live.
But what is a dog probably gonna do aftera traumatic event like that take off?
Whether she runs away or whethershe runs and gets hit by a car.

(40:09):
The potential is none of it is good.
And with the amount of time andeffort that goes into training
one of these service dogs, I justcame to the realization it is,
as much as I love to ride, it'snot worth putting her through it.
It's, it's really not.
So now I have to find a balance andkind of like to go into your question
is there is no magic formula, but thereare some things and, and the only reason

(40:33):
why I don't write as much as I used to.
Is Astro loves me so much that shedoes not like to be away from me, so
I feel bad and I've, I've worked withcanines warriors on separation anxiety.
Like, Hey, I, I feel bad.
I thought I could have more timeaway from her, and, and I can.
It's just she loves me so much.
She doesn't like me to be away.

(40:54):
So canines is help me navigatethat so I can find a balance to
where I can ride a little bit more.
Because again, I don't wanna ride with herbecause the time and effort and the money.
And let's take the time and effort andthe money and all that and put it to the
side, but the amount of value that I getfrom my service dog that I receive from
canines for warriors, it's priceless.

(41:16):
So I'm not going to risk putting heron a bike with me and potentially
getting into an accident and losing her.
Now, don't get me wrong.
I hope we die together.
To be honest, I really, and, andpeople can say it's morbid, but I
will never get a service dog again.
After the bond that, that her and Ihave, I will never get another one again.
The reason being is if a dogdoesn't, if our bond or something,

(41:41):
I'm afraid that I would always.
Hold the other dog to this standard.
And if it doesn't work, I'm afraidthat I would go into a downward spiral
and I could potentially go into one ofthose statistics of veteran suicide.
'cause again, this, this herring andwhat canines does is, is successful.
But I think I've had such a goodthing with Astro that if I ever had

(42:03):
another one, and if it wasn't as good.
I think it could put mein a downward spiral.
So yeah, so again, there is no magicformula and there are different, there are
different tools out there and it's, youfind what works and sometimes this works.
I. Sometimes this works and sometimesyou gotta have a little combination of it
all.
I think that separates anxiety commentthat Chris said goes both ways, right?

(42:25):
Mm-hmm.
There's mutual.
Yeah,
because we, I get it with our dogs.
I know you probably get itwith three outta five dogs.
My husband gets it
worse.
Does
he?
The chihuahuas are his.
But, so he's a 6 4, 270, great big guy, right?
And he's got chihuahuas and so it's kindof funny anyway, to see him together, do
how
that
works.
So,
but yeah, he's already talking sad to him.
'cause
when you walk a dog at that,

(42:46):
we, they don't, do you ever,
do people give you a second look?
'cause of the size, the disparity?
We don't,
they don't go on walks.
They just run crazy.
In the yard.
In the yard and in our house.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They walk you is how that works.
They're, they're the opposite of asra, whois very well trained, has not made a peep.
During this entire podcast, ourdogs will be climbing on the
shelves behind and acting, which is

(43:06):
why you scheduled it atnine o'clock central.
'cause that's nap time.
Right.
I was never sleep.
So I wanna talk aboutsomething maybe kind of fun.
I know Tom tried to hit Chris up to getthe literally the shirt off his back.
Yeah, why miss that?
So he's gotta go back to, go back toCarly Kramer and say We need 12 shirts.
So Tom always asks for freestuff, that's his thing.

(43:27):
But I noticed on the website thatyou have a swag shop and I am
always good for a good t-shirt.
Uh.
I'm a big fan of a good coffee cup'cause you can't have too much coffee.
Tell us about that.
How does the, the, the money fromthat maybe go to help the program
and what would people find out there?
Yeah, so all of our merch salesgo directly back to the mission

(43:48):
to save veterans and and rescuedogs, and you know that that store
is constantly getting updated.
I, I just implore everybody togo out there, take a look at it.
We want you to wearour logo out in public.
You don't ever know when there's awarrior in your inner circle or even
your outer circle that you may runinto and, and just say, Hey, who

(44:11):
is, what is canines for warriors?
And you never know.
That could be the lifesaving bridgeto that warrior to connect them with
us so that we can get them startedthrough the process and, and work on
getting them the tool that they mayneed to help navigate through life.
But it's fun stuff.
Like you said, Jody, there's, there'scups, there's hats, there's shirts,

(44:33):
there's all kinds of stuff outthere and it's constantly changing.
So if you buy everything, justkeep looking 'cause there's
more stuff that'll pop up.
But it's out there.
And again, all merch sales go directlyto our warriors and rescuing dogs.
That's awesome.
So Tom, go to the website canines forwarriors.org and buy your own swag.
We're gonna talk to Carly too.

(44:53):
Tom, don't worry.
Yeah.
Talk to Carly first.
Don't encourage, encourage,don't encourage his
bad behavior.
And I'm sure
we're, I know they're gonna be madat me for saying that probably too.
So whatever I purchase, you'll say,did you get two of them, Tom, right?
Yes.
You need my
sizes.
Alright, so here's a, here's thename you, you talked about how much
we all love sports, but, so BillyHorschel, what's Billy Horschel have

(45:14):
to do with Canines for Warriors?
Billy Horschel is sucha great partner for us.
He's continuously sponsoring dogs.
He's a big advocate for us.
We were just with him out at TPCwhen in Jacksonville, and, and it
was Apon Avira and it, it was justsuch an amazing experience to hang
out with him, and he's so passionateabout serving veterans and of course.

(45:40):
Absolutely loves dogs.
So we, we continue to just thank him forthat partnership and, and, and again, he
just continues to sponsor dogs and tellpeople who we are and, and all about us.
Is he,
is he in the field for thePGA championship this weekend?
I believe so, yes.
All right.
Will be.

(46:00):
I just
now realized he was a golfer.
Oh, it took you that long.
It did.
I'm terrible.
I should have said that.
For your benefit.
Sorry.
Thank you.
Billy Hor show's a bowler.
Actually,
no, he is a golfer.
No 'cause PBA and PGA sound.
Very similar.
One letter difference.
But program we talkedabout ways to donate.
Go into your website.
We talked about the swag.

(46:20):
We talked about.
Just a, a whole slew of things.
Right.
But programs or events, do you haveany signature programs or events
that are from a calendar perspectivethat you wanna ana announce to the
audience that are either coming upor that are nationally or locally?
I.
Yes, we, we have signature eventsthat that happen all over the country.

(46:41):
We have our inaugural golf tournamentthis Friday in San Antonio, Texas,
but that's just one example.
We have a bunch of signatureevents that take place.
You can find out there on [e-mail].
They're always popping up.
We're always receiving partnershipswhere people wanna partner with us
and pull us along with their events.

(47:01):
So.
Please go out thereand, and check that out.
It'll, it'll tell you everythingthat you need to know.
You can also make adonation on that website.
You can learn about volunteeractivities on that website.
Again, we, we talked throughoutabout fostering dogs.
We love to get.
Dogs out of our kennels so thatthey can feel what it's like to
be in a home environment beforethey're paired with a warrior.

(47:23):
On top of that, it's just, it's ahealthier situation for a dog to be in
and it it allows us to see how dogs are,dogs that are being trained are gonna
react with potentially other dogs in ahousehold and other people when it, the
puppy raising and there's always volunteeractivities, signature events taking place.
So please go out to our website andcheck things out and learn all about us.

(47:45):
Canines for warriors.org.
I know we can't say that enough.
There's a lot of information outthere that we've talked about today.
So as we wrap, I, I wanna give Chrisjust a chance to share maybe some just
general life advice with our audience.
You served in the Navy for, for 22 years.
My husband, army, armyveteran for 20 years.
So we'll have to.
Contact each other for theArmy Navy game, I guess.

(48:06):
And figure out, and figure out, norivalry there, how that's gonna work.
Yeah.
But what advice would you give somebodythat's in our audience listening
and they're thinking about a careerin the military and, and what would
you share with them to think aboutas they make that big decision?
So, I mean, the biggest thing is.
It's a, it's a stepping stone, right?
So I've, I've, I've hada very diverse career.
I was very lucky.

(48:27):
I still have all my fingers, I haveall my toes, so I, I'm very lucky.
But it's a stepping stone.
It's not going to hurt you.
And in fact, it's gonna do yourparents a favor because it's
gonna get you up off their couch.
It's gonna get you out there.
The military, no matter whichbranch of service you go into,
they give you all the plov.
Needs of hierarchy, right?
They put a roof over your head, they putclothes on your back, food in your belly.

(48:51):
So everything you need, the military'sgonna give you and then they give you a
little bit of money to go along with it.
And potentially you get totravel all around the world.
Now I will say that it's funny'cause my dad was in the military.
I've had a lot of military, and,and towards the end when I was gonna
join, my dad kind of talked me outof it and he's like, he said, Hey
son, it's changed a lot, so I don'tknow if this is gonna be for you.

(49:12):
And I said, no, dad, it'll be good.
And, and it actually was good.
But I will tell you my last fiveyears, the military had kind of changed
quite a bit to where I was like,wow, this, this has been a big shift.
And even now, I just met with thesenior chief this weekend, whenever I
was up in Maryland visiting my kids,and he was telling me about some of
the stuff that that's going on now.

(49:34):
But as a chief to chief typething, I'm just like, I don't
know how you serve right now.
So you know it, it is very different.
But at the end of the day, there's somany benefits that come from it because
again, all the needs that you need inlife, they're gonna give it to you.
They're gonna put theysome discipline in you.
They're gonna give you some structure.
Then there's benefits thatcome with it later on in life.

(49:55):
Like you may not think you wantto go to college right now, but
there is a post nine 11 GI billthat you can use to go to school.
If you choose not to use it, yourspouse or your kids can use it.
If you decide to make a career, solike right now, I'm, I'm not quite
50 years old, but I get two checksfrom the government right now.
I get my disability check andI get my retirement check.

(50:16):
I don't have to work right now,but I choose to work because
one, I need to stay busy.
I. I need to keep my mind alittle bit sharp, and I still
have kids I have to pay for.
My youngest just graduated withher bachelor's in business, and now
she's gonna go get her MBA, kindalike Wyatt, except Wyatt wants it
for the education, but she's, she'sdriven and she wants to go get it.

(50:36):
But so I am, I am working to also pay for.
Hey, help finish my kids.
Get through that.
But I mean, there's just so manybenefits that you get from the military.
Oh, and let me tell you, insurance,whenever I retired and I got out
and sold what civilians had to payfor insurance, I was like, holy cow.
Thank goodness I can get Tricare.

(50:56):
Yes.
Yeah.
Because I paying pennies on thedollar and, and I know young
kids aren't gonna understand.
All that stuff right now.
And they're not gonna understandfinances like we had thrift savings plan.
So they have all these opportunitiesfor you to invest and do this and
that they have tuition assistanceto help you get a college education.
So I know this isn't a great recruitingspeech right now, to be honest with

(51:20):
you, because it has changed a lot.
But it is, it's, it's a stepping stoneon whether you use it for a career or
you use it for four years and get out.
There are great opportunities.
Yes.
I don't think it's quite what it waswhen, when, back when Wyatt and I
were in and, and your husband was in.
But I mean, again, it'snot gonna hurt you.
It can be a stepping stone or it canbe something that can catapult you

(51:43):
on to a bigger and better future.
Yes.
But in anything in life, what you putinto it is what you're gonna get out.
That is so true.
Yeah.
And that's probably thebiggest advice I can give you.
What you put into it iswhat you're gonna get out.
Ur I is the one comment you make aboutwhen you're 17 or 18 or 19 and enlisting.
You, you only really thinkabout the here and now.
Sometimes, and even in a civilian world,when we talk about 4 0 1 ks with our,

(52:08):
our younger, new hires, they don't look.
To 60 or 65 and say, wow, look whatit's done by just paying myself first,
or investing in myself, or investingin myself to understand my job the
way I should to contribute that.
It's what you're exactly right, Chris.
It's what you put into it iswhat you're gonna get out of it.
And if you don't, if you're not puttinganything into it, why you're doing it.

(52:31):
And I will second what he said aboutadvice about the Tricare premium advice.
Yeah.
Oh,
living proof.
Living proof.
I second that wholeheartedly.
Well, I think it might be timeto time for the military minute.
Yeah.
If y'all are game to, to stick aroundfor just another maybe two minutes.
We like to close everypodcast with a game.
We affectionately callthe military minute.

(52:56):
Our last military minute triviaquestion was, had to do with our
last guess and it was a questionabout month of the military child.
And so if either of you know theanswer to this, you're welcome to
wager a guess, but you don't have to.
But since it's a two
parter, they can an
each answer one part.
You could at least wildly guess at thefirst one 'cause it's a year, so, right.
What year was the month of themilitary child established and by whom?

(53:20):
Any guesses?
They have a combined 26 years.
I wouldn't either of military experience.
They'll know this.
I wouldn't know this.
You told me.
Well, I'm really banking on you, Chris.
I need to hear.
Well, I'm gonna throw a shout outto, to be honest with you, I'm gonna
throw a shout out to Pinups for Vets.
So I, I always get thesePinups for Vets calendar.
That's one, that's another greatorganization that helps vets and on there.

(53:42):
They always have these dates andthey have all this stuff that,
that probably if I was at my house.
It probably would've helped me answerthis trivia question because I thought
you were gonna pop out the answer.
'cause you'd seen it on a calendar.
I was gonna, I was,
my brain just fell
outta my chair, man,
my brain is mush.
So yeah, mine, I have to, I haveto cheat and I have to have all
these things that help me out.
Why it's Googling right now through it.

(54:04):
Just using his eyes.
Yes.
So he's gonna get the answer.
What?
I wish that, well, I'mgonna, I I'm gonna help you
both out.
'cause I didn't know either.
So it was established in 919 86 by Casper Weinberg.
I would never have known that
hydrogen.
But isn't that an interesting,like, useless fact?
It is.
You are full
of interesting, useless facts I find.
But that one is interestingand relevant to our audience.

(54:26):
But this week's military,this one's relevant.
To the,
this one is relevant somewhat to y'alland so you can't answer 'cause we are
gonna tee this one up for our audienceso that they can wager their best guess
when we drop the podcast and they puttheir best answer in the comments.
So don't answer, but like, give us athumbs up if you know what breed of dog
worked as scouts and messengers duringa US Pacific operation in World War ii.

(54:50):
Either of you know, thumbs up.
Don't answer out loud.
Facial expressions, tell me maybe not.
Facial expressions looklike they have no idea.
You should
never play poker, iswhat I'm gonna tell you.
Yeah,
yeah.
No.
Okay.
You got me.
Alright.
Okay.
Well
then you'll have to tunein to the next episode.
I'm not a hundred percent.
Yeah.
Well, we'll tell you after we stoprecording, but if you're in our audience
and on the first question on our lastepisode, if you guessed or stated, if

(55:13):
it wasn't a guess, if you actually knew1986 Casper Weinburger and or if you get
this week's right, watch for your nameto be posted as the winner of $50 for
yourself and $50 to a charity of yourchoice, which you could donate to canines
for Warriors, you could spend it intheir swag shop, that would be awesome.
And that's all.
By the way, Joshua Hall,does that name ring a bell?

(55:35):
Yes.
Once he knew Chris was doing a podcast,he reached out to me and I told him I
was in Florida this past weekend andhe goes, come on by, and it's to our
headquarters, even though I was in Tampa.
It's a little jaunt.
It's a jaunt from Tampa to.
Eh, it's like a couple hours.
Yeah.
It's about a three and a half hour drive.
Yeah.
But that was very nice.
So I don't think the storyends with the podcast.

(55:57):
I think certainly Armed Forces Bankis a fan of what you're doing, and
we appreciate, we appreciate yourservice to our country, but also
service and having, keeping a legacyalive for, for everybody that needs
you, Tom and Jody, you're alwayswelcome to come to any of our campuses.
Just let us know.
We'd love to show you around.
Thank you
so
much.
Thank you, Chris Wyatt.

(56:17):
And if you've enjoyed today'sepisode as much as Astro has, right,
because Astro listened intently.
Right.
Chris, go to af bank.com andyou can subscribe to the show.
You can rate us.
You can leave us a comment on yourfavorite podcast platform like
Apple Podcast, Spotify, and YouTube.
It's been a pleasure, gentlemen.
A to have a conversation.
Thank you for all you're doing.

(56:38):
Thank you.
Thank you.
And thank you for giving us this platform.
Sure.
Thank you so much.
Have a good day.
You too.
Thank you.
Bye.
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(57:00):
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