How to eat healthy by growing sprouts – EP287 Tango Alpha Lima

Former Army 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper Doug Evans has landed on a niche for affordable health and wellness.

After losing both parents and witnessing his aunt's double amputation due to preventable disease, Evans had his "come to cucumber moment" and transformed his life through nutrition.

Now the founder and CEO of The Sprouting Company and bestselling author of The Sprout Book, Evans reveals how anyone can grow the most nutrient-dense food on the planet right in their kitchen — for under a dollar per serving.

Learn how sprouting works, why sprouts are up to 100 times more nutrient-dense than regular vegetables, and how this ancient practice is helping modern families eat fresh, healthy food without soil, sunshine, or fertilizer. 

Other topics in this episode include the Army-Navy Game, PBS “After Action,” the Department of Defense or Department of War, and more.

The American Legion and the Army Navy Game

The Sprouting Company

The Sprout Book

After Action on PBS

After Action Website

History of the Department of War

Legion Rider writes song about ALR

Ride with the Wind by Dick Cole

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is the Tal podcast. They call me.
Crazy because I'm facing I'm a giants.
They try to scare me into thinking I can fight it.
They tell me I should never eventhink a giant.
But that's just me. I'm going to live out in
defiance. Welcome Alphas.

(00:30):
Thanks for joining us. Great to be back.
We have a great show for you today.
We'll be joined by Doug Evans. Doug is an early pioneer in the
natural food industry. In 2002 he Co founded Organic
Ave. one of the first exclusively plant based retail
chains in the country. He then created and founded

(00:51):
Juicero, the first fresh farm toglass automatic cold pressed
juicer, with the mission of bringing fresh processed foods
to the home. He lives in the Mojave Desert on
a permaculture hot spring Oasis.As one does.
I want to hear about that. He is now focusing his time on

(01:12):
spreading the message about the planet's most, most nutritious
food, sprouts. But before we're joined by Doug,
let's talk about football. We got we got a year coming up
now, man, like last last one, you talked a lot of smack and.
Yeah, I sure I. Didn't know enough about it to.

(01:33):
Argue with you, my face. But that's OK because it was
love, you know? And I've, it's weird because
like as it got worse and worse, I just felt bad for you.
OK, so. How it went, we went around, we
did some media, we did some interviews.
It was really cool. We had the American Legion boost
that up. We had a lot of people coming in
and anytime we talked to somebody I would ask them how

(01:56):
much Army was going to beat Navyby and Joe was like.
Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? Why would and then we did all
that, we did Media Row, we did all the podcasts, you know, same
thing and look. I spoke to the secretary of the.
Army maybe? They literally film all the
segments from everybody talking trash.
That's what you're supposed to do.
But you know what? Navy showed up and they showed

(02:16):
out. I think it was because the
formation for their fighter jetswas tighter than the formation
of Apaches that flew over this. Thing I do right?
Let me weigh in here fellas, because I don't have a dog in
this fight. We know being.
Air Force, you know you. Adam, your Army, Joe, your Navy,
you. Mattered.
You think he. I know I do.

(02:36):
I just, I'm a thinker, not a player.
OK, so is it something to be said because those who are being
who, those who are attending theNaval Academy can also join the
Marines, correct. And arguably there's some tough
as nails Marine, you know, Marines or Marine cadets.

(02:56):
Do you think that that was an edge in over Army, the Army
Corps of Cadets? I think that they had some
Marine cadets or some Marines inuniform there.
They were kind of right in the middle.
I think they were the safety buffer between the two.
I think whatever they cheered for is the team that won.
I think, I think the Army's uniforms were too tight.

(03:17):
I think they were. They looked that.
I don't think anybody disagrees that they won the fashion show.
Oh, the uniforms were sick. They did.
They The Army uniforms were sick.
They really were. And no offense to the other
Cool. Photo op with like the fired
Muslim stuff that was sick yeah so.
What do you guys think is going to be something that of note for

(03:38):
this year's game? I think there's going to be a
death, no? That's grim, Joe.
You went dark. That's a very dark prediction,
Joe, I'm hoping. It's not quite as cold.
Why would you? Say that.
No, no doubts. I'm hoping that that it won't be
quite as cold. Although I went into it with my

(04:01):
my general bravado and got humbled myself.
I went into it as a pairing T-shirt and a pair of shorts,
and I was I was cuddled up as close to Adam as he'd let me
with his little blanket. By the time it was over.
The gang go. Back and forth between West
Point and Annapolis? Or is it held at different

(04:22):
places? Like where?
Where's the gang going to be held?
No, it's normal. I think it's normally
predominantly held in in Pennsylvania, kind of like
somewhere. Like with Huskatani Phil, like
they're going to bring out all the cadets in like 1 more week
of winter. I thought it was normally in
Pennsylvania only. They went to Maryland recently.
Miss Holly says that they travelled to different NFL

(04:43):
stadiums throughout the Northeast.
Interesting, I need somebody to Fact Check.
That so it so is so cold. Agree to disagree. 60% of the
time it works every time. You're not going to fake news
me, Worley. We're going to be at Media Row
again this year and we're going to be hanging out at the muster

(05:05):
area and tailgating area before the game on December 13th.
And but you know, they have to bust the team, so it can't be
too far. They're not going to, like, go
down to the Savannah Banana. But Stacy, you don't.
Baseball stadium and play. You opt out every year.
You just say I'm I'm not coming.It's not that Adam, Just like

(05:26):
you and Joe, I have other commitments to the veteran
community and unfortunately I have a scheduling conflict so I
can't come to the Army Navy gameagain this year, which really
stinks. But fingers crossed, maybe I can
try and make next. Year we're going to have to go
back in Year 3 so that Stacy cancome and see all the bells and

(05:50):
whistles. She'll sit at the middle with
all the Marine cadets and she can determine who's going to
win. Just based off uniforms alone?
Or maybe it is mascot. It hey, fashion is a is a big
deal, You know, I mean, you feelyou look good, you feel good.
Alpha. You play good, they pay good.
That's what Deon said. Yeah.

(06:10):
Alphas, if you're going to attend the Army Navy game, be
sure to look up Adam and Joe while you're there.
Again, they're going to be tailgating before the game and
they'll be hanging out on what is it called, the meteoro.
You guys know where that's at? Yeah, Meteoro.
Meteoro. Have a watch party.
Booth. Yeah, so Alphas, stick around.

(06:31):
We're going to have Doug join usright after the break.
What's up Legionnaires and sports fans, this is Adam Maher,
American Legion member and Army veteran.
I am beyond excited that the American Legion is continuing
their tradition of support for the Army Navy Game presented by

(06:52):
USAA, the first veteran service organization to sponsor
America's game in its 126 year history.
That's right, the greatest rivalry in sports just got even
more meaningful for veterans like us.
We're honored to stand behind the incredible student athletes
who are not only competing on the field, but are also

(07:14):
committed to protecting the freedoms we hold dear.
And through this sponsorship, we're shining a spotlight on our
primary mission. Be the one our fight to end
veteran suicide. So mark your calendars.
Tune into CBS on December 13th at 3:00 PM.
Eastern to watch Army take on Navy in this epic, timeless

(07:35):
showdown. To learn more about the American
Legion's involvement in our mission, visit
legion.org/armynavy game. Let's cheer on our teams,
support our mission, and show the world what it means to be a
Legionnaire. Go Army.
Beat Navy Hua. All right, Alphas, today we're

(07:57):
joined by Doug Evans and avid sprouter for over 20 years who
wrote the Sprout book. You want to hold that thing up?
Let us see it. Is that what you have with you?
Yes, Sir. For all you who are listening
and not watching, he's going to be holding up his book The.
The Sprout Book to help create amovement around growing your own
food. Doug, thank you so much for
being here and welcome to the Tal Podcast.

(08:19):
Hey, my, my pleasure. You know, thank you for your
service, all of you. You know, I feel like I'm with a
very esteemed group of veterans who've all contributed in unique
and powerful ways. And you know, when Stacy said to
me that she was, you know, a combat photographer, you know, I
was like, oh, she had an easy job.

(08:40):
And then she told me, you know, she got injured and had to
retire. So there's nothing easy about
any job in the military. So let let that be known for
non, non military that are listening to this.
The you know, everyone signed upfor a tough, you know, job.
And some of us who might even belistening may have been drafted.

(09:02):
So, you know, no free lunch in the military.
Yes, that's very true. And you serve too.
Doug, thank you for your service.
Yeah, my, my, my pleasure. You know, the, the Army, I
wouldn't be who I am today if itweren't for my, my service.
So learning integrity, learning discipline, you know, learning

(09:24):
physical and mental strength, learning mind over matter.
You know, I'm very grateful for my military service.
Well, where are you from originally?
Like what before you, before youended up in the service, What
was life like for for you? Where are you from?
What brought you to the military?

(09:45):
What did you enlist or were you drafted?
I was, I was enlisted. I mean, it's relative to the
work that Adam is doing. My, I grew up in New York City
and my father was an untreated World War 2 combat veteran.
And, you know, he was the sweetest man in the world until
he was unhinged. And it was safer for me to be

(10:07):
out in the streets, you know, with, with real degenerates than
it was to be home. And so I had a very rough
upbringing in the streets of NewYork, sleeping on subway trains,
getting into trouble. And for me, you know, the Army
was my way out, like joining themilitary was my way out.

(10:27):
You know, I, I wanted the all you can be, the Army college
fund, the the discipline. And I thought, you know, that I
would learn a lot. And, you know, it delivered.
I also learned something else. I learned that I couldn't talk
my way in and out or anything. Like, you know, once you get
into boot camp, you're surrendering to your higher

(10:48):
power. And so very humbling.
This is very true. So I was curious, Doug, by
joining the service, did that give you a better understanding,
maybe not appreciation, but an understanding of your father and
his experiences or maybe how to better relate to him?

(11:12):
You know, I kind of blocked thatout for decades and I only had
the awareness of his behavior until, you know, I, I recently
have had a child, I have a three-year old daughter and my
wife, you know, reflected upon me, you know, that, you know,

(11:34):
clearly my father had untreated PTSDI just thought like he was
angry, you know, that he was unhinged.
I never, you know, put the the diagnosis or the label onto it.
And so, you know, I kind of justblocked that out.
And, you know, I went into, you know, becoming a workaholic and

(11:57):
that was my, my way out was making money and working and
occupying every moment of my spare time, you know, had to be
working. Like, I never gave myself the
gift of fun, the gift of joy. If someone wasn't working on a
holiday weekend, like in my mind, I thought that they were
lazy. You know, I had all this

(12:19):
judgement about someone who wasn't working.
And so I, I never put the connection.
Now, you know, probably in the last, you know, 15 months is
when I have the understanding, you know, of the trauma of the
verbal abuse of these things. And, you know, I'm a player.
I'm not a victim, you know, So I, I embrace, you know, my, my

(12:42):
circumstances. But now I can see clearly.
And what has helped me now was having the, the father who was,
you know, went through that circumstances is having me a lot
more compassion for everyone who's having all these sorts of
trauma, you know, and, and the addiction, you know, the

(13:05):
addictions that people are suffering, whether it's gambling
or sex or gaming, you know, we're, we're living in a world
where everybody is escaping, youknow, just being in the present.
And that's why I was so impressed, you know, when Joe
had mentioned, you know, his, you know, amputation, you know,
and me feeling that like right here, like whoa.

(13:27):
And then seeing, you know, Joe is happy, adjusted, blessed, you
know, living his best life where, you know, my, my
judgement would be like, I don'tknow how I would deal with that.
And then, you know, you, you embrace and you're present with,
oh, and he's dealing with it andhe's happy and he's adjusted and
he's doing this podcast and he'sworking.

(13:49):
So, you know, part of it is you,you never know what someone else
is going through. And so I, I'm mentoring a 25
year old man, right, who, you know, very privileged parents
are Uber wealthy, but he has no responsibility, you know, and
you know, I'm role-playing with him, you know, and, and using

(14:13):
role play as a mentor, as a strong figure is, is I'm
watching his brain turn as he can see different circumstances
where I say, well, well, give mean example, you know, of this
circumstance that that happened.And he's talking about, you
know, a real conflicting situation with his, with his

(14:34):
sister. And I'm saying, do you think in
a, in 80 years, you're going to look back and really care that
she, you know, she moved your cheese?
Like really? So let's, let's see if how we
can, you know, role play in a, in a setting.
And I'll be, I'll be you, you beher.

(14:56):
And like just in a, you know, ina 2 minute role play, I watch
his brain shift because no one'sever set that example for him of
being present, of being confident, of being kind of
being understanding. So there's a way of
communication that really needs to happen, you know, for all of

(15:16):
us, while there's this incredible polarization
occurring, you know, in the United States, within our
borders and externally. And, you know, I, I talk
publicly about sprouts, right? That's my, my thing.
I talk about sprouts and nutrition.
But thank you for giving me the opportunity, Stacy, to talk

(15:37):
about this 'cause I think it's important because I'm more than,
you know, like all of you, we'remore than just, you know, our
title or our roles. Yeah.
Well, I think, I think that's soimportant though, Doug, because
you know, you are where you camefrom and the lessons you learn
and you carry that forward. And you know, mental health is

(15:59):
health and it impacts our physical health.
And it's not just what we in vibe and what we put in our
bodies. Because you say, as you say,
you're, you're the sprout man, you know what I mean?
Like you think about your whole body health and that is first
and foremost, you know, psychologically, what we, you
know, how we approach life will impact our our overall health.

(16:20):
You know what I'm saying? So to me, who you are, Doug, and
how you view the world is equally as important as your
philosophy behind, you know, food sources.
So, and, and I would also add onto that and you kind of touched
on a little bit that you do, youdo wear so many hats and, and we
all do paratrooper, entrepreneur, new Sprout

(16:42):
evangelist. So what's, what's kind of the
thread that connects those chapters of your life?
Can you tell us a little bit about that transition and that
story to becoming the Sprout Evangelist?
And what does that even mean? Yeah, yeah.
I mean, you know, I grew up withfood scarcity.
Like, you know, I was a guy thatwould be willing to eat someone

(17:05):
else's half a pizza or crust, you know, in, in the, in the
pizza store. And because I was hungry and in
the military, I liked, you know,in the mass hall, those
unlimited food wasn't very good,but it was food and I I ate it
when I got out of the army, you know, I used whatever money I

(17:26):
had to eat food. And it was a reward for me to
eat fast food, right? Like, I'd like I would get a
big, you know, bucket of, you know, Colonel's original recipe
or a nine piece Chicken Mcnuggetand a double quarter pounded
with cheese and the, you know, the apple turnover and the hot
fudge sundae. And I would just eat.

(17:47):
And, you know, by the time I was33, you know, I was about 36 lbs
overweight. I was drinking, I was eating
junk food. I was staying out late and I was
working and the food and the quote UN quote partying was the
reward for my hard labor in certain parts and was also the,

(18:10):
you know, the dehumanization. Like, I really didn't have the
empathy and compassion to see, you know, the other sex or
partner as an equal, but more asan object.
And so that was my, my life, youknow, until I was 33.
And then my aunt developed type 2 diabetes and they performed a

(18:31):
double amputation, you know, on her feet below her ankles.
And, and that was like, you know, unfathomable for me
because she is, you know, I'm going to be 60 and she was
younger than I am now. And so when when that happened,
it was a real wake up call for me.

(18:53):
And then my mother, we thought she had an ulcer.
She went to the hospital. She turned out having stomach
cancer. And in three months she went in
and never came out. And then my father, you know, he
had, you know, like he worked out all the time, but he ate,
you know, standard American diet.

(19:13):
You know, we probably had meat, chicken, fish, pizza, pasta, you
know, for dinner every night. And he went into the hospital
for a pinched nerve, you know, on his back, and they gave him
an epidural. And then, you know, he passed
out at home. And then EMT came and he woke up

(19:33):
and, you know, he started ragingat them and was belligerent.
He didn't want to go and then eventually got to the hospital.
And he was lying, you know, on the stretcher.
And they didn't properly admit him.
And when they finally admitted him, they realized that he had
had a heart attack and his bloodmetastasized, and they never

(19:54):
recovered. And, you know, I never saw him
again. You know, I took the first plane
from New York to Florida. You didn't go see him.
So I buried my mother and father, you know, very close
together. And then my brother, you know,
who's also a veteran. He was in the Air Force,
couldn't really handle it. He got out early.

(20:17):
He. Became a compulsive gambler,
compulsive overeater. And you know, he's 61 at this
point. He's living in a skilled nursing
home and you know it, It's terrible.
Like he's never healed from the trauma of, you know, dealing
with, you know, PTSD, untreated father.

(20:39):
So, you know, it's like I take care of my 3 year old daughter.
I take care of my wife and I take care of my older brother
and, you know, thank God, at least I feel, you know, that I'm
normal, that I'm stabilized and,and present, but I'm seeing, you
know, how easy it is to go off the rails.
It it real? It really is.

(21:00):
And so that that that was my background.
And then I thought that I was genetically cursed because
everyone in my family had died of, you know, early death,
diabetes, heart disease, cancer.My brother, when I was 33, had
the first of three strokes and two heart attacks, right?

(21:22):
Which were the result, you know,of lifestyle, right?
But I thought it was genetics. And that's when I had my come to
cucumber moment in 1999. And I heard about these people
living in New York and LA and Arizona and Florida and Costa

(21:44):
Rica and and Bali that were eating fresh, ripe, raw fruits,
vegetables, seeds, nuts, seaweedand sprouts.
And they were eating no cooked food, no processed food, no
refined food, no meat, dairy or animal products.
They were eating like fresh raw food and it, it just like

(22:09):
clicked in my brain that we are mostly water based, that
digestion, you know, is a complex process and that these
fresh raw living foods go through the body much easier and
they have the digestive enzymes that help break them down.
So I said, let me try this and 26 years later, I'm still doing

(22:32):
it. So it really worked for me.
I lost the weight, I got the energy, you know, I shifted into
this abundance consciousness. And so I was living for 26 years
eating this, this lifestyle of fresh raw fruits and vegetables
and sprouts. But it was only in 19.

(22:54):
I'm sorry. In 2017, when I moved near the
military base in 29 Palms near the Marine base, I discovered
Hot Springs there. And Hot Springs are one of the
only times when this soldier cancalm down.
Like it's like being in the wombfor me.
That warm water and the comfortable tub, you know, I'm

(23:17):
in this immersion and was very powerful for me.
And I had one problem living in the desert on my Hot Springs is
that not only was it an environmental desert, it was a
food desert. And there was no access to
health food stores or restaurants or the like.

(23:38):
And I never had a green thumb. So what was I going to do?
I thought, OK, I'll grow my own food.
And literally within a month, ascrazy as this sounds, in one
cubic foot, I was growing thousands of calories a day of
the most nutritious food on the planet, sprouts.
In one cubic foot with six jars,I was growing all of my own

(24:01):
food. And I went off, you know, and
believe me, they taste much better than Mr. ES.
And I was just living on sprouts.
And I lived on sprouts for 30 days.
And I'm scratching my head saying, why isn't everybody,
maybe they don't need to live onsprouts, but why isn't everyone
eating sprouts? And I realized that sprouts were

(24:24):
relegated to a garnish or side dish because there was no money
behind them. The political system, the food
system is really driven by profit.
So, you know, you go into Whole Foods or Albertsons or Kroger's
or Publix, 98% of what they're selling is in a bag, in a box,

(24:47):
in a jar and a can and has additives and preservatives and
it's been cooked and pasteurizedand denatured.
And maybe they have a few 100 items out of the 10s of
thousands that are fresh raw produce, but those are covered
with wax and parabens, you know,and this high tech stuff and

(25:07):
they're genetically modified. So it's not even clean.
And to top it off, the produce that's in the supermarket has
travelled 2000 miles over a 10 to 20 day period, you know, on a
truck or a train. So it's not even fresh.
So when I tuned in, you know, tothe power of like the sprouts is

(25:29):
living foods, right? And I have a jar here, you know,
we, we can look at, you know, the, the living foods of the
sprouts like this is living foodlike this is amazing.
And what's a miracle is 1/4 cup of seeds turns into a full jar

(25:51):
of sprouts in five days. No soil, no sunshine.
For our Visual Doug, for our visually impaired listeners, can
you describe what the jar looks like and?
It looks like one of those bank things that you know, you put
your money in that go up the chute.

(26:12):
Imagine if you got one of those back and had sprouts in it.
Yeah, I mean, it's basically it's a 55 oz glass jar, straight
edge, custom designed with a stainless steel filter.
And that the miracle of the sprouts is that they grow
without soil, without sunshine, without fertilizer, like they

(26:36):
are the the just this miracle food.
And so just think about they grow in days, no soil, sunshine
or fertilizer. They're up to 100 times more
nutrient dense than mature vegetables.
They're fresher and it's under adollar a serving.

(26:59):
So this was something about the ultimate empowerment, the
ultimate survival food. But then we're not talking about
surviving. I'm talking about thriving.
I'm talking about like living our best life.
That here we are. The paradox is the lowest cost
food on the planet, right? The peasant food is actually the

(27:24):
most nutritious food and it's available to all.
And which is why, you know, I wrote the Sprout book because I
really wanted to get this message out there.
I wanted the sprouts to be out there.
I wrote the book because I felt that everyone needed to know
this. And then, you know, I started

(27:45):
the sprouting company because there there had been no love
given, you know, to the sprouts for hundreds of years.
No one was focusing on the sprouts.
They're focused on, you know, all sorts of stuff other than
sprouts. And I don't tell people what to
do, Stacey Right? What I do is I tell people what

(28:09):
I do, right? And I'm going to be 60 years old
and I am at the apogee of physical, mental, spiritual and
functional health. And I know that everything I put
in my body is a life or death decision, right?
So I'm choosing to. And I love speaking to people in

(28:34):
the military and veterans. I'm raising my standards,
soldiers. I'm raising my standards of what
I'm willing to let into my body,into my vessel.
And by raising my standards, like everything changes.
And so, you know, we're all creatures of habit.

(28:54):
Like the habit of sprouting became a ritual for me.
And I've been sprouting every day for the last 7 1/2 years.
Every single day. Sprouts today are 50% of my
diet. I travel with sprouts.
I eat sprouts on the airplane. I give sprouts everywhere.

(29:14):
I just went to an event like a running running festival called
Running Man and I ran around, gave out 500 servings of sprouts
to samples to people while they were running.
I was like an obstacle on the course just giving out the the

(29:36):
sprouts. And I just, I just loved it and
I love sharing this this gospel.To your point about, you know,
there's no money behind it and that's why people don't know
about it as much is, you know, IA lot of people don't realize
this, but you know how tilapia is considered, you know, the,

(29:56):
the lower quality fish and mahi mahi is like, you have to pay a
little extra for that. It used to be the other way
around. Mahi Mahi was what everyone ate
and then tilapia was the expensive fish and, and I so you
know, you're, you're, you call sprouting countertop
agriculture. And so how do we bridge the gap

(30:18):
to show people that that even ifyour goal isn't, you know, to,
to transfer into, into eating only vegetables and and stuff
like that, This is a fantastic supplement for anyone's diet,
especially the way that the world is right now to have
access to food. How you know?
How do you see this fitting intothe day-to-day lives and how do

(30:40):
we let people know you know how how to get started with
something like this? Yeah, over the last 30 years,
the US dietary guidelines have never recommended less than 5
servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
So vegetables are an important part of the diet and whatever

(31:03):
else you eat. So to me, I'm non
denominational, you know, in terms of my advocacy.
And what I could say is that sprouts at best used to be a
garnish or side dish. Now I'm seeing people, you know,
eating sprouts as a salad, right?
Which is an obvious transition because it's a fresher, more

(31:26):
nutritious salad. But you could also add this, a
topping to the salad. I'm seeing people replace rice
with sprouts and you're getting about 1000 times more nutrients
by using sprouts as rice. I'm seeing people take their
favorite pasta sauce, I don't care if it has bolognese or

(31:48):
meatballs or pesto or what have you, and pour that over a bowl
of sprouts and just mix it and eat it and in wraps and in
sushi, you know, and then the sprouts blend really well.
So I think you don't have to be a, a, a nutritionist to know

(32:09):
that you're better off getting your nutrition from fresh fruits
and vegetables than you are fromsupplements.
So you can actually add like thelentil sprouts, the green pea
sprouts, the mung bean sprouts right into a smoothie and and
boost up the protein. You know, 2 cups of the lentil

(32:32):
sprouts is 14 grams of protein that's coming along with the
soluble and insoluble fiber. And depending on the color of
the lentil sprouts determines what antioxidant they have.
If it's red, it's anthocyanidin.If it's green, it's chlorophyll,
right? If it's orange, it's the, the

(32:54):
carotenoid, the beta carotene that there's something that
exists in fresh fruits and vegetables called phytochemicals
that just don't exist and don't last in processed food and other
items. So what I see is, you know, I
recommend people getting 2 jars,staggering them and eating a

(33:19):
handful or two every day, you know, into, into their lifestyle
and their diet. Now if if we look at it a little
bit further, sprouts are the number one weight loss food,
weight management food because they are high fiber, high
nutrient, low fat, low calorie. So if someone were to fill

(33:44):
themselves up on sprouts, I alsoguarantee you cannot overeat
sprouts because you they will fill you up, the brain will
register the nutrients and you will say whoa baby, time out.
And if you think about how processed food and ultra
processed food is engineered with the mouth flavor and the

(34:05):
melting of their mouth, they know that you can't stop eating
them. And the extra salt is triggering
the dopamine you know to eat more and more and more.
So the sprouts are great for weight management.
They're also great for reducing oxidative stress and scavenging
free radicals and reducing hypertension.

(34:28):
So, you know, they're they're great for heart health.
Broccoli sprouts in particular have chemo protective
properties, you know, that actually kill cancer cells and
prevent cancer. So it's so amazing research
there more than 2000 published peer reviewed papers on broccoli

(34:50):
sprouts and sulforaphane. So there's that level from
anyone who's been around smoke, whether it's combustion from a
wildfire, it's primary smoking, it's cannabis smoking, it's
vaping, it's second hand smoke, right?

(35:11):
Broccoli sprouts help detoxify those air pollutants from the
lungs. And you know, there, there's a
whole level and we can go, we can have a whole dedicated
podcast on that, but that's all around, you know, the the
medicinal properties of the sprouts.

(35:34):
But you know what, when I start to do it, I was just wanted to
eat things that were safe. And now I look at sprouts as
number one, I look at them as food.
S sprouts are vegetables. Vegetables are food and they
have calories. They have all essential amino
acids to form complete proteins.They have soluble and insoluble

(35:57):
fiber. They taste good and magic
happens like when you take a lentil, sprout a lentil and you
you sprout it, you increase the vitamin C by 300%, you quadruple
the antioxidant levels. And so you're taking, you know,
a dry lentil and you're turning it into an enzymatically active

(36:20):
electrified sprout a vegetable. And these things are really good
for you. I think that.
Sorry, Joe, Go. Ahead No, no, I would say I, I
think that a lot of times peopleunderestimate how much power you

(36:41):
have and being able to grow someof your own food anyway, I think
that that's a big problem. I, it's, it seems so
intimidating to, to that, you know, gardens and farming and
things like that when really it doesn't seem like, like once you
get things set up, it takes careof itself a lot.
I just think that's interesting.And it's something that I, I

(37:01):
mean, I'm definitely going to look into this myself just
because I love supplementing my own food and I'm not real picky
about personally, you know, variation.
I, I like fuel in my body. I like to eat nice when I'm when
I want to, but for, you know, 90% of my meals I just want to
get full and move on with my day.

(37:24):
Yeah, I, I hear you. I mean, makes sense.
Like, why? Why wouldn't you?
I think what happens is that food triggers a chemical
reaction in the brain. And, you know, most of you know,
society in almost all cultures are manipulated by the dopamine

(37:46):
and by the process of, you know,the added salt, oil and
sweeteners as well as the texture.
And, you know, people, you know,we're creatures of habit and
we're all vulnerable for addiction.
And that just becomes very addictive.
And a lot of people are self medicating, you know, whether

(38:10):
it's with food or it's drugs or it's sex or it's gambling.
But food is the easiest one because it's legal and it's
ubiquitous and it's everywhere and it's advertised.
And, you know, like, for me, what I could say is just pause,
slow down, look at what you're eating, and just saying, hey, is

(38:32):
this going to serve me? And this kind of brings up this
other kind of thought is that weare not our thoughts, right?
We can see our thoughts and whenwe can see our thoughts, we can
see our cravings. We can take a different path.
So it's less about being impulsive and and doing what

(38:52):
we've always done, but more about being present and making
deliberate decisions from our higher self for a higher
calling. Doug, I have a little fun
exercise I'd like to do with you.
I am a personal fan of Reddit. I think there's a lot of really
interesting things to be had outthere.

(39:14):
And because you you are a subject matter expert, I want to
do a lightning round of questions that people were
asking out on Reddit about sprouts.
So we'll just I'll ask a few really quick questions if you
want to just provide a few quick, brief answers.
All right. So again, this is questions put

(39:35):
out there by our folks on Redditat Clutch Chemist asked do
sprouts really have more nutritional value than adult
vegetables? 100% sprouts contain the
meristematic stem cells of the plants.
So seeds are complete living organisms in a dormant state.

(39:55):
And during that process of germination, they're all very
active. And as the plant gets older, you
know, you can think about an alfalfa sprout versus alfalfa
hay. Right.
The alfalfa hay is predominantlyroughage at this point.
So the, the, the, the key point is in the smallest edible level

(40:18):
of the plant is when the nutrients are concentrated and
certain compounds and certain phytochemicals like
glucoraphanin are distributed infinite amount, fixed amounts.
And as the plant is getting bigger, that is getting diluted,
which is why they say the broccoli sprouts have up to 100

(40:41):
times more of the precursor to sulforaphane than mature
broccoli because of that dilution, you know, process.
OK so at Lily sister asked wheredo I get seeds to start my
sprouting? I have been buying seeds for 30

(41:04):
years. I found it to be like the wild,
Wild West. And ultimately I started, you
know, the sprouting company for the reason where I wanted to
have seeds that were tested for pathogens that were certified
organic and tested and guaranteed to grow with a high
germination rate. So all those seeds are

(41:27):
ubiquitous. You can get them in the bulk bin
and the like. You know, some of those seeds
might be 5 years old and have a low germination rate.
And because you're eating them raw, you want to be sensitive to
handling and time and exposure to to mold and to dust and to
handling. And so that's where, you know, I

(41:49):
decided that this was a focus for me to bring high quality top
shelf seeds to market. Perfect, so at survivor 8 asked
do I eat sprouts whole or does part of it need to be cut before
you eat them? I eat them whole.

(42:12):
And that's very great point, Stacy, is that most vegetables
you're cutting above the fold and you're not eating the root
structure. With sprouts, you're eating the
entire living Organism. The root, the shoot, the
endosperm, the embryo, the testa.
You eat the entire living Organism.

(42:38):
OK, perfect soggy park parking One O 1 asked what are your
favorite ways to eat your sprouts?
I love making big salads and I love rolling them in sushi or in
large lettuce leaves because I like crunch, I like texture and

(43:01):
I like to eat a lot of them so my go to is making wraps or
rolls. OK, at at Grand Grandma Goes
asked. Is there danger in consuming raw
sprouts? I think there's danger in being

(43:22):
alive, there's danger in eating any raw.
Food. I think that the risk of like
salmonella in sprouts, you know,or other foodborne illness.
And by the way, I'm very proud Ipublished my first peer reviewed
white paper with Doctor Jed Fahey from Johns Hopkins

(43:44):
University on food safety. And we studied 25 years of
foodborne illness, hospitalizations, outbreaks and
deaths. And we concluded that sprouts
were twice as safe to eat than regular lettuce and eight eight
times safer than eating meat, chicken or fish, and 15 times

(44:05):
safer than raw dairy. Well, there you have it.
So yes, as you said, there's danger in living period.
But it seems like sprouts are safe.
OK, so at Denton then. This is the last one I have on
my list here at Denton Asks Can you grow sprouts from canned
chickpeas? No.

(44:28):
Makes sense because they're cooked already technically,
right And that that pretty much DNA.
Yeah. OK, good.
I wanted to make sure I'm I'm not that part, but seems like
seems to be pretty straightforward.
Now, Stacy, you're on it. So this is great.
Joe, what do you got? So I, I was going to ask if, if

(44:51):
so, to give a little bit of a, aback story here.
I went up to this, this place called Huntington Farms in New
Jersey. And we were invited to go up
there to shoot ski. And I, I hadn't really, you
know, done a, a veteran's trip in a while, but I knew I needed
to do something just for my own mental to get away and do

(45:12):
something different. And I, I went up there and I had
hands down the best salad I've ever had in my life.
And I was like, where, what kindof lettuce is this?
Because it didn't taste anythinglike anything that I had ever
tasted before. I mean, it was just, it was so
supple and fresh tasting. And usually like, I don't know,

(45:35):
I guess we've been tricked into this crispness being what is
supposed to be fresh, but it's not.
It was, it just wasn't. So anyway, they were like, we
have a, an entire hydrophonics farm here and they did it this
big tour through this massive facility where they grow all of
their own food for their restaurant.

(45:56):
And I had one of those hydroponics things on its way to
my house before I got home. So for me, I know there's a
little bit of a learning curve doing anything like this.
But, and, and so, but my last question is, if, if somebody
like me were to want to get started, what are the types of

(46:18):
things that I would need? I'm not asking you to promote
any specific product, but what, what do I, what would I need to
get started if I wanted to, to do enough for, you know, some
mild to moderate, you know, maybe maybe 3 or 4 times a week
meal supplements. Yeah, I think that if you want.

(46:42):
Or you you can scale that up or down to make the question easier
to answer. Yeah, I think that sprouting is
very easy. And you are you are capable of
doing this. Certain sprouts have more
calories than others. So like the lentils, the green
peas, the mung beans are twice as many calories as like the

(47:06):
alfalfa, Clover, radish and broccoli.
So, you know, a lot of it is, you know what else you're
adding? Like I don't do oil, but one
tablespoon of oil is a lot of calories, right?
Whether it's beef tallow or olive oil or canola oil.

(47:27):
So there's all these different things.
I prefer tahini, which is just ground sesame seeds, you know,
as a sort of source of protein, calcium and fat.
So she's she's a, a level that you can just TuneIn.

(47:48):
But what I recommend, you know from my basis is start to
incorporate more fiber into yourdiet, more sprouts into your
diet, more fruits and vegetablesinto your diet.
And you know the good thing about the sprouts is that
they're low fructose, glucose and sucrose, right?
So you're getting some carbohydrates, but you're not

(48:10):
getting a lot of sugars. So spikes definitely, sprouts
definitely don't spike insulin levels.
If anything they help regulate the insulin levels.
So really depends on a personalized basis, but I see
them, you know someone, you know, talk to me, you know about
having an autoimmune disease or Lyme disease or Hashimoto's.

(48:33):
And sprouts are anti-inflammatory, and they're
strong antioxidants. So, you know, like, everyone
needs to consult with their doctors, their nutritionists,
their dietitians. But what happens is there's
never been, like, a sprout lobby.
So no one really talks about sprouts.

(48:55):
No sprouts. They haven't done this advocacy
work. And like, I don't know about
you, but, you know, I'm good at 59 years old.
I've been, you know, exposed to Super Bowl now for at least 50
years. I never saw one ad for Sprouts,
you know, on the Super Bowl or on any major, you know,
television station either. Did he free?

(49:26):
OK, there he goes. All right.
Sorry, I thought you froze for asecond.
Well, alphas, I'm here. We really like.
What's that? I said I think it's Alfalfa's.
No, our Alfalfas, Alfas, Alfas who are listening.
Want to eat alfalfa sprouts? Visit thesproutingcompany.com to

(49:46):
learn more about Doug and everything he's doing and his
offerings. You can get your seeds and
probably a copy of his book there and and you can get your
hand on some of his yummy, yummy, your recipes using
sprouts. And while you're there, be sure
to follow the social media channels as well.
We'll have the website and social links in the show notes.
Doug, as we come to a close, I want to thank you so much for

(50:10):
taking the time to to share thisincredible stuff with this
information with us so we can make changes in our diets.
And before we sign off, is thereanything that we haven't covered
that you wanted to share with alphas that are listening?
I, I mean, I just think that we all have enormous hidden
potential and that we could do more than we, we are and that,

(50:34):
you know, we should all just love ourselves more, you know,
and nurture ourselves because life is difficult, right?
Like no one gets a free, no one gets free ride, free ride, free
lunch. You know, especially everyone in
this community, you know, has had it hard and they've all
served. So I think, you know, give
yourself the, the gift of tuningin to, you know, the, the beauty

(50:59):
and the magic of, of life. And you know, sprouts are just
one, one little, you know, 1 little thing that you can do
every day. Well, Doug, it's been such a
pleasure having you. Thank you for your service.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us, thank you for
what you've sprouted into and become, and thank you for

(51:22):
sharing something so meaningful and tangible and practical with
us and your listeners and doing.That you've done a lot of work
and you're very passionate about.
And I love, I love passion. Yeah.
No, I think that, you know, thiswas not something that I chose.
I think this chose me. And I'm so grateful, you know,
that I crossed paths with the sprouts through this lens and

(51:45):
through these circumstances, youknow that I've been in.
Couldn't have said it better, Doug.
Thank you so much. We really appreciate you.
And Alpha stick around for some scuttlebutt after the break.
American Legion Family This yearAmerica reaches an historic
milestone, 250 years as a nation.

(52:07):
The American Legion has been part of that history, and U.S.
military veterans have always played a big role in our
nation's journey. I am American Legion Past
National Commander Dan Seehafer,Chairman of the American Legions
Committee, to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday.

(52:28):
And I'm past National Commander Denise Rowan, Vice Chair of that
committee, and we're asking you to show your colors in this year
of honor for our country. We're calling on all American
Legion departments, hosts and members like you to make this a

(52:49):
year to celebrate and educate. Get involved with the America
250 Commission in your state or in your territory.
Learn more about America 250 andhow you can actually advance its
initiativebyvisitingamerica250.org.Then find your state or
territory Commission under the Partners tab on

(53:12):
theamerica250.org website. Secondly, reach out to your
local schools and youth groups. The American Legion educates
thousands upon thousands of young people each year through
youth programs that teach the importance of American values,
democracy, and even good citizenship.

(53:36):
Let's make this a banner year for such Great American Legion
family programs as Boys State, Girl State Oratorical
Championship competitions, American Legion Baseball, Junior
Shooting Sports and others in our local communities.
Also, start planning now, right now, for local and regional

(53:56):
events to actually celebrate then our nation's 250th
anniversary. And let's show who we are and
what we do through the American Legion's USA 2:50 Challenge.
Community service, fitness, Wellness.
Assemble A-Team or participate individually.

(54:20):
You can sign up to see how to really achieve 250 or even more
acts of good citizenship at legion.org/USA 250 slash
Challenge. These are just some of the ways
the entire the entire American Legion family can show our

(54:41):
colors. Let's honor the nation we love,
the nation we serve, and the values we in the American Legion
family uphold every day. All right, Alphas, we hope you

(55:07):
had a fantastic break. Now it's time for some
scuttlebutt. Well alphas my show after action
is back for a third season on PBS.
Well, not just PBS. You can stream it on in your
favorite streaming platform. Just FYI, yesterday episode 1
return with Honor dropped and this episode features three
amazing former PO WS that's Robert certain who was shot down

(55:31):
over Vietnam and then captured after his B52 was was shot down
over Hawaii on December 18th, 1972.
So an incredible human being. And then Melissa Coleman, she
was the first enlisted female prisoner of war in military
history after she was captured in 91 during Operation Desert

(55:51):
Shield and Storm. And then of course, the
wonderful Mr. Shana Johnson, who's the first African American
female prisoner of war, and she was captured during Iraqi
Freedom in 2003. All three of these individuals
have incredibly harrowing stories, but also, I think most
importantly, stories of perseverance, survival,
resilience and inspiration. So as you already know, return

(56:16):
with honor is a phrase that signifies an individual's
commitment to endure hardships, maintaining dignity while
captured, and and to return homewith character and reputation
intact. And that's what return with
honor means. It's something like when I went
through Siri school and then we had to the follow on POW
training that was hammered into our heads.

(56:38):
Adam, did they nail that into your brain too?
Yeah, they nailed it in with their fists as they were
smacking. As they were smacking you upside
the head. You you had to submit your
dental work so they could know if they could, like, hit hit you
and you wouldn't. Yeah.
Oh yeah. Yeah, I got twisted into pretzel
a few times during during that portion of training.
But I will say this, you know, we are human beings and you, you

(57:01):
can survive a lot and endure a lot.
And and these three individuals did and they they definitely
came through with their their characters, their reputations
and their honor intact. And this episode really is
moving and so in so many ways. So anyway, we cover a lot.
We cover that captivity, their eventual release and what what

(57:27):
life has been like after action.And I hope you'll TuneIn.
You can, like I said, you can tune into after action on PBS.
If you're going to tune in the old school way, make sure you
check your local listings. You can also stream it through
APBS passport app or you can do it on Apple plus or Amazon
Prime, whatever your streaming service is.
Just look after action and you'll see my pretty face along

(57:47):
with my service dog Carly, who'smy Co host.
Anyway, this past March I hosted21 veterans, including Robert,
Shoshana and Melissa on my farm and we we came up with seven
incredible episodes. So return with honor is just one
of seven and they'll, they're going to roll out from now until

(58:10):
November. So I hope you'll not miss it.
We covered a lot of things, not just the, you know, we, we, we
covered veteran farmers as well as law enforcement careers,
nurses who served in Vietnam, homelessness in the veteran
community leadership and indigenous warriors.

(58:32):
It's, it's an incredible season and I'm really super excited
that that I can share it with all of you.
And anyway, please tune in and let me know if you love it or
not. Well, you know what?
Don't tell me you don't love it.And it's it's a really good part
of the community. Can I say he's going to wreck
me, Stacey, just because, Yeah, going through serious school.

(58:52):
I mean, it's one thing to go through, you know, a training
course that you know, is going to end in three weeks, right.
Even in the prisoner of war campaign, like, you know, like
you're here for 24 to 48 hours. I mean, it's, it's still hard
and, and challenging in the waysthat it is.
But you know, part of that is the educational component of
learning from, you know, past Pows and their experiences,

(59:13):
specifically a lot from the Vietnam Veterans that that came
home and shared how they were able to endure, you know, 6-7
years in some cases. So it's one thing to about the
the training exercise in in being able to in those
situations, right, survive, evade, resist and escape, you
know, Sears coal. And then there's the actual

(59:35):
people that that had to do that in a wartime situation where you
really don't know the next time you're going to eat, what you're
going to be exposed to and if you'll ever come home.
So the mental fortitude. So I just be like, I know you've
shared a lot already, but just real briefly, how powerful were
those conversations with those individuals that you got to

(59:56):
connect with? Oh, my gosh, you know, Robert
Bob as he likes to go by, you know, he lost the majority of
his crew in the crash. And then to go to the Hanoi
Hilton and see what his fellow service members are going

(01:00:17):
through in captivity and, and those who are still coming in
after he was captured, very powerful.
What he witnessed and what he overcame during that that
period, but also more importantly, how he handled it
after he got home. And like so many people of his

(01:00:38):
generation, he just kind of internalized it.
And it took decades, Adam, for him to recognize that he had
issues. Well, I, I don't know if it was
that for him to recognize it so much as recognize that he needed
to cope with it in, in a way other than what he was.
And he's a man of faith. He went on to, you know, pursue

(01:01:00):
a career in faith. And so finding that, you know,
that balance between, you know, life, life at home and what he,
what he left behind in Vietnam and what he brought home with
him from Vietnam. So it was really, really
compelling. And then Melissa, you know, she
was so young and being a woman and interestingly enough, the

(01:01:26):
Army listed Melissa as being AWOL.
So we we tend to look at somebody who's who's captured
APOW is is some is an individualthat's with honor, like there
comes with honor in that and to be listed as a wall as part of
the complete opposite of that and how you're perceived by

(01:01:49):
those at home. And so imagine how her family
felt. Let's let's not just look at how
it impacts those who are captured, but the family members
who are awaiting, you know, newsfrom home.
So, you know, Melissa's dad, he was working all angles he could
when he was back here in the States trying to figure out what

(01:02:11):
was going on with his daughter and and meanwhile trying to
counter a smear campaign or whatcould be seen as a smear
campaign. And then and then Shoshanna, you
know, she when she was shot and captured, she had a baby at
home. So you think about the the

(01:02:33):
family back at home, but she literally had as a single
parent, a child at home that relied on her to come home.
And thankfully she had a supportnetwork.
So she talked about, you know, being in captivity and knowing
that her family was back home and it's so incredibly powerful.
So I hope you won't miss it again.

(01:02:56):
It's it's an incredible, it's anincredible episode, but it's an
incredible season with incredible topics just like
that. So the one thing that I want to
give a shout out to the Alphas who are listening, if you are,
if your Legion Post is looking for something to do with
community engagements and you can actually use after Action as
a way to do that. You can screen one of our

(01:03:19):
episodes, whether it's return with Honor or one of the other
six, and then have a panel discussion with local veterans
and invite your local community to talk about these things that
impact our lives and what makes our community so special and so
incredibly resilient and amazing.
You can visit afteractionshow.org to learn
more about that. And we'll, we'll include that in

(01:03:39):
our show notes. All right, well, I got great
job, Stacy, great work and thanks for sharing that with us.
Looking forward to to tuning into those stories.
What's in a name, Department of War or Department of Defense?
What say you, Joe? In 1789, President George

(01:04:00):
Washington signed legislation tocreate America's first iteration
of the War Department. Under Henry Knox, the first
secretary of War. The ACT was responsible for
military commissions. That structure, that structure
remained in place until 1947. That's quite a long haul.
It's a good year. When President Harry Truman

(01:04:21):
received approval from Congress to create a National Defense
establishment, the NDE eventually took power from the
Army and Navy, as well as the newly formed Shout Out CC Air
Force. It was Wright's Air Force and
Space Forces magazine, a landmark in the organization of
America's military establishment.

(01:04:42):
Just a few months after the conclusion of World War 2,
Truman announced his goal to implement a new governing
structure for the military, as the war had induced a need for a
more codified command structure.In a special message to Congress
on December 19th, 1945, Truman stated, I recommend that the

(01:05:03):
Congress adopt legislation combining the War and Navy
departments into one single department of National Defense.
Such unification is another essential step, along with
universal training, in the development of a comprehensive
and continuous program for our future safety and for the peace
and security of the world. One of the lessons which have

(01:05:26):
most clearly come from the costly and dangerous experience
of this war is that there must be unified direction of land,
sea and air forces at home as well in other parts of the world
where our armed forces are serving.
We did not have that kind of direction when we were attacked
4 years ago, and we certainly paid a high price for not having

(01:05:48):
it. Cognizant of the potential
pushback from the Army and Navy and its generals who might view
the proposal as a threat to their services autonomy, Truman
wrote in a White House press release on April 5th, 1946.
Unification does not mean subordination of any branch of
the service. It does not mean a loss of

(01:06:10):
identity. It means just what the word
says, unification. It means a concentration and
cohesion of our best military thoughts and our best military
resources geared to maximum efficiency.
It means using our experience inWorld War 2 for the peace of the
world. However, Truman's words of

(01:06:32):
pacification did little to placate certain members of the
Navy in 1949. Also a great year, Joe.
A small group of senior Navy officers took their private feud
with the Army and the Air Force public, calling into question
the strategy to defeat a Soviet invasion of Europe and the
allocation of scarce budget dollars according to the US

(01:06:53):
Naval Institute. I wonder if that would be a feud
on X these days. Is that what they would take the
the resulting civilian military dust up dub the Revolt of the
Admirals arose from a mismatch between the United States
expansive post war conception ofits national security and the

(01:07:15):
demands for fiscal orthodoxy, according to the US Naval
Institute. In a tale as old as time, senior
officials wanted a global presence in the wake of World
War 2 but didn't want to pay forit.
The Truman administration was determined to keep the defense
budget to about 13 billion per year.
And it still is the same today. 13 trillion.

(01:07:38):
But that relatively tight budgetwas split into thirds, one slice
each for the land, air and the sea.
This intensified the roles and missions struggle, writes the
Institute. The Navy thought it was in
danger of losing its air arm to the Air Force.
The Air Force was convinced thatthe Navy was attempting to build

(01:08:00):
a strategic Air Force of its own.
In light of this revolt, severalamendments to the National
Security Act were implemented, converting the national military
establishment into the Department of Defense.
Boom Bo. DII, just want to jump in here
and ask you a question. As a pilot, it does seem like
from, from someone who's in, in the Navy, there seems to be a

(01:08:24):
lot of overlap between, you know, Army boats and Navy boats
and a lot of overlap between AirForce flying and Navy flying as
in an Army pilot yourself. That's another element.
So what what are the differencesthat you saw between the
branches in their in their air forces?

(01:08:46):
Yeah, I should say. The Air Force came from the Army
Air Corps, So we, we were kind of one in World War 2.
You know, I think I, you know, Iforget what it, it actually
says, but you know, they took the fixed wings and the fixed
wing aircraft and, and we got the, the Rotary aircraft.
So, you know, that's the, the, the division was so sad.
And, you know, it's 70 years, you know, since World War 2 when

(01:09:08):
we're flying so very much it, itjust was established, you know,
in, in the Army, flying is considered, I think, such a
privilege. You know, many soldiers go their
whole careers without ever riding on a helicopter.
You know, the, the, the Army by nature is a ground force.
So to be able to be up in the sky above the soldiers on the

(01:09:31):
ground, you know, just consider that to be a great privilege.
But we didn't have fighter jets.There was always talk about, you
know, getting the A10, the Air Force was going to retire that
and we were one of going to be willing recipients of it.
We we talked about it in in flight school, you know, with
all my buddies, how much we would love to be able to get a
fixed wing transition right. So it was just kind of seen as

(01:09:53):
cool, but for what we didn't have.
But then we were fiercely loyal and passionate, you know, for
what we did fly. And I think like what we're
talking about here is, you know,when when you're your own
autonomous thing, and then how do you come together to be
greater than your individual parts?
And it takes real leadership to be able to do that and have

(01:10:15):
those conversations and even to be able to put the thing out
into the world. But then realizing, look, I'm
going to have to manage and bring some some of these
stakeholders along. And even that's going to
produce, you know, infighting and challenges.
But I would say that it's quite remarkable how our military has
grown, you know, into those. Yeah, it still works together.

(01:10:37):
Anybody who's been to, to combathas, has interacted with people
from all over the world, But it it, it, it is impressive.
I, I agree. I think it's, it's incredible
that despite, you know, all the,all the joking rivalries and
stuff like that, that we have that when it comes down to it.
I mean, we'll, we treat each other like another, you know, an

(01:10:57):
Army unit that's in trouble is might as well be a Marine unit.
You know, if if there's some AirForce POW, they going through
the exact same thing as as somebody who's you know who is
Army or, or Marines and. Well, my you know, my flight
records are filled with Navy aircraft and Army aircraft.
So I think every branch of service has a a fleet of

(01:11:19):
aircraft in AI, don't know as the Air Force has a lot of
boats, maybe in the pair of rescue and tech P departments.
But but I think especially in the last the 20 years war with
Afghanistan between OEF and OAF,we've definitely learned how to
work together with the branches and and be a lot more cohesive
instead of so independent. I think the lines have blurred

(01:11:41):
quite a bit anyway. The amendments made the DoD a
Cabinet level department and downgraded the services from
executive to military departments so the Secretary of
Defense gained complete direction, authority and control
over the entire department, becoming the principal assistant
to the president in all matters relating to the part Department

(01:12:02):
of Defense. In addition, changes to the
National Security Act included the creation of a Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff who would directly advise both the
president and the Secretary of Defense.
General Omar Bradley became the first chairman in 1949.
We finally succeeded, Truman noted, in getting a Unification

(01:12:22):
Act that will enable us to have unification.
And as soon as we get the crybabies in the niches where
they belong, we will have no more trouble.
A lot of crybabies back in the 40s.
On September 5th, 2025, Trump issued an executive order to
restore the use of that Department of War name, albeit

(01:12:43):
as a secondary title for the Department of Defense.
As it stands, only an act of Congress can approve the
permanent name change. What do you think about that?
What do you think about theater?Think about when you saw that.
I think it's theater. I think that it's AAI Think it's
supposed to be a show of force. Who knows?

(01:13:05):
I tend to, I tend to want to lean on diplomacy for anything,
especially if we set the exampleas a world leader and having a
department of war. To me, the optics make it look
really aggressive. So I'm, I'm more of like
Department of Defense means we're secure in our borders and
we're secure right here at home.And, and again, it's just

(01:13:28):
optics, but I think Joe's probably right too.
Is that, you know, it's, it's more just a lot of words.
I think I Adam, there's also something in that like every
single time there's a new Army Chief of staff or Air Force
Chief of staff, our uniforms change, right?
There's some tweak or something 'cause somebody wants to come in
and, and leave their little thumbprint behind for, for the

(01:13:50):
duration of, of their office. And, and maybe their successor
will keep that idea moving forward for another four years
or however long and then some Tiger.
Stripes back. No, that one in the chocolate
chip uniforms need to stay in the past.
But anyway, everybody wants to leave their imprint and this is
this to me is one of those. If you buy a whoopie, you're

(01:14:11):
telling me you're not going to get tiger stripes?
I think there's so much of a culture war that's continually
ongoing as well. And it seems like this is a
little bit, you know, part of that.
I mean, obviously people voted for this administration and they
ran on certain platforms and agents of change.

(01:14:33):
And now I see like the administration is is carrying
that through. One thing I noticed testified in
front of the US Senate and, and seeing the VA get up and and,
and speak is this interesting thought of Department of
Defense. You kind of brought this this
point up to Stacey. It's like you're preparing to
defend the homeland. You're on the defensive, right?

(01:14:55):
And it's something about maybe that as branding that carries
through into the culture within the Defense Department.
And when you have these hearings, whether it be, you
know, the VA, it's just it's kind of this tone of like very
defensive in nature as opposed to like truly kind of being open
and collaborative war, you know,is not necessarily saying that

(01:15:19):
everybody should be on the the warpath and and we want to bring
that in and, and still, you know, that culture, but it
definitely is more offensive in nature.
And so I think words have meaning, especially when you say
I'm over and over again. So it's interesting.
It's really cool to see the history.
And we have such beautiful, richhistory of how this nation was

(01:15:43):
founded, of the role that the military played in it and in the
wars leading up to it. It's really cool to see how you
know, what was, you know, potentially A vulnerability and
not being able to have unified, you know, communication
organization quickly in the way that they needed to and how this

(01:16:04):
was for the best of intentions set up to be able to remedy that
on the other side to protect us for the future.
But it's interesting to see how something that you establish
ultimately becomes an establishment.
And sometimes the establishment is reluctant to innovate and
change with the times. So.

(01:16:24):
I mean, I think if this change is for preparation to, to sort
of shore up preparation to, to push, you know, standards in a
direction that benefits America,You know, it's one of those
things to where the problem is, is that often times verbiage is
used as a weapon. But I guess like anything, we'll

(01:16:47):
just have to see. We'll just have to wait and see
where this goes because, you know, if the tail end of this,
we've got a, you know, a fighting force that that does
its job, then then I guess we just have to, you know, sort of
try and see the upside of that. But, you know, all we can do is
wait. All we can do is see and, and

(01:17:09):
pray for those that are, I mean,we're on the outside and we're,
you know, are we, we get up and we take our Motrin and our days
are done. But but these young, young
people that are going through this right now, you know, throw
prayer up for these people because it's a it's going to be
a lot of work. Anytime there's changes, anytime
there's anything like this and it's looking like standards are

(01:17:30):
about to go up, whatever that means.
That's one of the things that I think was touched upon in, in,
in some of the the conversationsthat were had is, is, you know,
we'll see what that happen, whathappens with that.
But you know, think, think of, think of them young, those young
bucks and buckets out there having to having to live through

(01:17:53):
all this. My God, Joe, it's called a doe.
All those buff things that we got there wearing their
chocolate chip uniform in their.Chocolate stripes, their tiger
stripe chocolate chip uniforms. Joe, what do you got for us?
Aw, man, I got something fantastic for you.
So Richard M Dick Cole, which is, I mean, honestly, you know,
we grew up and then, you know, there was like Dick Van Dyke and

(01:18:16):
stuff like that. Like it was such a cool name.
And then we as 12 year olds, I think we just never grew out of
that. And so, you know, I don't know
anyone that that that is that iscalled Dick anymore.
I had and it's actually a good name.
I had AI had a great uncle Dick,and I want to say I had a great
uncle Dick on both sides of my family.

(01:18:36):
I mean, it was a really popular name back in the.
Yeah, it was until we childed itup.
Hampton Uncle Dicky. Yeah, so Richard M Dick Cole, 72
year old member of the American Legion, which is incredible.
Some to the American Legion and American Legion riders, was
moved to write a song after participating in June June's
Virginia Legacy Run. I thought a rock song about

(01:18:59):
participating in motorcycle rides with my Legion brothers
and sisters would be a great wayto bring attention to the ALR
and the efforts of the organization nationwide and
fundraising for veterans causes.I just want to say that that
working for America's Vet Dogs, we've had a lot of American
Legion riders reach out to us with, with fundraising efforts

(01:19:22):
and things like that. And I, I've seen it grow.
It's been really cool. I don't know exactly when the
American Legion riders kind of Iguess exploded, but it seemed
like they got really big in the past, you know, 15 years or so.
It seems like it's really, really caught on.
So Cole's been a musician since high school and is a veteran of

(01:19:43):
performing with several Virginiarock bands, including Point
Blank, OTR, Riptide Fast Track and Four of a Kind.
The song's being distributed by CD Baby and was made available
to YouTube Music and Apple iTunes over this past weekend.
It will shortly be available to Spotify and numerous other
services. I thought it would be something

(01:20:04):
great if. Great.
That could be used under videos from ALR events.
Any monetization that comes fromplaying or downloading the song
will be donated to the American Legion Veterans and Children's
Foundation through Southern Virginia American Legion Riders,
Cole said. Which is just incredible.
And I believe we're also going to add a clip of the song so you

(01:20:25):
can hear it. All right.
Cole has been a musician, photographer and writer since
high school. He served 20 years in the Air
Forces in a variety of jobs. I think that when you're 20
years in the military doing any in any branch, you're gonna do a
lot of different things. But retiring as a major in 1992,

(01:20:48):
he also served as a government super supervisory public affairs
specialist. Retiring in 2013 as AGS 15.
Writing music and serving as my post public relations officer
and historian allowed me to continue to be creative and keep
me pretty busy. I can imagine, Cole said.
I'm not in gigging bands any longer, but I do get together

(01:21:10):
weekly to jam with friends in the Richmond area and they
assisted with getting this song recorded.
I just want to say whether you sing, whether you play a guitar,
whether you play a flute or whatever, sitting down and just
playing music with people is an experience that fills your soul

(01:21:30):
up. I mean, I think it kept us
together sometimes in Iraq when we were really struggling.
I think music is so powerful. And if he's if, if this music
that he's, you know, done here does well, it just, you know, it
helps the American Legion. And I think that's incredible.
So yeah, music, baby. All right, thanks for that, Joe.

(01:21:53):
Don't forget that our new sisterpodcast, Welcome home.
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial podcast launched last
week. Huge shot out host Jennifer Blue
interviews Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation
CEO Michael Rod Rodriguez hot rod that's right, who shares his

(01:22:14):
vision for the memorial and his passion for the mission.
And boy, does he not have a passion for it.
We got to sit down with him at the national condition that both
of them actually, we had a greatsegment getting to to learn a
little bit about the podcast, what's been happening with the
memorial. You definitely want to tune in.

(01:22:34):
Going to be a great series and agreat segment and really excited
for what they have been working on, but also what they're going
to be sharing in the stories that they're going to bring be
bringing to life. So Rod shares that view as a
sacred duty, that passion that he has.
You can find the well, you can find the Welcome Home on Spotify

(01:22:56):
or wherever you stream your podcasts.
Yeah, Speaking of Spotify, just a reminder that we are now
hosted on Spotify and then by weI mean the Tal podcast.
So if you follow us on Spotify, you can find a both the audio
and video versions of our podcast.
You can subscribe to our podcastand you can rate US.

(01:23:17):
Please rate US, give us five stars or give us 10 stars and
that's an option or leave us a comment.
We want to hear about you and know more about you, our
beautiful alpha listeners. And so anyway, we're going to
have it all in one place and youcan find us again Spotify Tango
Awful Lima podcast. You can also find us on Apple,
Amazon, iHeartRadio and YouTube,or wherever you get your

(01:23:38):
podcasts. Myspace, as Joe likes to remind
everybody, which doesn't exist anymore.
But hey, it's fun. To say we gotta do the
programming ourselves. Yeah, you can subscribe to our
newsletter. Send us some mail guestroom
recommendations at legion.org. back slash Tal.
Thanks Alphas.