November 13, 2024 • 36 mins
Dan discussed the rebranding of their podcast series, Justin's military experiences and responsibilities, and the importance of voting in the upcoming election. They also explored the potential risks to the United States' freedoms, the perception of Trump as a potential war starter, and the impact of Covid-related vaccine mandates on their personal and professional lives. Lastly, they touched on the theme of freedom, the potential scenario of being ordered to turn on American citizens, and their work ethic and dedication to their professions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome back, guys. This is the five F Conversations. Obviously,
we're just working through our rebrand here, but Forum was
the podcast episodes in the past where we talked about faith, family, fitness,
and finances and just how to use that algorithm to
kind of make good decisions with good priorities and everything.
(00:36):
And so the rebrand here five as we're adding a
fifth F and this whole series of episodes is going
to be focused a.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Little more around freedom, all right.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
With that said, Justin became a a friend and client
of mine over the past few years, introduced to him
through a different buddy of mine in the military down
in Iowa. And yeah, I'll let you kind of give
a little more details about you know, what you do
in the military and how you got to where you're at.
But yeah, I'm excited to kind of, you know, pull
(01:09):
out what freedom means to you and maybe does it
look a little different than us, you know, average civilians
that maybe haven't been deployed and haven't been in combat
and some of the stuff you've been through. So take
it away, Justin, tell us a little bit about yourself,
your family, and then maybe fill us in how you
got to where you're.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
At absolutely hey. Thanks Dan, I appreciate the time today
and I'm humbled to be part of the podcast here
with you and the rest of the crew. For those
who don't know me, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Justin Foot. I've
been serving in the Eye Army National Guard for over
twenty six years. Of that, I currently work full time
(01:50):
as an Active Guard Reserve or what they consider AGR SO.
I work full time on word of the uniform every
single day. I've been doing that for a number of years.
I get about thirteen almost fourteen years of active federal service,
so if I were to want to retire, I could
retire here in the next five or six years, but
(02:12):
I think I'll continue to serve as long as my mind, body,
and soul will allow me. Right now, I'm currently the
second Brigade Combat Team, thirty fourth Entry Division, the executive
Officer and full time oice SO I manage approximate one
hundred and sixty full time employees across thirty plus armories
(02:36):
in the entire state of Iowa, and then on the
m day or the drilling side. As an executive officer,
I am the second in charge for the Brigade Combat
Team which consists of about thirty three hundred soldiers. This
year just a brand new position for me. It's a
(02:56):
position that I've been wanting for quite some time and
and uh set my career up to to take this
this role on here, but been in the charity for
almost three months, looking uh forward to you know, the
the upcoming years. We prepare for a joint Readiness Training
Center or what they call a charity see event down
(03:17):
in Fort Johnson, Louisiana in uh end of May and June,
and then uh uh some of our soldiers, well, we'll
be mobilized in supportive Operation Inherent Resolve or o i
R next summer as well.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
So yeah, next summer, basically Layman's term, you're going to
have a big group of your your guys under under
your command basically be deployed overseas and and but you're
going to kind of help manage them from home base.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
You're not You're not You're not going over seas this
go around, right.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yes, sir. So, the this one is a little unique
in its nature. Uh, you know, about half of our
Brigade AID Combat Team will mobilize forward. The other half
will state what we call Rear Detachment UH or in
the state of Iowa. So what's significant about that is obviously,
you know, many of our command teams UH and and
(04:13):
leaders across the organization will be deployed forward UH, and
then there's a need uh, you know, to continue mission
back here in Iowa with the soldiers that we have
across the state and across the brigade, which takes leaders
such as myself and other full time leaders across the
brigade combat team UH to do that successfully. So I
(04:36):
will not be on on this mobilization unless something, you know,
drastically changes between now and then.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The world is a volatile place, as you know, so
things things could change pretty pretty rapidly if if, if
we're not careful. But right now, I'm going to be
the rear Detachment commander or or full time o i C.
And I'll just I'll work on building the strength of
the brigade while the brigade is forward on am mobilization.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
So how many deployments have you been on and maybe.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Segue that into what was your most impactful or notable
deployment in your eyes?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So I've been on two different deployments three to four,
So two thousand and three to two thousand and four
deployed to Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. That was a peacekeeping
mission at the time. They were six month missions, so
by the time we started training and then down or
(05:37):
got done with the deployment is about maybe nine months
away from home. I was super young. That was in
three so I had only been in the Guard for
maybe five or six years at the time, so it
was unique in that nature. My second one is a
combat deployment to Afghanistan, specifically RC East, which is the
(05:59):
northeast portion of Afghanistan. Pretty remote, very rugged, rugged terrain,
mountainous terrain. On that one, I would say that was
my most memorable deployment. A lot of ups and downs
throughout that deployment. I had a soldier by the name
(06:20):
of Donnie Nichols who unfortunately passed after his truck was
striked by improvised explosive device. Twenty one year old kid
had had a full life ahead of him and unfortunately
his life was taken too soon. But with that said,
(06:41):
the memorable piece of that, I've made a lot of
friends in additional family or what I consider family now
based on his death. Unfortunately, but I got to know
a lot of new people out and get to or
had a chance to know prior to and now I
considered them, you know, some of my best friends and
family as well.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
With that Afghanistan deployment, was that what was the impact
was a start of the war?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Like tell us a little.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Bit about the timing of that deployment and what the
mission was and if it was successful or not, and
how it kind of impacted maybe the war at that time, yes.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Sir, so twenty ten obviously was about you know, nine
years into the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we were
just transitioning or Afghanistan was just transitioning into counter insurgency,
which is a coin acronym, the acronym coins, so the
(07:42):
counterinsurancy fight, so essentially winning the hearts and minds of
the local populace was the biggest piece with that. During
the deployment, there's a lot of key leader engagements or
koes that we were conducting across the operations with the
Brigade Combat Team. Myself specifically, I did a number of
(08:07):
those across our our assigned area as well. But on
top of that, uh, you know, the the threat of
enemy was obviously still there. We were engaged in direct
combat with enemy I want to say nearly every day,
but at least every week, but nearly every day as well.
(08:30):
Every time you left the wire it was you know,
some threat to you, depending on your your type of mission.
But but we're about nine years into the UH to
the Iraq in Afghanistan, our combat there, so right smack
dab in the middle of everything. And as far as
(08:50):
success or not, you know, the Brigade Combat Team in
my organization obviously did a lot of great things while
we're deployed over there. We went to a lot of
different areas that were not necessarily ever h stepped on
by American soldier before, which you know, obviously uh comes
out of risk and in some cases, uh you know,
(09:13):
loss of life and uh some of those soldiers. But
you know, we did a lot of successful things over there,
and unfortunately, you know, as you know, in the in
the recent years and closure of the combat operations in
Afghanistan and just you know, it just we turned everything
right back over to the enemy, which is super unfortunate.
(09:35):
And you know, when you look at people, not only
Donny Nichols, but you know, thousands and thousands of people
that gave up their lives uh to fight in Iraq
and specifically Afghanistan, and and you know, look at us
today and where we're at, We're you know, right back
to you know, the enemy controlling that that that country.
So it's unfortunate.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well if you want to go there.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I was at one of my questions, was just talking
a little bit about the election coming up, the political influence,
Like I don't know how much you can or are
willing to share, but like what's the military like take
on like the elections and how important are you know,
the commander in chief from the top is in the
(10:20):
trickle down effect.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Absolutely, So obviously I can't say a whole lot on
this topic, but all I know is it's it's extremely
important for every one of us, whether we're wearing the
uniform or we're not, to just go out and vote.
We all have a place in this to determine who
our next leader is. And whether you're right or left,
(10:43):
it doesn't matter to me as long as you know,
people are smart about it, make a smart decision and
go to the polls and actually vote. So that's the
most important thing. You know, I'm going to follow whatever
leader it is that is selected in November. But at
the end of the day, it's just extremely important for
all of us to get out and just vote.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And I can I can hear you know, you're you're,
you're You're not going to probably share exactly who you
want to vote for, but maybe share like because you know,
you've been through last four years and you've you've been
an active officer the four years prior with Trump, Like
what what is it? What's the trickle down effect? Like
as far as like the morale, the the orders, Like
(11:32):
how does it as much as you're willing to share
from the inside, like how does that? How does that
impact your day to day life? Depending on if we
have a Biden in office or a Trump in office.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Sure you know, to to stay light on on on
the subject, but I think it comes down to their agendas. Uh,
you know, ultimately, as as a soldier, we're going to follow,
you know, whoever's been is going to be selected, whether
that's Trump or it's Harris or in this case, you know,
Biden currently in the administration. So at the end of
(12:07):
the day, Uh, you know, I don't think it necessarily
affects me day to day as much as it may
with some others, but you know their agenda and what
they want to do and how aggressive they are and
complaining those agendas, whether uh you know their stance on
military operations, whether it's you know, the current volatile world
(12:30):
that we have right now with Russia and Ukraine and
the other countries that are are starting to support some
of those as well, Israel and Iran as well. So
like if their stance you know, to to go to
war if it's aggressive or if it's not. Obviously he's
going to dictate on on what myself or or the
(12:51):
other soldiers across the organization UH are are called to do.
So you know, no real impact to me, you know
today or even the more borrow but obviously it's important
to get out there and vote.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Like I said earlier, Yeah, I could talk all day
on politics, so I'll switch subjects a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
But how what's next for you?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
I mean, I think you're probably around forty years old
something like that, still got you know, you can retire he.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Said, in four or five years.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
But like you've obviously you know, moved up the ranks
over the years and been intentional about that. So what
what's the next fifteen to twenty years in the military,
if you stay the course look like and how high
and you know, how high up could you go? And
what does that mean for you?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah. So I've been an officer for about sixteen years
of my twenty six years total time in service, which
has been a great blessing for me to be a
leader across an organization. I've been in a plethora of
leadership assignments from you know, a brand new second lieutenant
we call them butter bars, all the way up to
my current position where I'm a lieutenant colonel in charge
(13:59):
of you know, one hundred and sixty soldiers and on
the full time side, and then thirty three hundred on
the drilling side. But you know, right now, like I said,
as long as my mind, body, and soul will allow
me to do it, I plan to serve as long
as I can. I just got to this this role
here a few months ago. So generally speaking, in the
(14:21):
Active Guard Reserve AGR program in the Iowa Action Guard,
they like to keep officers in their current role for
pretty much twenty four months or two years generally. In
some capacities, it kind of depends on who the bench
is behind you whether I got soldiers that are ready
to take my position that that's going to drive that timeline.
(14:43):
So I could go up to thirty six months or
three years in this job as well before I start
looking at the next assignment. But right now I'm super
focused on on the Brigade Combat Team in our duties
and responsibilities leading up to jarititc inalization of half of
our force in the coming years. Uh. You know, I
(15:04):
hope to to have a position at the state Headquarters,
Joint Force head Joint Forces Headquarters UH here in Johnston,
UH and learn that that piece of the pie as
far as the state goes, and the current operations there,
and then UH, you know, I'd love nothing more to
to go out uh to Pennsylvania and UH do twelve
(15:25):
months of resident War college UH out there as well.
That's probably you know, four or five years down the road.
UH if I can knock that out uh and complete that.
I have goals and aspirations to make it at least
to a full word kernel, which is six one, one
grade above this one. And and UH, as I look
(15:47):
at my entire entirety of my career, I would love
nothing more to depend on one star and become a
general officer someday.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Nice, I love it. Well.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
The fact that you know in your head the steps
is probably good a good sign that you're going to
get there with time. Let's shift gears to freedom a
little bit, so real generically, what with your experience in
the military, being overseas fighting in active combat, what does it?
Does freedom mean something a little different to you now?
(16:19):
Or talk to me a little bit generically about what
comes to mind when just the word freedom pops in
your head.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, you bet so. I'll try not to prolong this
too much, but I want to kind of start, like
what is freedom and kind of what the official definition is. So,
based on some research, like the official definition or as
close as possible for freedom can be defined as the
state of being able to act, speak, or think without
(16:46):
undue restriction or interference. Kind of includes your right to
make personal choices, pursue your own your goals, express yourself
openly without the bounds of societies and laws. So that's
kind of typically what the general public and freedom would be.
(17:06):
Now as you look at it, it's kind of twofold.
So you know, myself twenty six years currently serving, or
even if it's one year wearing in their uniform. Freedom
I think means a little bit different to myself than
it would to civilians. So for most civilians, you know,
they may view freedom as you know, ability to pursue
(17:29):
a career that they have or a career of choice,
to be able to travel around the world freely express
any kind of concerns or opinions without fear of reprisal.
So that's kind of what freedom I think is is
to most civilians. For me, you know, twenty six years
total time and service, wear in the uniform every day,
(17:52):
it means a little bit different to me. So as
a long time serving member of the Ioan Nation Guard,
it's had a lightered significance at the basic level. You know,
our our freedom UH is to serve and protect UH,
to ensure the freedom of others across the state and nation.
(18:13):
So basically, I'm we're in the uniform and I'm going
to be called upon, or when I do get it
called upon, I'm going to go and I'm going to
fight for our freedoms and our rights for every UH
person in the in the United States and or in
the nation. On top of that, I think it comes
(18:34):
with some some type of responsibility. So for me as
a national regard sold soldier or even let's just say
the United States military, you know, it's a responsible or
responsibility of mind to be able to provide that freedom
to yourself and and others across the state and nation
(18:56):
by serving in the uniform and called upon doing whatever
it takes to to do that. So that's kind of
a shortened down and dirty on it on that piece.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah, what this might be a deep question, but how
at risk is our country to lose any freedoms or
to lose the ultimate freedom that we have as a
as a as a as the United States of America
as we know it.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
That's a great question, Dan, And I don't know if
I have the right answer or even an answer to that,
but I'll try to break it down a little bit.
But you know, the the world is is just it's
it has changed and evolved, most certainly over the last
four or five years, but most specifically over the time
(19:47):
in Iraq and Afghanistan and those two combat operations there.
But I would like to say that the United States
of America is a great nation and uh at that
you know we're going to do and the senior leaders
of this country are going to do everything in their
(20:08):
power to ensure nobody in the in the United States
loses uh, their freedom in whatever capacity. If that means,
you know, going to large scale combat operations or what
we consider lisco environment, uh, meaning we're going to war
with multiple countries or or multiple parties within an organization, uh,
(20:33):
large organizations or large number of soldiers being deployed at
one time. So I think the United States of America,
you know, as uncomfortable as it may be right now
or in some cases with you know, talking to other people, UH,
they may have fears of some of that. I don't
think I'm fearful. I think our leaders across an organization,
(20:56):
and even with the election this this year, uh, they
all have that in the forefront of their mind. And
I honestly, I don't think anything in the world would
be able to change that, unless you know, a country
invades the United States of America, and even then, you know,
I don't know what that outcome would be for that.
(21:17):
But I think we're in a safe place.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
And I know it's a it's a pretty heavy and
loaded question. And I know you from knowing you for
a handful of years now, I know you're going to
say the politically correct thing that's not going to get
yourself in trouble, and I respect that. It's just, you know,
from the military standpoint, from being more within. You know,
do you think an external threat or an internal threat
(21:46):
is a bigger threat?
Speaker 3 (21:49):
I would probably say external. You know, we obviously have
people in the United States that don't belong here and
are certainly a threat to our freedoms. But I believe
deep down inside, if freedom were to be affected, it
would most certainly be somebody external to the United States
(22:12):
in probably large scale.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Jumping back into politics, and you can just say no,
but I do want to ask, like, why is it
in your opinion? And I know, and you can preface
disclaimer your opinion, but why is it that in our
lifetime we're not much different in age, every serving president
(22:39):
has either continued or started a war. And then Trump
has this appearance that he's, you know, so aggressive and
he's going to get us into wars, and he comes
along and you know, and maybe I'm wrong on this,
but it's kind of one of the only presidents to not.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Further or start a war. Why is that in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
In great question. Uh. I think Trump is a unique
individual uh in of himself. Uh and I think his
his agendas are are much wider or bigger than most
of the other presidents before or even after him. I
(23:21):
believe that, uh, he's a relationship guy or a relationship builder,
so uh he's able to build relationships with even the
likes of you know Putin as well. So uh, I
think those relationships will evolve, or you know, if he
is selected, I assume would would evolve, and he could
(23:43):
probably steer uh this country or maybe even some of
our our outlying countries that are currently in conflict or
in war uh to you know, to end those conflicts.
But I don't know if I have a right answer.
But I just think, you know, he's a relationship guy.
I think he's gonna try not to. I think we
(24:05):
should all be in that boat, and maybe not some
of our past presidents. But like, why do we seek conflict?
I don't I don't think there's any real reason why
we should be unless it's, like you said, we're taking
away the freedoms of our United States citizens and and
you know, somebody invades the United States as a country.
So I don't know. I think he's just a relationship guy.
(24:29):
I guess that boils down to it.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I appreciate the answer. I mean, I'm
obviously pro Trump, and I think a lot of the
listeners are pro Trump. But it's weird how he gets
this vibe or you know, from the left and not
like we believe a lot of what they say, but
you know, they almost have this idea that he's he's
(24:52):
going to start wars and he's hard to get along
with Andy, and then when he goes, hey, you know,
Putin's a good guy and these other guys are good guys.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
He's not. They take it out of context like that,
you know, he agreed. I don't know. It's just interesting,
but I appreciate the way you answered it, you know.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
And even coming from the business world, it's like, well,
if you're going to get deals done, you know, he's
building these multi billion dollar skyscrapers, there's a lot of
relationships that need to be right, and if you come
in aggressive, you're not going to get stuff done, you know,
but if you come in firm. So anyway, I appreciate
that answer. I think that's that's true. He respects the
(25:28):
other opponent, but he also knows how to build that relationship.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Interesting, Okay, yeah, when you talk respect to like he
knows and he understands, and so does you know, the administration,
whether it's it's his or or the current regime. But
like he knows that these leaders are threats to the
United States, Like he knows that, he understands that. Like
he's not going to jeopardize not only himself, the administration
(25:56):
the United States citizens for that. But said, I mean,
I mean I don't want to go to war. I
think most people don't want to go to war. You know,
why would we want to start a conflict when we
can try to resolve it in the first place.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Kind of digging up a little bit of past wounds
here possibly, But what when all this COVID stuff went down,
And I know I have other friends in the military,
just any any even their work setting and whatnot, when
all these restrictions and vaccine mandates came through, like back
to the freedom, what what did that mean to you
(26:35):
as far as like being forced to do stuff that
maybe was outside of what your values and what you
wanted to do. Like how did that impact you? If anything?
I know, it's kind of an open ended loaded question.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah for me, I don't. I don't think it impacted
me greatly. And the reason why is, I mean I
was told to do something. I was given an order,
and as a United States Army soldier, I mean, we
have a chain in command. We we are given difficult
orders every single day, and I was tasked with one
(27:07):
and I completed that order. Uh. Now when it comes
to uh uh the soldiers that maybe not had uh
I'll see how I want to approach this. But those
that did not have the same view as I. Uh,
you know, and and we know a couple of them personally.
(27:28):
But you know, there were exceptions to the policy, and
there was a process on what that looked like. It
was a long drawn out process for for many and
and uh, you know, for a lot of soldiers I
think in any military branch, I guess, uh, you know,
there was a handful of of them that got separated
(27:52):
from service, which is super unfortunate I think in some capacity,
but uh, you know, for the Iowa National Guard and
and uh our organization as a whole, I think it
was you know, taken with consideration. Like I said, the
process was was quite lengthy. So by the time you know,
everybody got their first or even second shots, and it
(28:13):
was all mandated. Like a light switch, it was turned
off and kind of lowered the bar. I guess you'd
say with with those that are seeking a religious or
administrative exemption for the COVID shots. So I want to
consider any of them lucky. I think, you know, there
was a process for a reason, and and it was
(28:35):
just a lengthy process, and none of them or not,
I want to say none of them, A lot of
them never really got through the entirety of that process,
and thankfully they're all, you know, still currently serving for
most of them, I would assume, So.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, yeah, No, it's just I think it was a
shock or two and I didn't know, Yeah I didn't.
I didn't know from a freedom standpoint, Like it's just
do you feel like that is a threat in the future,
I mean that that could happen again, and or do
(29:09):
you think maybe it was like, Okay, that was a
learning lesson, let's not do that again.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Hard to say without like really doing a whole lot
of research and digging into it. I mean, you know,
in twenty six years in the Guard I've been I've
been shot up with a lot of shots, a flu shot.
We get that every year. Is it mandatory? I would
like to say yes, it is. However, there's an exemption
to policy on those as well, and people do get
(29:36):
approved policies to not take the flu shots. But there's
a lot of other stuff for the safety and well
being not only myself, but the force is super critical
and I think has to be taken into consideration. So
do I agree with it? I can't tell you, you know,
one way to the other. I took both of the
(29:56):
COVID shots, but there is no obviously no requirement to
take anything else. So at this point I'm not going
to just you know, take COVID shots and boosters to
get it, get it done. But at the end of
the day, like there was a process in place and
we were told to do it, and many of us
complied and those that did not, unfortunately some of them
(30:19):
were separated from the service, and some of them made
it through the exemption process as well. But hopefully that
answered your question with So.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
When I'm hearing you talk, and obviously you've gotten in
your position for a reason, like very much that duty
and authority and obedience, you can hear it come through
right and I'm not. I'm saying that in the most
respectful and complimentary way. What if, and maybe you're going
(30:48):
this would never happen if the powers above you ever
gave the order to turn you on American citizens for
any such reason. Where is the line for you where
you're like, yeah, no, I'm going to disobey.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah, that's a great question. I feel like it's a
fiction story, uh, you know, a book or something. Uh,
you know, a great question. I don't know. I mean,
when you look at authority and chain of command and
you're being ordered to do something, you know, not doing
that is a direct disobeying direct orders. So uh, you know,
(31:31):
I hope I've never put in that position. I would
like to think that I would, and many others would not,
but ever would be put in that position. But I
don't know. That's a unique question. Uh yeah, there's a
lot of a lot that we'd have to get details on.
And what does that look like? Are they actively uh
(31:53):
you know, an enemy or a threat to the United
States citizens or to myself in general? Uh you know,
or or we is it just a you know, freelance order,
you know, to to go destroy United States citizens? You know,
there's a lot of contexts that I don't think we're
we could probably talk for hours on it, but we
don't really have context on it. But at the end
(32:14):
of the day, if you know you're disobeying in a
direct order, I mean, it's.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Your jobs on the line, right, yep.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, Well, I mean I'm sure it's not the first
time you've thought about it. I mean, as unfortunate of
a situation that may come, you know, maybe, but yeah,
I mean hope hopefully it never escalates to anything like that.
But you know, there's all of these and maybe I'm
(32:44):
putting my maybe you're maybe you're getting to see the
size of my tin foil hat. But you know, it's
just thinking about it is is is maybe a way
to prepare for it, right, And I pray that if
it ever came to that, we do have high level
of that can choose the right side, you know, to
(33:06):
you know, to kind of ease everything over and to
make sure it never comes to that. But cool, Well,
we're kind of coming to the end of the timeline.
Just like I said, the theme is freedom. We talked
a lot about freedom throughout and yeah, I mean I
(33:26):
think it it I think from my from my outsider
looking in. You know, a lot stems on this election,
a lot stems on it. But at the end of
the day, I'm also the guy that is like, well,
regardless of what happens, we got to look internal. We
got to kind of set up our own personal economies
and do the best we can with whatever and not
lose sleep over it. How how is that like for
(33:48):
you and your family? Like, you know you are well,
you know, you're immersed in the military. Is it hard
to separate it once in a while or tell me
about that a little bit taking it home And.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yeah, I think for me, uh, you know, it comes
down to work ethic and uh, I'm an extremely hard worker,
and I like to say most people are, but for me,
I most certainly am. And I'm dedicated to my my job.
I'm dedicated to my profession. Ultimately, it pays the bills,
It puts food on the table for my family and
(34:21):
a roof over the top of their heads. So this
is a career for me. This is a profession, just
like anybody else that would have a career profession as well. Like,
I take it extremely seriously. You know, it's hard for
me to shut it off, whether I'm at home or
away from home. I got two phones. One's my personal phone,
(34:43):
one's my my work phone. You know, we just spent
four days in Denver, Colorado here this this last weekend.
And and as much as people tell you to shut
it off, and as much as I'd like to shut
it off, it's it's extremely difficult.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
I definitely had to make some phone calls and take
some emails and make some decisions while I was away
as well, which is you know, just part of the jobs,
the duties and descriptions. I mean, they put a lot
of responsibility, responsibilities on us, you know, and I very seriously.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, awesome man. Well, I yeah, super grateful for your time.
I know it's valuable and this was good. And just
the way you talk and the all the terminology you
use is just a lot of us listening. It's kind
of kind of interesting to hear, you know, there's such
structure and hierarchy and very much a plan and obviously
(35:38):
to manage thousands of military people across the United States,
but you know, in your case, through Iowa, there's just.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
It's cool to see such structure and.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Obviously it's been around a long time, and I'm sure
there's inefficiencies, but you know, just like running any hierarchy
or any amount of people in a big organization and
it's uh, I'm sure you guys have worked out a
lot of the kinks maybe, right, yeah yeah yeah yeah
awesome man. Well, I appreciate your time and thanks again.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Yep, thanks Dane, have a good one.
Welcome back, guys. This is the five F Conversations. Obviously,
we're just working through our rebrand here, but Forum was
the podcast episodes in the past where we talked about faith, family, fitness,
and finances and just how to use that algorithm to
kind of make good decisions with good priorities and everything.
(00:36):
And so the rebrand here five as we're adding a
fifth F and this whole series of episodes is going
to be focused a.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Little more around freedom, all right.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
With that said, Justin became a a friend and client
of mine over the past few years, introduced to him
through a different buddy of mine in the military down
in Iowa. And yeah, I'll let you kind of give
a little more details about you know, what you do
in the military and how you got to where you're at.
But yeah, I'm excited to kind of, you know, pull
(01:09):
out what freedom means to you and maybe does it
look a little different than us, you know, average civilians
that maybe haven't been deployed and haven't been in combat
and some of the stuff you've been through. So take
it away, Justin, tell us a little bit about yourself,
your family, and then maybe fill us in how you
got to where you're.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
At absolutely hey. Thanks Dan, I appreciate the time today
and I'm humbled to be part of the podcast here
with you and the rest of the crew. For those
who don't know me, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Justin Foot. I've
been serving in the Eye Army National Guard for over
twenty six years. Of that, I currently work full time
(01:50):
as an Active Guard Reserve or what they consider AGR SO.
I work full time on word of the uniform every
single day. I've been doing that for a number of years.
I get about thirteen almost fourteen years of active federal service,
so if I were to want to retire, I could
retire here in the next five or six years, but
(02:12):
I think I'll continue to serve as long as my mind, body,
and soul will allow me. Right now, I'm currently the
second Brigade Combat Team, thirty fourth Entry Division, the executive
Officer and full time oice SO I manage approximate one
hundred and sixty full time employees across thirty plus armories
(02:36):
in the entire state of Iowa, and then on the
m day or the drilling side. As an executive officer,
I am the second in charge for the Brigade Combat
Team which consists of about thirty three hundred soldiers. This
year just a brand new position for me. It's a
(02:56):
position that I've been wanting for quite some time and
and uh set my career up to to take this
this role on here, but been in the charity for
almost three months, looking uh forward to you know, the
the upcoming years. We prepare for a joint Readiness Training
Center or what they call a charity see event down
(03:17):
in Fort Johnson, Louisiana in uh end of May and June,
and then uh uh some of our soldiers, well, we'll
be mobilized in supportive Operation Inherent Resolve or o i
R next summer as well.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
So yeah, next summer, basically Layman's term, you're going to
have a big group of your your guys under under
your command basically be deployed overseas and and but you're
going to kind of help manage them from home base.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
You're not You're not You're not going over seas this
go around, right.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yes, sir. So, the this one is a little unique
in its nature. Uh, you know, about half of our
Brigade AID Combat Team will mobilize forward. The other half
will state what we call Rear Detachment UH or in
the state of Iowa. So what's significant about that is obviously,
you know, many of our command teams UH and and
(04:13):
leaders across the organization will be deployed forward UH, and
then there's a need uh, you know, to continue mission
back here in Iowa with the soldiers that we have
across the state and across the brigade, which takes leaders
such as myself and other full time leaders across the
brigade combat team UH to do that successfully. So I
(04:36):
will not be on on this mobilization unless something, you know,
drastically changes between now and then.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The world is a volatile place, as you know, so
things things could change pretty pretty rapidly if if, if
we're not careful. But right now, I'm going to be
the rear Detachment commander or or full time o i C.
And I'll just I'll work on building the strength of
the brigade while the brigade is forward on am mobilization.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
So how many deployments have you been on and maybe.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Segue that into what was your most impactful or notable
deployment in your eyes?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So I've been on two different deployments three to four,
So two thousand and three to two thousand and four
deployed to Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. That was a peacekeeping
mission at the time. They were six month missions, so
by the time we started training and then down or
(05:37):
got done with the deployment is about maybe nine months
away from home. I was super young. That was in
three so I had only been in the Guard for
maybe five or six years at the time, so it
was unique in that nature. My second one is a
combat deployment to Afghanistan, specifically RC East, which is the
(05:59):
northeast portion of Afghanistan. Pretty remote, very rugged, rugged terrain,
mountainous terrain. On that one, I would say that was
my most memorable deployment. A lot of ups and downs
throughout that deployment. I had a soldier by the name
(06:20):
of Donnie Nichols who unfortunately passed after his truck was
striked by improvised explosive device. Twenty one year old kid
had had a full life ahead of him and unfortunately
his life was taken too soon. But with that said,
(06:41):
the memorable piece of that, I've made a lot of
friends in additional family or what I consider family now
based on his death. Unfortunately, but I got to know
a lot of new people out and get to or
had a chance to know prior to and now I
considered them, you know, some of my best friends and
family as well.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
With that Afghanistan deployment, was that what was the impact
was a start of the war?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Like tell us a little.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Bit about the timing of that deployment and what the
mission was and if it was successful or not, and
how it kind of impacted maybe the war at that time, yes.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Sir, so twenty ten obviously was about you know, nine
years into the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we were
just transitioning or Afghanistan was just transitioning into counter insurgency,
which is a coin acronym, the acronym coins, so the
(07:42):
counterinsurancy fight, so essentially winning the hearts and minds of
the local populace was the biggest piece with that. During
the deployment, there's a lot of key leader engagements or
koes that we were conducting across the operations with the
Brigade Combat Team. Myself specifically, I did a number of
(08:07):
those across our our assigned area as well. But on
top of that, uh, you know, the the threat of
enemy was obviously still there. We were engaged in direct
combat with enemy I want to say nearly every day,
but at least every week, but nearly every day as well.
(08:30):
Every time you left the wire it was you know,
some threat to you, depending on your your type of mission.
But but we're about nine years into the UH to
the Iraq in Afghanistan, our combat there, so right smack
dab in the middle of everything. And as far as
(08:50):
success or not, you know, the Brigade Combat Team in
my organization obviously did a lot of great things while
we're deployed over there. We went to a lot of
different areas that were not necessarily ever h stepped on
by American soldier before, which you know, obviously uh comes
out of risk and in some cases, uh you know,
(09:13):
loss of life and uh some of those soldiers. But
you know, we did a lot of successful things over there,
and unfortunately, you know, as you know, in the in
the recent years and closure of the combat operations in
Afghanistan and just you know, it just we turned everything
right back over to the enemy, which is super unfortunate.
(09:35):
And you know, when you look at people, not only
Donny Nichols, but you know, thousands and thousands of people
that gave up their lives uh to fight in Iraq
and specifically Afghanistan, and and you know, look at us
today and where we're at, We're you know, right back
to you know, the enemy controlling that that that country.
So it's unfortunate.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well if you want to go there.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I was at one of my questions, was just talking
a little bit about the election coming up, the political influence,
Like I don't know how much you can or are
willing to share, but like what's the military like take
on like the elections and how important are you know,
the commander in chief from the top is in the
(10:20):
trickle down effect.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Absolutely, So obviously I can't say a whole lot on
this topic, but all I know is it's it's extremely
important for every one of us, whether we're wearing the
uniform or we're not, to just go out and vote.
We all have a place in this to determine who
our next leader is. And whether you're right or left,
(10:43):
it doesn't matter to me as long as you know,
people are smart about it, make a smart decision and
go to the polls and actually vote. So that's the
most important thing. You know, I'm going to follow whatever
leader it is that is selected in November. But at
the end of the day, it's just extremely important for
all of us to get out and just vote.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And I can I can hear you know, you're you're,
you're You're not going to probably share exactly who you
want to vote for, but maybe share like because you know,
you've been through last four years and you've you've been
an active officer the four years prior with Trump, Like
what what is it? What's the trickle down effect? Like
as far as like the morale, the the orders, Like
(11:32):
how does it as much as you're willing to share
from the inside, like how does that? How does that
impact your day to day life? Depending on if we
have a Biden in office or a Trump in office.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Sure you know, to to stay light on on on
the subject, but I think it comes down to their agendas. Uh,
you know, ultimately, as as a soldier, we're going to follow,
you know, whoever's been is going to be selected, whether
that's Trump or it's Harris or in this case, you know,
Biden currently in the administration. So at the end of
(12:07):
the day, Uh, you know, I don't think it necessarily
affects me day to day as much as it may
with some others, but you know their agenda and what
they want to do and how aggressive they are and
complaining those agendas, whether uh you know their stance on
military operations, whether it's you know, the current volatile world
(12:30):
that we have right now with Russia and Ukraine and
the other countries that are are starting to support some
of those as well, Israel and Iran as well. So
like if their stance you know, to to go to
war if it's aggressive or if it's not. Obviously he's
going to dictate on on what myself or or the
(12:51):
other soldiers across the organization UH are are called to do.
So you know, no real impact to me, you know
today or even the more borrow but obviously it's important
to get out there and vote.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Like I said earlier, Yeah, I could talk all day
on politics, so I'll switch subjects a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
But how what's next for you?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
I mean, I think you're probably around forty years old
something like that, still got you know, you can retire he.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Said, in four or five years.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
But like you've obviously you know, moved up the ranks
over the years and been intentional about that. So what
what's the next fifteen to twenty years in the military,
if you stay the course look like and how high
and you know, how high up could you go? And
what does that mean for you?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah. So I've been an officer for about sixteen years
of my twenty six years total time in service, which
has been a great blessing for me to be a
leader across an organization. I've been in a plethora of
leadership assignments from you know, a brand new second lieutenant
we call them butter bars, all the way up to
my current position where I'm a lieutenant colonel in charge
(13:59):
of you know, one hundred and sixty soldiers and on
the full time side, and then thirty three hundred on
the drilling side. But you know, right now, like I said,
as long as my mind, body, and soul will allow
me to do it, I plan to serve as long
as I can. I just got to this this role
here a few months ago. So generally speaking, in the
(14:21):
Active Guard Reserve AGR program in the Iowa Action Guard,
they like to keep officers in their current role for
pretty much twenty four months or two years generally. In
some capacities, it kind of depends on who the bench
is behind you whether I got soldiers that are ready
to take my position that that's going to drive that timeline.
(14:43):
So I could go up to thirty six months or
three years in this job as well before I start
looking at the next assignment. But right now I'm super
focused on on the Brigade Combat Team in our duties
and responsibilities leading up to jarititc inalization of half of
our force in the coming years. Uh. You know, I
(15:04):
hope to to have a position at the state Headquarters,
Joint Force head Joint Forces Headquarters UH here in Johnston,
UH and learn that that piece of the pie as
far as the state goes, and the current operations there,
and then UH, you know, I'd love nothing more to
to go out uh to Pennsylvania and UH do twelve
(15:25):
months of resident War college UH out there as well.
That's probably you know, four or five years down the road.
UH if I can knock that out uh and complete that.
I have goals and aspirations to make it at least
to a full word kernel, which is six one, one
grade above this one. And and UH, as I look
(15:47):
at my entire entirety of my career, I would love
nothing more to depend on one star and become a
general officer someday.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Nice, I love it. Well.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
The fact that you know in your head the steps
is probably good a good sign that you're going to
get there with time. Let's shift gears to freedom a
little bit, so real generically, what with your experience in
the military, being overseas fighting in active combat, what does it?
Does freedom mean something a little different to you now?
(16:19):
Or talk to me a little bit generically about what
comes to mind when just the word freedom pops in
your head.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, you bet so. I'll try not to prolong this
too much, but I want to kind of start, like
what is freedom and kind of what the official definition is. So,
based on some research, like the official definition or as
close as possible for freedom can be defined as the
state of being able to act, speak, or think without
(16:46):
undue restriction or interference. Kind of includes your right to
make personal choices, pursue your own your goals, express yourself
openly without the bounds of societies and laws. So that's
kind of typically what the general public and freedom would be.
(17:06):
Now as you look at it, it's kind of twofold.
So you know, myself twenty six years currently serving, or
even if it's one year wearing in their uniform. Freedom
I think means a little bit different to myself than
it would to civilians. So for most civilians, you know,
they may view freedom as you know, ability to pursue
(17:29):
a career that they have or a career of choice,
to be able to travel around the world freely express
any kind of concerns or opinions without fear of reprisal.
So that's kind of what freedom I think is is
to most civilians. For me, you know, twenty six years
total time and service, wear in the uniform every day,
(17:52):
it means a little bit different to me. So as
a long time serving member of the Ioan Nation Guard,
it's had a lightered significance at the basic level. You know,
our our freedom UH is to serve and protect UH,
to ensure the freedom of others across the state and nation.
(18:13):
So basically, I'm we're in the uniform and I'm going
to be called upon, or when I do get it
called upon, I'm going to go and I'm going to
fight for our freedoms and our rights for every UH
person in the in the United States and or in
the nation. On top of that, I think it comes
(18:34):
with some some type of responsibility. So for me as
a national regard sold soldier or even let's just say
the United States military, you know, it's a responsible or
responsibility of mind to be able to provide that freedom
to yourself and and others across the state and nation
(18:56):
by serving in the uniform and called upon doing whatever
it takes to to do that. So that's kind of
a shortened down and dirty on it on that piece.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah, what this might be a deep question, but how
at risk is our country to lose any freedoms or
to lose the ultimate freedom that we have as a
as a as a as the United States of America
as we know it.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
That's a great question, Dan, And I don't know if
I have the right answer or even an answer to that,
but I'll try to break it down a little bit.
But you know, the the world is is just it's
it has changed and evolved, most certainly over the last
four or five years, but most specifically over the time
(19:47):
in Iraq and Afghanistan and those two combat operations there.
But I would like to say that the United States
of America is a great nation and uh at that
you know we're going to do and the senior leaders
of this country are going to do everything in their
(20:08):
power to ensure nobody in the in the United States
loses uh, their freedom in whatever capacity. If that means,
you know, going to large scale combat operations or what
we consider lisco environment, uh, meaning we're going to war
with multiple countries or or multiple parties within an organization, uh,
(20:33):
large organizations or large number of soldiers being deployed at
one time. So I think the United States of America,
you know, as uncomfortable as it may be right now
or in some cases with you know, talking to other people, UH,
they may have fears of some of that. I don't
think I'm fearful. I think our leaders across an organization,
(20:56):
and even with the election this this year, uh, they
all have that in the forefront of their mind. And
I honestly, I don't think anything in the world would
be able to change that, unless you know, a country
invades the United States of America, and even then, you know,
I don't know what that outcome would be for that.
(21:17):
But I think we're in a safe place.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
And I know it's a it's a pretty heavy and
loaded question. And I know you from knowing you for
a handful of years now, I know you're going to
say the politically correct thing that's not going to get
yourself in trouble, and I respect that. It's just, you know,
from the military standpoint, from being more within. You know,
do you think an external threat or an internal threat
(21:46):
is a bigger threat?
Speaker 3 (21:49):
I would probably say external. You know, we obviously have
people in the United States that don't belong here and
are certainly a threat to our freedoms. But I believe
deep down inside, if freedom were to be affected, it
would most certainly be somebody external to the United States
(22:12):
in probably large scale.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Jumping back into politics, and you can just say no,
but I do want to ask, like, why is it
in your opinion? And I know, and you can preface
disclaimer your opinion, but why is it that in our
lifetime we're not much different in age, every serving president
(22:39):
has either continued or started a war. And then Trump
has this appearance that he's, you know, so aggressive and
he's going to get us into wars, and he comes
along and you know, and maybe I'm wrong on this,
but it's kind of one of the only presidents to not.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Further or start a war. Why is that in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
In great question. Uh. I think Trump is a unique
individual uh in of himself. Uh and I think his
his agendas are are much wider or bigger than most
of the other presidents before or even after him. I
(23:21):
believe that, uh, he's a relationship guy or a relationship builder,
so uh he's able to build relationships with even the
likes of you know Putin as well. So uh, I
think those relationships will evolve, or you know, if he
is selected, I assume would would evolve, and he could
(23:43):
probably steer uh this country or maybe even some of
our our outlying countries that are currently in conflict or
in war uh to you know, to end those conflicts.
But I don't know if I have a right answer.
But I just think, you know, he's a relationship guy.
I think he's gonna try not to. I think we
(24:05):
should all be in that boat, and maybe not some
of our past presidents. But like, why do we seek conflict?
I don't I don't think there's any real reason why
we should be unless it's, like you said, we're taking
away the freedoms of our United States citizens and and
you know, somebody invades the United States as a country.
So I don't know. I think he's just a relationship guy.
(24:29):
I guess that boils down to it.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I appreciate the answer. I mean, I'm
obviously pro Trump, and I think a lot of the
listeners are pro Trump. But it's weird how he gets
this vibe or you know, from the left and not
like we believe a lot of what they say, but
you know, they almost have this idea that he's he's
(24:52):
going to start wars and he's hard to get along
with Andy, and then when he goes, hey, you know,
Putin's a good guy and these other guys are good guys.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
He's not. They take it out of context like that,
you know, he agreed. I don't know. It's just interesting,
but I appreciate the way you answered it, you know.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
And even coming from the business world, it's like, well,
if you're going to get deals done, you know, he's
building these multi billion dollar skyscrapers, there's a lot of
relationships that need to be right, and if you come
in aggressive, you're not going to get stuff done, you know,
but if you come in firm. So anyway, I appreciate
that answer. I think that's that's true. He respects the
(25:28):
other opponent, but he also knows how to build that relationship.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Interesting, Okay, yeah, when you talk respect to like he
knows and he understands, and so does you know, the administration,
whether it's it's his or or the current regime. But
like he knows that these leaders are threats to the
United States, Like he knows that, he understands that. Like
he's not going to jeopardize not only himself, the administration
(25:56):
the United States citizens for that. But said, I mean,
I mean I don't want to go to war. I
think most people don't want to go to war. You know,
why would we want to start a conflict when we
can try to resolve it in the first place.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Kind of digging up a little bit of past wounds
here possibly, But what when all this COVID stuff went down,
And I know I have other friends in the military,
just any any even their work setting and whatnot, when
all these restrictions and vaccine mandates came through, like back
to the freedom, what what did that mean to you
(26:35):
as far as like being forced to do stuff that
maybe was outside of what your values and what you
wanted to do. Like how did that impact you? If anything?
I know, it's kind of an open ended loaded question.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah for me, I don't. I don't think it impacted
me greatly. And the reason why is, I mean I
was told to do something. I was given an order,
and as a United States Army soldier, I mean, we
have a chain in command. We we are given difficult
orders every single day, and I was tasked with one
(27:07):
and I completed that order. Uh. Now when it comes
to uh uh the soldiers that maybe not had uh
I'll see how I want to approach this. But those
that did not have the same view as I. Uh,
you know, and and we know a couple of them personally.
(27:28):
But you know, there were exceptions to the policy, and
there was a process on what that looked like. It
was a long drawn out process for for many and
and uh, you know, for a lot of soldiers I
think in any military branch, I guess, uh, you know,
there was a handful of of them that got separated
(27:52):
from service, which is super unfortunate I think in some capacity,
but uh, you know, for the Iowa National Guard and
and uh our organization as a whole, I think it
was you know, taken with consideration. Like I said, the
process was was quite lengthy. So by the time you know,
everybody got their first or even second shots, and it
(28:13):
was all mandated. Like a light switch, it was turned
off and kind of lowered the bar. I guess you'd
say with with those that are seeking a religious or
administrative exemption for the COVID shots. So I want to
consider any of them lucky. I think, you know, there
was a process for a reason, and and it was
(28:35):
just a lengthy process, and none of them or not,
I want to say none of them, A lot of
them never really got through the entirety of that process,
and thankfully they're all, you know, still currently serving for
most of them, I would assume, So.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, yeah, No, it's just I think it was a
shock or two and I didn't know, Yeah I didn't.
I didn't know from a freedom standpoint, Like it's just
do you feel like that is a threat in the future,
I mean that that could happen again, and or do
(29:09):
you think maybe it was like, Okay, that was a
learning lesson, let's not do that again.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Hard to say without like really doing a whole lot
of research and digging into it. I mean, you know,
in twenty six years in the Guard I've been I've
been shot up with a lot of shots, a flu shot.
We get that every year. Is it mandatory? I would
like to say yes, it is. However, there's an exemption
to policy on those as well, and people do get
(29:36):
approved policies to not take the flu shots. But there's
a lot of other stuff for the safety and well
being not only myself, but the force is super critical
and I think has to be taken into consideration. So
do I agree with it? I can't tell you, you know,
one way to the other. I took both of the
(29:56):
COVID shots, but there is no obviously no requirement to
take anything else. So at this point I'm not going
to just you know, take COVID shots and boosters to
get it, get it done. But at the end of
the day, like there was a process in place and
we were told to do it, and many of us
complied and those that did not, unfortunately some of them
(30:19):
were separated from the service, and some of them made
it through the exemption process as well. But hopefully that
answered your question with So.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
When I'm hearing you talk, and obviously you've gotten in
your position for a reason, like very much that duty
and authority and obedience, you can hear it come through
right and I'm not. I'm saying that in the most
respectful and complimentary way. What if, and maybe you're going
(30:48):
this would never happen if the powers above you ever
gave the order to turn you on American citizens for
any such reason. Where is the line for you where
you're like, yeah, no, I'm going to disobey.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah, that's a great question. I feel like it's a
fiction story, uh, you know, a book or something. Uh,
you know, a great question. I don't know. I mean,
when you look at authority and chain of command and
you're being ordered to do something, you know, not doing
that is a direct disobeying direct orders. So uh, you know,
(31:31):
I hope I've never put in that position. I would
like to think that I would, and many others would not,
but ever would be put in that position. But I
don't know. That's a unique question. Uh yeah, there's a
lot of a lot that we'd have to get details on.
And what does that look like? Are they actively uh
(31:53):
you know, an enemy or a threat to the United
States citizens or to myself in general? Uh you know,
or or we is it just a you know, freelance order,
you know, to to go destroy United States citizens? You know,
there's a lot of contexts that I don't think we're
we could probably talk for hours on it, but we
don't really have context on it. But at the end
(32:14):
of the day, if you know you're disobeying in a
direct order, I mean, it's.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Your jobs on the line, right, yep.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, Well, I mean I'm sure it's not the first
time you've thought about it. I mean, as unfortunate of
a situation that may come, you know, maybe, but yeah,
I mean hope hopefully it never escalates to anything like that.
But you know, there's all of these and maybe I'm
(32:44):
putting my maybe you're maybe you're getting to see the
size of my tin foil hat. But you know, it's
just thinking about it is is is maybe a way
to prepare for it, right, And I pray that if
it ever came to that, we do have high level
of that can choose the right side, you know, to
(33:06):
you know, to kind of ease everything over and to
make sure it never comes to that. But cool, Well,
we're kind of coming to the end of the timeline.
Just like I said, the theme is freedom. We talked
a lot about freedom throughout and yeah, I mean I
(33:26):
think it it I think from my from my outsider
looking in. You know, a lot stems on this election,
a lot stems on it. But at the end of
the day, I'm also the guy that is like, well,
regardless of what happens, we got to look internal. We
got to kind of set up our own personal economies
and do the best we can with whatever and not
lose sleep over it. How how is that like for
(33:48):
you and your family? Like, you know you are well,
you know, you're immersed in the military. Is it hard
to separate it once in a while or tell me
about that a little bit taking it home And.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yeah, I think for me, uh, you know, it comes
down to work ethic and uh, I'm an extremely hard worker,
and I like to say most people are, but for me,
I most certainly am. And I'm dedicated to my my job.
I'm dedicated to my profession. Ultimately, it pays the bills,
It puts food on the table for my family and
(34:21):
a roof over the top of their heads. So this
is a career for me. This is a profession, just
like anybody else that would have a career profession as well. Like,
I take it extremely seriously. You know, it's hard for
me to shut it off, whether I'm at home or
away from home. I got two phones. One's my personal phone,
(34:43):
one's my my work phone. You know, we just spent
four days in Denver, Colorado here this this last weekend.
And and as much as people tell you to shut
it off, and as much as I'd like to shut
it off, it's it's extremely difficult.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
I definitely had to make some phone calls and take
some emails and make some decisions while I was away
as well, which is you know, just part of the jobs,
the duties and descriptions. I mean, they put a lot
of responsibility, responsibilities on us, you know, and I very seriously.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, awesome man. Well, I yeah, super grateful for your time.
I know it's valuable and this was good. And just
the way you talk and the all the terminology you
use is just a lot of us listening. It's kind
of kind of interesting to hear, you know, there's such
structure and hierarchy and very much a plan and obviously
(35:38):
to manage thousands of military people across the United States,
but you know, in your case, through Iowa, there's just.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
It's cool to see such structure and.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Obviously it's been around a long time, and I'm sure
there's inefficiencies, but you know, just like running any hierarchy
or any amount of people in a big organization and
it's uh, I'm sure you guys have worked out a
lot of the kinks maybe, right, yeah yeah yeah yeah
awesome man. Well, I appreciate your time and thanks again.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Yep, thanks Dane, have a good one.
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