December 30, 2025 • 32 mins
Trauma, as articulated in this discourse, need not serve as the defining characteristic of an individual’s existence; rather, it possesses the potential to be transmuted into a wellspring of strength, clarity, and purpose. In this compelling exchange, Brett Ross recounts his personal odyssey through trauma and adversity, elucidating how these formidable experiences have indelibly shaped his mindset. He emphasizes the paramount importance of ownership, accountability, and perspective as foundational elements for sustained growth and recovery. This conversation is a testament to the resilience inherent in the veteran community, advocating for a reframing of hardship into a catalyst for forward momentum. Ultimately, Brett’s narrative serves as an enlightening exploration of the transformative power of resilience and the human spirit’s capacity to rise from the depths of despair.
Takeaways:
- Trauma, rather than being a defining factor, can serve as a catalyst for personal growth and resilience.
- Ownership, accountability, and perspective are fundamental principles that facilitate long-term healing and transformation from adversity.
- The journey of transitioning from military to civilian life can be arduous, yet it holds the potential for profound personal development and fulfillment.
- Surrounding oneself with other veterans who share similar experiences can foster a supportive environment that encourages healing and understanding.
- A refusal to quit in the face of adversity can lead to unexpected achievements and a renewed sense of purpose in life.
- Mentorship within the police force, especially for those with shared traumatic experiences, is crucial for maintaining mental health and supporting community relations.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Wounded Warrior Battalion
- United States Marine Corps
- PTSD Foundation of America
- Warrior Built Foundation
- Big Fish Foundation
- Veterans Transition Resource Center
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Hey, welcome to Combat Vet Vision.
Hey.
This is a platform for us asveterans, combat veterans, sponsors,
supporters, volunteers, familymembers to get on here and kind of
talk about how life isdealing, what's going on and how
we, how we look at life, howit approaches us and all the different
things.
I got J.B. brown on deck.
He is my co host, chef andCoast Guard vet, world renowned chef.
(00:33):
And he's on deck to be hereand, and go over a lot of different
things as.
But hey, our signal kind ofdropped off a second there.
(00:55):
But hey, my guest today isBrett Ross, really good buddy of
mine.
We go way back to WoundedWarrior Battalion west going through
a lot of processes together,healing processes.
Combat vets, veterans went andwe collected them all on Camp Pendleton
at the Wounded War Battalionwest at, in San Diego and really
(01:17):
kind of put together a reallygood process program for us to kind
of transition out.
So Brett's going to get into astory, he's going to tell a lot of
really cool stories and then,and we have a lot of history together
too.
So there's going to be someincredible stuff to kind of go over.
So Brett Ross, thanks a lotfor being on deck.
Brother United States MarineCorps and, and now, and now law enforcement
(01:40):
and so there's a lot of, a lotof really cool history, a lot of
really cool pathways thatyou've taken to get into.
So maybe let's start back inthe beginning in the Marine Corps
and the motivation behind thatand some great stories behind that
too, brother.
Go ahead.
Absolutely.
So I started off in the Marine Corps.
I was a scout first lar.
(02:03):
Absolutely loved that job.
Of course every Marine willprobably tell you that they had the
best job of the Marine Corps.
I no different.
I believe that absolutely lovebeing a scout to my core and got
to do a lot of really coolstuff in Iraq.
Everything that a Marine couldever wish to do in combat, I got
(02:25):
to do it.
So I, I have no complaints.
There was a couple of largescale offensive actions on cities,
mainly the OperationRivergate, Operation Steel Curtain
to take the cities of Hadithaand Barwana and Huseba and Alai.
(02:46):
So that was a lot of fun.
Got to do a lot of cool stuff,scary stuff, but had the time of
my life just being a Marinefrom there in.
But.
Oh, let me back up.
So I on my first deployment,after my first deployment, you know,
everybody gets to talk to,they send everybody through a psych
(03:08):
before you're coming home.
And like everybody at thattime, this isn't SOP now but you
Know the platoon sergeantnormally would tell you guys, hey,
don't say anything to thesite, don't tell them anything.
And I complied with that andyou know, went into the site, said
(03:33):
hey, nothing's wrong with me.
Everything's, you know, allsystems are go, blah blah blah.
Somehow they saw through meand they said, hey, this Marine's
got some issues.
So I come back to thebattalion, they said, hey, you need
(03:53):
to go see division site you.
I did.
They pulled my weapons cardand they were like, you're not going
back.
And I was, I was really likeany Marine would be heartbroken,
absolutely just destroyed.
So I said, hey, who can I talkto about this?
(04:14):
I'm going back to Iraq nomatter what.
Lieutenant said, hey, this isa done deal, not doing it.
I said, well, can I talk tosomebody above you?
And they said, well, you canrequest mass.
And I, I said, you know what,I'mma do that.
How do I do that?
And he said, well, all you gotto do is say the words.
(04:34):
I said, well, I'm a request master.
The sergeant major I did,Sergeant major was an old, old guy,
got in tail end of Vietnam andhe, I talked to him, he said, hey,
why do you want to go back?
I said, well, every Marinewants to lead Marines in combat.
That's like the pinnacle ofbeing a Marine, right?
(04:57):
So he liked that answer, said,hey, if you turn in those pills that
the, the site gave you, youcan go back.
And I did.
But he said if I, if I stayedin my barracks a little, 30 seconds
that I was done, I grabbed thepills, went back, gave those, give
those back to the divisionpsych and I went back to second tour.
(05:22):
Don't necessarily remember,recommend that to anybody out there
if they're having problems,highly recommend.
Talking about sucks.
I don't regret my decision,but at the same time I didn't do
myself any favors.
Go back to Iraq, come back.
They put me in a nondeployable unit because I didn't
(05:46):
sign up for another four years yet.
And they were trying to getnew bodies in the battalion.
That unit recognized there wassomething different about me and
they started the role toWounded Warrior Battalion where I
met you, Chief.
Right, right.
(06:07):
And Wounded War battalionagain is for wounded, ill and injured.
It really started to collect.
You know, that was really hardduring those times because Marine
Corps units were so used totaking care of their own that they
really had a hard time givingup their Marines in order to get
help.
But they had to that thebattalion was really designed and
built for the purpose so thatthe, the unit can, can function without
(06:29):
the, the Marines that theyhave to take care of, and they can
do it from afar.
So they still belong to theirunit, but they went to Wounded War
Battalion west as a, you know,tad in excess to, to be.
Be able to get help and careand, and move forward in a different
pathway.
Yeah.
And at the time when I got toWindow Warrior retired, it was only
(06:51):
combat vets.
They hadn't started rolling inthe, the wounded ill.
The ill, the ill and injured.
Yeah.
And shortly after I got there,they started rolling those, those
in, and I was confused, man.
I, I, at that time, nobodyreally knew what PTSD was.
Nobody ever heard of a tbi andso found out through the, the processes
(07:17):
that the Marine Corps had setup at Winder Warrior Battalion.
Thank God that I had a TBI anda pretty good one and that I had
ptsd.
I still did not understandwhat PTSD was.
Right.
And, you know, that, that was,that was definitely a confusing time.
(07:38):
A lot of things were kind ofcoming out, you know, and it's got
a lot of names, and it's had alot of names through, you know, from,
from the beginning of.
Of battles to shell shock inVietnam to all kinds of different,
different names and, and, youknow, you can, you can name it all
the way through, but what wasbeing done about it was also kind
of a slow start.
(07:59):
Right.
Even at the battalion, wedidn't have necessarily the cyc all
built up.
We, you know, there's a lot ofproblems at the battalion, you know,
trying to manage this wholebig monster.
Matter of fact, you know, Ithink we lost five, five, four or
five different Marines tosuicide within the first two years
of the battalion being stoodup, just because this is where things
(08:23):
were getting really kind of crazy.
And these are guys that are,you know, catastrophically, you know,
lost their unit.
They've lost their, their,their function, their purpose, their,
Their abilities to do, youknow, the things that they were doing.
They're no longer a Marine tobe a Marine.
They're, they're in theuniform, but they, they no longer
functioning as, as that unitthat they, they're no longer the
(08:43):
Superman that they used to be.
And that's, that's how I feltas well.
I, I was like, hey, I, youknow, I was just, I was just in the
fight, and now I'm like,fightless, you know, shrapnel to
my leg, shrapnel to my thighs,shrapnel everywhere.
I got a hernia.
I got all this other stuff.
I'M no longer able to do thejob that I used to be able to do
as a full functioning corpsman.
(09:04):
Now, Now I'm a patient slashstaff member.
You were a patient goingthrough the process.
Go ahead, Ross.
You talk more about it.
Yeah, that was, that was rough.
It was a.
It was a heavy atmosphere whenI got there because the battalion
had just lost a sergeant.
Sure, you remember that, Chief.
And, and that was.
(09:28):
I could feel the atmosphere was.
Was different.
People that knew thatsergeant, I didn't know him, unfortunately.
I heard he was one of the bestand wish I got to know him.
But it, it had definitelychanged the atmosphere guy.
It was really hitting guysthat this is the aftermath of what
(09:51):
we had done coming down fromthat high point of being Marines
in combat.
And that was, that was hardfor a lot of people, realizing that
we were on that.
What they thought of as adownhill slope and what I now know
is the uphill slope in the,the battle against this.
(10:12):
And I was no different.
I was like, I'm on a downhill slope.
This is the end of my life.
I had a lot of trouble.
But at the same time, one ofthe things that wounded warrior Bazillion
had that no other unit had isyou were literally surrounded by
(10:32):
heroes, like the heroes of, ofthe Marine Corps were there.
I met two Medal of Honorrecipients while I was there.
I met recipients of the NavyCross, multiple Silver Star recipients,
(10:53):
Bronze Star recipients.
I mean, you're surrounded bythe baddest dudes that literally
ever walk this earth.
And they had access to toolsthat I didn't know existed, that
none of us knew existed before that.
And we all had a sharedhardship, and it provided, whether
(11:19):
we knew it or not, anatmosphere to begin the healing.
And we didn't know what thathealing was going to look like.
We didn't know what was in for us.
And sometimes we didn't seethat we're even healing at the time.
But even on our off hours, wewere talking about stuff and I found
myself in the smoke pittalking about our issues and, and
(11:44):
finding that healing in thesmoke pit.
There just our common.
Our common interest of beingMarines and our common bond of being
in combat as Marines.
And it was.
And.
And the healing process together.
Healing together.
I think, you know, I think TimMaxwell is known as the grandfather
(12:05):
of the, of the Wounded WarriorRegiment and the, and the reason
why the battalion west andeast were born.
He.
He said, hey, we, you know, hewent to the commandant when the commandant
said, hey, what do you need to do?
Because he was blown up and hewas dealing with a lot of stuff.
And he said, what do we needto do to help these Marines?
We need to heal together.
We need to move, move forwardtogether and pulling everybody together
(12:26):
to do that.
I think really, we really gotto be part of something that was
really incredible.
And at the time, like yousaid, that made a huge point.
You don't know what healinglooks like because when you're trying
to heal in these processes,especially as, as this battalion
was growing, staff, patientalike culture of the Marine Corps
changing its idealisms withinthe, within that battalion to, to
(12:50):
deal with the situations athand, everybody dual situation was
different.
It's not everybody's going tothe gas chamber today, everybody's
going to the range today.
It just doesn't work that samedirection because everybody's individual
needs are so different thatthe Marine Corps had to learn how
to adapt and overcome againand deal with all these situations.
(13:12):
And we as Marines and sailors,that had to heal there.
We had to adapt and overcometo find our pathways, our passions
and our direction to do that.
And, and it's incredible to,to know you and to see where you've
gone with that and you know,go ahead and just keep going your
story and get into some ofthe, you know, the transition, how,
(13:32):
how difficult those thingswere for you and some of these things.
Just an incredible story yougot, Brett.
Yeah, so on the transition, mytransition, and anybody out there
listening to this, that'sgetting out of the military, but
some people, they got out andthey started that transition and
(13:54):
it wasn't working.
And unfortunately they quitand they either took their life or
they just said, I quit.
I'm not, I'm not trying this anymore.
I, I'm just broken.
There's some individuals likemyself that refuse to quit.
(14:15):
And it, it was a, I'll tellyou, this was a 10 year journey to
find my way.
It took me 10 years to do morethan 10 years to do a proper transition
into the outside.
And there was a fight alongthe way.
I had some ups and downs.
(14:37):
I went through a divorce.
After going through a divorce,I found a, a new woman that knew
that, that wanted to get toknow me and she wanted to be there
for me.
I'm still married to her tothis day, and if I didn't have her,
I wouldn't be where I'm at today.
(14:57):
But right after we met, we hada child and, and we got married.
Within a year of having ournewborn child and getting married,
we lost everything we owned toa hurricane that's pretty difficult
on somebody that is stillstruggling with transition, that
(15:22):
is trying to support a newmarriage and a new child.
And that was a rough spot.
And like I said, if you'rehaving trouble out there, do not
quit.
Just refuse to quit.
Get it out of your brainbecause you just keep working at
(15:43):
it.
Keep working the problem likewe do in the Marine Corps.
What do we do?
We just keep working the problem.
It's.
Until we solve it.
And having that mentalityended, ended up where I am today,
being a police officer andSWAT and sniper.
I never would have thought 15years ago that this is where I'd
(16:06):
be.
I thought I'd be dead, honestly.
And it was just because Ididn't quit.
So keep working the problem.
If you're out there and you'restruggling, you're hearing this.
Keep working the problem.
Find a, find a way that worksfor you.
And transition doesn't lookthe same for all of us.
That's right.
Everybody's different.
(16:27):
Yeah.
Don't.
Don't stop before the miracle happens.
You know when you wake up oneday and, and you realize that it's
okay to not be okay.
And I'm gonna be okay by not,not being okay.
And, and I'm still going tolive today.
I'm still going to be aproduct of society.
(16:48):
And, and that's a really goodfeeling kind of being in that, that
position because for so longyou beat yourself up because you
can't do what you used to do.
And are you ever going to beable to do something good?
And now look at you.
I mean, you're a SWAT sniper.
(17:09):
I mean, that's a great achievement.
You know, I'm, I would want todo that.
Yeah.
You know, and, and youparticipated in a lot of warrior
groups with me.
Jim Gallardi started this.
He was my mentor.
You, you got to be mentored by him.
Four time purple guy fromVietnam, sniper as well.
85, 41.
That's a MOS that's no longerin existence and it went out of existence.
(17:32):
And then obviously the snipersare no longer utilized in the Marine
Corps as well, or any service,but they're still so necessary in,
in society.
And you just graduated thatsniper school and you got to reconnect
with Jim Galardi recently anddo some really cool, you know, talks
and stuff.
Talk about that, Ross.
Talk about what it means toyou to, to be where you're at right
now and what you're doing withall that.
(17:53):
It has huge meaning becauselike I said, I didn't know where
My transition was going tolead me.
I just knew I wasn't going to quit.
Like I said, I got out 15years ago.
It took me 15 years to get onmy feet.
And I, as your transition, I,I kept asking myself questions like,
(18:18):
how, how is this going to helpme in the future?
How can I use these, theseexperiences and these weak spots
that I have to my advantage?
Turns out once I become apolice officer, I've talked a number
of people out of suicide.
(18:38):
I wouldn't have been able todo that had I not have all the experiences
that I had.
And so I'm using thoseexperiences and those things that,
the darkest spots of my lifeto my advantage now.
Helping people, young people,people, it makes me weep at night
thinking how young thesepeople are and that, that they're
(19:01):
on the verge of suicide.
A number of them have found mywife out in town and say, hey, your
husband saved my life.
That is one of the mostrewarding experiences I could ever
have, is making an impact onsomebody to just keep going to, to
find their stride and keep going.
(19:23):
And I wouldn't be here if I did.
I wouldn't have.
Be able to do the job that Ido if I didn't have these experiences
behind me.
And I'm going out there intothe community, talking to young folks.
Any chance I get, I do thisthing that I call 32nd mentorship.
So anytime I have an, interactwith somebody on the, on a stop,
(19:47):
as we know, there's, there'sissues between police officers and
sometimes the minoritycommunity, how they feel that we
perceive them and how weperceive that they feel about us.
I'll do this, what I call 32ndmentorship on a traffic stop.
And, and I'll, I'll say, youknow, if it's a minority, young minority,
(20:10):
I'll say, hey, what are yourplans for the future?
You want to go to college?
You want to trade?
What do you want to do?
And they'll, they'll be like,oh man, it completely changes the
attitude on that traffic stop.
And they'll say, oh man, Iwant to do this, that and the other.
And a lot of times I'll bringup the military.
(20:32):
Have you thought about the military?
You know, it can, it's a greathead start in life.
It's gotten me places.
It could be for you.
And they, they completelychange attitudes about things.
And it helps me in 30 seconds,helps me change, you know, both how
they feel, but also how theythink about their future.
(20:55):
Because if I can, if I changethe lives of 100 people, 100 people
over 20 years, I've changedthe lives of thousands because that's
going to lead to their kids.
Let's say they have two kids.
Peace.
100 people, two kids.
Well, there you got, you got300 people that I've affected, and
(21:16):
then those people have kids.
I'm trying to affect agenerational change in behavior and,
and how they think about lifeand their future.
So like I said, had I not.
I had a kind of a rough childhood.
I can see some things on thestreet that other officers may not
(21:38):
necessarily see.
I can see the direction peopleare going, and hopefully I can change
their course by just talkingto them.
You know, and, and a lot oftimes I'll just, I won't give them
a ticket.
I'll just give them that 30second mentorship, give them the
warning and get out of thereand hope that they think about it
the next day.
Nice.
They do.
(21:59):
They will.
Yeah.
Hey, and you, you talked, youtalked about, and I'll let chef ask
you some questions, but youtalked about how it, how important
it is for you to, you know,not only just mentor them, but even
in, in your department, youbecome kind of a, A, a resource because
of certain situations.
Obviously, you know,everybody's dealing with PTSD and
(22:20):
you know, the stigma hasalways been like, once you have it,
you can no longer carry a gun.
And you're obviously proventhat wrong by being a police officer
that has a force multiplierand, you know, being able to deal
with it in a way that's properbecause you got that pro post traumatic
growth.
And we spent some time talkingabout that.
General Mattis pumps that out.
He's made that a hugestatement in the, in the past.
(22:41):
That's such, such anincredible thing.
So talk about why thatmentorship is not only important
to those that you pull over,but also within your, within your
department, you know, so manycool things.
So as everybody can imaginethat we go through some pretty traumatic
experiences regularly on a, ona police department.
You know, in the past year,I've had to do CPR on several dying
(23:03):
people, dying of overdoses,and we come across kids that car
wrecks, all different types of situations.
And I, I've had the, theprivilege, I'm a sell it like that,
(23:24):
the privilege of havingterrible experiences in my past.
But I've also had theprivilege of learning how to process
those, those situations in ahealthy manner.
So as a police officer aroundother police officers that may not
have ever gotten the chance.
(23:45):
Once you join the policedepartment, you're usually there
for 10 or 20 years.
A lot of people, they werethey in their career at 10 years
or so just because they, theycan't take any or more of the trauma.
I've had the privilege ofhaving a 10 year span of growing
and understanding how to dealwith trauma that they have never
(24:09):
gotten to have.
So that it's just, they'relearning as they go.
And now I can, like you said,chief of force multiplier.
I can sit down with theseofficers and say, hey, I know how
you feel about this situation.
Here's how I've dealt withthings in the past.
Maybe it'll help you out.
And if I can prolong a fewcareers of, of people that are actually
(24:33):
good for the community to beout there on the street and prolong
their commute careers to helpanother hundred people like I'm trying
to do, you can change thecommunity in a big way, in a positive
way.
And so trying to, trying tohelp these guys and gals getting
through these tough situationsand understanding it's normal to
(24:56):
feel the way they do andthey're allowed to feel that and
they're also allowed to talkabout changes, perspectives on things.
And if police officers, I'llput it, put this out there.
Police officers weren'tallowed to be police officers because
they had ptsd.
(25:16):
You wouldn't have any policeofficers in the United States.
You wouldn't have any leftbecause that's part of the job is
traumatic experience.
That's something you can't,you can't dodge that.
There's only 900,000 policeofficers in the United States.
And these 900,000 policeofficers police 350 plus million
(25:40):
people.
That's a hard job.
That's a hard job.
So you're talking far lessthan 1% of the population.
I mean, far less.
And the amount of traumaticexperiences you're going to experience
on the job as a police officeror a firefighter or EMS worker is
(26:01):
astronomical.
And if we can keep these guysand gals healthy and on the street
a little bit longer andhelping people, we can, we can change
the attitude of Americans as,as well as what they think about
ptsd.
Definitely, definitely make a difference.
(26:23):
Chef?
Yeah.
You got anything for himbefore we kind of have him close
out?
Brett, I, I applaud you forusing your life experiences in, in
what you've overcome.
You know, a lot of peopledon't realize that when you go in
the service, most people thatgo into service have a servant heart
(26:44):
and you're of service to yourfellow comrade.
You Know, your life depends onhim and his life depends on you.
And there's no other servitudethat's any higher than that.
And I applaud you for that.
Now you're, you have thatservant heart in the community, like
(27:06):
you said, some of the thingsthat you've done and, you know, you're
a pillar to people to, to lookat and see you can make it, you can
overcome.
And that's, that's what's soimportant, is you're making a difference
every day.
And that's what I want to doin my life.
I work with a lot of communityservices and stuff, and I want to
(27:30):
make a difference.
And, you know, I told God along time ago, you keep me living,
I'll make a difference for you.
And that's the way it is.
So, you know, Brad, I, Iapplaud you.
Sometime I'd like you to comeback on the show.
We'll have you again and we'lltalk again, you know?
(27:50):
Absolutely.
There's always lifeexperiences out there.
You know, you just gotta.
Yeah, yeah, I definitely.
I'm gonna have you throw insome stuff real quick first.
Yeah, Say whatever you'regonna say.
Also, you know, it's New Year's.
Give that safety brief.
You know, and I know Marinesknow how to give good safety briefs,
so we're going to have you dothat because.
Yeah, hey, here we are, man.
It's a great, perfect opportunity.
(28:11):
You're, you're out there doing duty.
Your guys are going to be onduty this week.
So make sure you give thatgood safety brief.
So.
Any last words, brother?
Go ahead.
All right.
Yeah.
So one thing before we endthis, I wanted to thank you and,
and Jim Gilardi out there.
One of the most rewardingexperiences of my life is to, to
(28:32):
go from where you guysoriginally met me and to where I
am today and come back andsay, hey, I want to want you to see
me now.
And, and you and Jim have beenthe best mentors any Marine could
ever ask for.
And I want to thank both of y'all because y' all made some of the
most impact towards myrecovery out of anybody, and I just
(28:57):
want to thank you for that.
Secondly, safety brief, it'sNew Year's coming up.
Don't go out there drunk driving.
There's no excuses anymore.
You've got Lyft, you got allthese other avenues, friends.
You got Lyft, you got.
What's the other ride shareservice out there?
(29:17):
Taxis.
There's taxis out there.
There's no excuses to be outthere on the road drinking or driving
us police officers, save usthe traumatic experiences dealing
with dead, dead bodies.
There's children in these carsthat are traveling on this road.
None of us want to see it.
We don't want you to.
To end up in this situation either.
(29:39):
None of us take pride inarresting drunk drivers.
We take pride on.
On helping our community.
But dealing with drunk driverson the road is not one of those things
that we like to do.
So if you're out there, justbe safe.
Also, call somebody if youhave help.
Alcohol is a.
(30:00):
Is.
Is something that I see inthis profession, especially with
young warriors that have beenthrough war and traumatic experiences.
Alcohol is a huge trigger foryou guys.
Start to understand that.
Be safe.
If you're having an issue,call somebody.
For God's sakes, call somebodyand let them know and just go out
(30:23):
there.
Be good humans and.
And help your community andjust make the world a better place,
please.
Hey, thanks, Brett.
I appreciate you.
Hey, if.
If you need to get a hold ofBrett, if you want to get a hold
of him, you could definitelydo it through me.
If there's anything else, Iwant to turn it over to Chef.
He's got a coupleannouncements to make, and then we're
going to close this out.
But.
But yeah, if you want to get ahold of Brett Ross, definitely do
(30:45):
it through me.
I'll.
I'll get.
I'll definitely get a hold ofhim, and we'll.
We'll make some connections.
What do you got, Jeff?
We're moving down the street.
The VTRC, the VeteransTransition Resource Center.
New address is 2301 EastSunset Road, Suite 3.
And if there's any veterans orany volunteers, you want to have
(31:07):
a servant heart and work withthe rest of us.
We're moving Friday from 9 toabout 3 in the afternoon.
And we got trucks, and we justneed some bodies to help, you know,
helping hands.
The more hands, the easier itis on everybody.
Yeah, great stuff, Chef.
(31:28):
Hey, thanks.
Thanks a lot.
And hey, again, you know, makesure you're safe.
This is a new year.
2025 is closing out into 2026.
Hey, I hope everybody has agreat happy new year.
Thanks to Brian Colburn formaking this happen.
You need help with your ptsd?
Look up the PTSD foundation of America.
They got warrior groups almostevery single night.
Family groups as well.
(31:49):
Check into that.
And the.
The Warrior Built Foundation.
If you want to get into thevocational, recreational support
and.
And do some stuff with.
With Warrior Built, they gotsome really good action stuff going
on.
There's so many great programs.
I just signed up for a BigFish foundation event that's go g
to kick off sometime in March.
So if you want to look atsomething like that, check out the
Big Fish Foundation Reconchief incorporated.
(32:12):
There's so many other great organizations.
You got anyone to throw outthere, Chef?
Feel free to throw out any.
No, no, that's.
There's so many.
So many.
So many great organizations.
You got the vtrc, the VeteransTransition Resource Center.
So until next time, this isAaron Siebert signing off.
Strength and honor out.
(32:35):
The only way and we neednothing more the only way Together
forever.
That's for sure.
Hey, welcome to Combat Vet Vision.
Hey.
This is a platform for us asveterans, combat veterans, sponsors,
supporters, volunteers, familymembers to get on here and kind of
talk about how life isdealing, what's going on and how
we, how we look at life, howit approaches us and all the different
things.
I got J.B. brown on deck.
He is my co host, chef andCoast Guard vet, world renowned chef.
(00:33):
And he's on deck to be hereand, and go over a lot of different
things as.
But hey, our signal kind ofdropped off a second there.
(00:55):
But hey, my guest today isBrett Ross, really good buddy of
mine.
We go way back to WoundedWarrior Battalion west going through
a lot of processes together,healing processes.
Combat vets, veterans went andwe collected them all on Camp Pendleton
at the Wounded War Battalionwest at, in San Diego and really
(01:17):
kind of put together a reallygood process program for us to kind
of transition out.
So Brett's going to get into astory, he's going to tell a lot of
really cool stories and then,and we have a lot of history together
too.
So there's going to be someincredible stuff to kind of go over.
So Brett Ross, thanks a lotfor being on deck.
Brother United States MarineCorps and, and now, and now law enforcement
(01:40):
and so there's a lot of, a lotof really cool history, a lot of
really cool pathways thatyou've taken to get into.
So maybe let's start back inthe beginning in the Marine Corps
and the motivation behind thatand some great stories behind that
too, brother.
Go ahead.
Absolutely.
So I started off in the Marine Corps.
I was a scout first lar.
(02:03):
Absolutely loved that job.
Of course every Marine willprobably tell you that they had the
best job of the Marine Corps.
I no different.
I believe that absolutely lovebeing a scout to my core and got
to do a lot of really coolstuff in Iraq.
Everything that a Marine couldever wish to do in combat, I got
(02:25):
to do it.
So I, I have no complaints.
There was a couple of largescale offensive actions on cities,
mainly the OperationRivergate, Operation Steel Curtain
to take the cities of Hadithaand Barwana and Huseba and Alai.
(02:46):
So that was a lot of fun.
Got to do a lot of cool stuff,scary stuff, but had the time of
my life just being a Marinefrom there in.
But.
Oh, let me back up.
So I on my first deployment,after my first deployment, you know,
everybody gets to talk to,they send everybody through a psych
(03:08):
before you're coming home.
And like everybody at thattime, this isn't SOP now but you
Know the platoon sergeantnormally would tell you guys, hey,
don't say anything to thesite, don't tell them anything.
And I complied with that andyou know, went into the site, said
(03:33):
hey, nothing's wrong with me.
Everything's, you know, allsystems are go, blah blah blah.
Somehow they saw through meand they said, hey, this Marine's
got some issues.
So I come back to thebattalion, they said, hey, you need
(03:53):
to go see division site you.
I did.
They pulled my weapons cardand they were like, you're not going
back.
And I was, I was really likeany Marine would be heartbroken,
absolutely just destroyed.
So I said, hey, who can I talkto about this?
(04:14):
I'm going back to Iraq nomatter what.
Lieutenant said, hey, this isa done deal, not doing it.
I said, well, can I talk tosomebody above you?
And they said, well, you canrequest mass.
And I, I said, you know what,I'mma do that.
How do I do that?
And he said, well, all you gotto do is say the words.
(04:34):
I said, well, I'm a request master.
The sergeant major I did,Sergeant major was an old, old guy,
got in tail end of Vietnam andhe, I talked to him, he said, hey,
why do you want to go back?
I said, well, every Marinewants to lead Marines in combat.
That's like the pinnacle ofbeing a Marine, right?
(04:57):
So he liked that answer, said,hey, if you turn in those pills that
the, the site gave you, youcan go back.
And I did.
But he said if I, if I stayedin my barracks a little, 30 seconds
that I was done, I grabbed thepills, went back, gave those, give
those back to the divisionpsych and I went back to second tour.
(05:22):
Don't necessarily remember,recommend that to anybody out there
if they're having problems,highly recommend.
Talking about sucks.
I don't regret my decision,but at the same time I didn't do
myself any favors.
Go back to Iraq, come back.
They put me in a nondeployable unit because I didn't
(05:46):
sign up for another four years yet.
And they were trying to getnew bodies in the battalion.
That unit recognized there wassomething different about me and
they started the role toWounded Warrior Battalion where I
met you, Chief.
Right, right.
(06:07):
And Wounded War battalionagain is for wounded, ill and injured.
It really started to collect.
You know, that was really hardduring those times because Marine
Corps units were so used totaking care of their own that they
really had a hard time givingup their Marines in order to get
help.
But they had to that thebattalion was really designed and
built for the purpose so thatthe, the unit can, can function without
(06:29):
the, the Marines that theyhave to take care of, and they can
do it from afar.
So they still belong to theirunit, but they went to Wounded War
Battalion west as a, you know,tad in excess to, to be.
Be able to get help and careand, and move forward in a different
pathway.
Yeah.
And at the time when I got toWindow Warrior retired, it was only
(06:51):
combat vets.
They hadn't started rolling inthe, the wounded ill.
The ill, the ill and injured.
Yeah.
And shortly after I got there,they started rolling those, those
in, and I was confused, man.
I, I, at that time, nobodyreally knew what PTSD was.
Nobody ever heard of a tbi andso found out through the, the processes
(07:17):
that the Marine Corps had setup at Winder Warrior Battalion.
Thank God that I had a TBI anda pretty good one and that I had
ptsd.
I still did not understandwhat PTSD was.
Right.
And, you know, that, that was,that was definitely a confusing time.
(07:38):
A lot of things were kind ofcoming out, you know, and it's got
a lot of names, and it's had alot of names through, you know, from,
from the beginning of.
Of battles to shell shock inVietnam to all kinds of different,
different names and, and, youknow, you can, you can name it all
the way through, but what wasbeing done about it was also kind
of a slow start.
(07:59):
Right.
Even at the battalion, wedidn't have necessarily the cyc all
built up.
We, you know, there's a lot ofproblems at the battalion, you know,
trying to manage this wholebig monster.
Matter of fact, you know, Ithink we lost five, five, four or
five different Marines tosuicide within the first two years
of the battalion being stoodup, just because this is where things
(08:23):
were getting really kind of crazy.
And these are guys that are,you know, catastrophically, you know,
lost their unit.
They've lost their, their,their function, their purpose, their,
Their abilities to do, youknow, the things that they were doing.
They're no longer a Marine tobe a Marine.
They're, they're in theuniform, but they, they no longer
functioning as, as that unitthat they, they're no longer the
(08:43):
Superman that they used to be.
And that's, that's how I feltas well.
I, I was like, hey, I, youknow, I was just, I was just in the
fight, and now I'm like,fightless, you know, shrapnel to
my leg, shrapnel to my thighs,shrapnel everywhere.
I got a hernia.
I got all this other stuff.
I'M no longer able to do thejob that I used to be able to do
as a full functioning corpsman.
(09:04):
Now, Now I'm a patient slashstaff member.
You were a patient goingthrough the process.
Go ahead, Ross.
You talk more about it.
Yeah, that was, that was rough.
It was a.
It was a heavy atmosphere whenI got there because the battalion
had just lost a sergeant.
Sure, you remember that, Chief.
And, and that was.
(09:28):
I could feel the atmosphere was.
Was different.
People that knew thatsergeant, I didn't know him, unfortunately.
I heard he was one of the bestand wish I got to know him.
But it, it had definitelychanged the atmosphere guy.
It was really hitting guysthat this is the aftermath of what
(09:51):
we had done coming down fromthat high point of being Marines
in combat.
And that was, that was hardfor a lot of people, realizing that
we were on that.
What they thought of as adownhill slope and what I now know
is the uphill slope in the,the battle against this.
(10:12):
And I was no different.
I was like, I'm on a downhill slope.
This is the end of my life.
I had a lot of trouble.
But at the same time, one ofthe things that wounded warrior Bazillion
had that no other unit had isyou were literally surrounded by
(10:32):
heroes, like the heroes of, ofthe Marine Corps were there.
I met two Medal of Honorrecipients while I was there.
I met recipients of the NavyCross, multiple Silver Star recipients,
(10:53):
Bronze Star recipients.
I mean, you're surrounded bythe baddest dudes that literally
ever walk this earth.
And they had access to toolsthat I didn't know existed, that
none of us knew existed before that.
And we all had a sharedhardship, and it provided, whether
(11:19):
we knew it or not, anatmosphere to begin the healing.
And we didn't know what thathealing was going to look like.
We didn't know what was in for us.
And sometimes we didn't seethat we're even healing at the time.
But even on our off hours, wewere talking about stuff and I found
myself in the smoke pittalking about our issues and, and
(11:44):
finding that healing in thesmoke pit.
There just our common.
Our common interest of beingMarines and our common bond of being
in combat as Marines.
And it was.
And.
And the healing process together.
Healing together.
I think, you know, I think TimMaxwell is known as the grandfather
(12:05):
of the, of the Wounded WarriorRegiment and the, and the reason
why the battalion west andeast were born.
He.
He said, hey, we, you know, hewent to the commandant when the commandant
said, hey, what do you need to do?
Because he was blown up and hewas dealing with a lot of stuff.
And he said, what do we needto do to help these Marines?
We need to heal together.
We need to move, move forwardtogether and pulling everybody together
(12:26):
to do that.
I think really, we really gotto be part of something that was
really incredible.
And at the time, like yousaid, that made a huge point.
You don't know what healinglooks like because when you're trying
to heal in these processes,especially as, as this battalion
was growing, staff, patientalike culture of the Marine Corps
changing its idealisms withinthe, within that battalion to, to
(12:50):
deal with the situations athand, everybody dual situation was
different.
It's not everybody's going tothe gas chamber today, everybody's
going to the range today.
It just doesn't work that samedirection because everybody's individual
needs are so different thatthe Marine Corps had to learn how
to adapt and overcome againand deal with all these situations.
(13:12):
And we as Marines and sailors,that had to heal there.
We had to adapt and overcometo find our pathways, our passions
and our direction to do that.
And, and it's incredible to,to know you and to see where you've
gone with that and you know,go ahead and just keep going your
story and get into some ofthe, you know, the transition, how,
(13:32):
how difficult those thingswere for you and some of these things.
Just an incredible story yougot, Brett.
Yeah, so on the transition, mytransition, and anybody out there
listening to this, that'sgetting out of the military, but
some people, they got out andthey started that transition and
(13:54):
it wasn't working.
And unfortunately they quitand they either took their life or
they just said, I quit.
I'm not, I'm not trying this anymore.
I, I'm just broken.
There's some individuals likemyself that refuse to quit.
(14:15):
And it, it was a, I'll tellyou, this was a 10 year journey to
find my way.
It took me 10 years to do morethan 10 years to do a proper transition
into the outside.
And there was a fight alongthe way.
I had some ups and downs.
(14:37):
I went through a divorce.
After going through a divorce,I found a, a new woman that knew
that, that wanted to get toknow me and she wanted to be there
for me.
I'm still married to her tothis day, and if I didn't have her,
I wouldn't be where I'm at today.
(14:57):
But right after we met, we hada child and, and we got married.
Within a year of having ournewborn child and getting married,
we lost everything we owned toa hurricane that's pretty difficult
on somebody that is stillstruggling with transition, that
(15:22):
is trying to support a newmarriage and a new child.
And that was a rough spot.
And like I said, if you'rehaving trouble out there, do not
quit.
Just refuse to quit.
Get it out of your brainbecause you just keep working at
(15:43):
it.
Keep working the problem likewe do in the Marine Corps.
What do we do?
We just keep working the problem.
It's.
Until we solve it.
And having that mentalityended, ended up where I am today,
being a police officer andSWAT and sniper.
I never would have thought 15years ago that this is where I'd
(16:06):
be.
I thought I'd be dead, honestly.
And it was just because Ididn't quit.
So keep working the problem.
If you're out there and you'restruggling, you're hearing this.
Keep working the problem.
Find a, find a way that worksfor you.
And transition doesn't lookthe same for all of us.
That's right.
Everybody's different.
(16:27):
Yeah.
Don't.
Don't stop before the miracle happens.
You know when you wake up oneday and, and you realize that it's
okay to not be okay.
And I'm gonna be okay by not,not being okay.
And, and I'm still going tolive today.
I'm still going to be aproduct of society.
(16:48):
And, and that's a really goodfeeling kind of being in that, that
position because for so longyou beat yourself up because you
can't do what you used to do.
And are you ever going to beable to do something good?
And now look at you.
I mean, you're a SWAT sniper.
(17:09):
I mean, that's a great achievement.
You know, I'm, I would want todo that.
Yeah.
You know, and, and youparticipated in a lot of warrior
groups with me.
Jim Gallardi started this.
He was my mentor.
You, you got to be mentored by him.
Four time purple guy fromVietnam, sniper as well.
85, 41.
That's a MOS that's no longerin existence and it went out of existence.
(17:32):
And then obviously the snipersare no longer utilized in the Marine
Corps as well, or any service,but they're still so necessary in,
in society.
And you just graduated thatsniper school and you got to reconnect
with Jim Galardi recently anddo some really cool, you know, talks
and stuff.
Talk about that, Ross.
Talk about what it means toyou to, to be where you're at right
now and what you're doing withall that.
(17:53):
It has huge meaning becauselike I said, I didn't know where
My transition was going tolead me.
I just knew I wasn't going to quit.
Like I said, I got out 15years ago.
It took me 15 years to get onmy feet.
And I, as your transition, I,I kept asking myself questions like,
(18:18):
how, how is this going to helpme in the future?
How can I use these, theseexperiences and these weak spots
that I have to my advantage?
Turns out once I become apolice officer, I've talked a number
of people out of suicide.
(18:38):
I wouldn't have been able todo that had I not have all the experiences
that I had.
And so I'm using thoseexperiences and those things that,
the darkest spots of my lifeto my advantage now.
Helping people, young people,people, it makes me weep at night
thinking how young thesepeople are and that, that they're
(19:01):
on the verge of suicide.
A number of them have found mywife out in town and say, hey, your
husband saved my life.
That is one of the mostrewarding experiences I could ever
have, is making an impact onsomebody to just keep going to, to
find their stride and keep going.
(19:23):
And I wouldn't be here if I did.
I wouldn't have.
Be able to do the job that Ido if I didn't have these experiences
behind me.
And I'm going out there intothe community, talking to young folks.
Any chance I get, I do thisthing that I call 32nd mentorship.
So anytime I have an, interactwith somebody on the, on a stop,
(19:47):
as we know, there's, there'sissues between police officers and
sometimes the minoritycommunity, how they feel that we
perceive them and how weperceive that they feel about us.
I'll do this, what I call 32ndmentorship on a traffic stop.
And, and I'll, I'll say, youknow, if it's a minority, young minority,
(20:10):
I'll say, hey, what are yourplans for the future?
You want to go to college?
You want to trade?
What do you want to do?
And they'll, they'll be like,oh man, it completely changes the
attitude on that traffic stop.
And they'll say, oh man, Iwant to do this, that and the other.
And a lot of times I'll bringup the military.
(20:32):
Have you thought about the military?
You know, it can, it's a greathead start in life.
It's gotten me places.
It could be for you.
And they, they completelychange attitudes about things.
And it helps me in 30 seconds,helps me change, you know, both how
they feel, but also how theythink about their future.
(20:55):
Because if I can, if I changethe lives of 100 people, 100 people
over 20 years, I've changedthe lives of thousands because that's
going to lead to their kids.
Let's say they have two kids.
Peace.
100 people, two kids.
Well, there you got, you got300 people that I've affected, and
(21:16):
then those people have kids.
I'm trying to affect agenerational change in behavior and,
and how they think about lifeand their future.
So like I said, had I not.
I had a kind of a rough childhood.
I can see some things on thestreet that other officers may not
(21:38):
necessarily see.
I can see the direction peopleare going, and hopefully I can change
their course by just talkingto them.
You know, and, and a lot oftimes I'll just, I won't give them
a ticket.
I'll just give them that 30second mentorship, give them the
warning and get out of thereand hope that they think about it
the next day.
Nice.
They do.
(21:59):
They will.
Yeah.
Hey, and you, you talked, youtalked about, and I'll let chef ask
you some questions, but youtalked about how it, how important
it is for you to, you know,not only just mentor them, but even
in, in your department, youbecome kind of a, A, a resource because
of certain situations.
Obviously, you know,everybody's dealing with PTSD and
(22:20):
you know, the stigma hasalways been like, once you have it,
you can no longer carry a gun.
And you're obviously proventhat wrong by being a police officer
that has a force multiplierand, you know, being able to deal
with it in a way that's properbecause you got that pro post traumatic
growth.
And we spent some time talkingabout that.
General Mattis pumps that out.
He's made that a hugestatement in the, in the past.
(22:41):
That's such, such anincredible thing.
So talk about why thatmentorship is not only important
to those that you pull over,but also within your, within your
department, you know, so manycool things.
So as everybody can imaginethat we go through some pretty traumatic
experiences regularly on a, ona police department.
You know, in the past year,I've had to do CPR on several dying
(23:03):
people, dying of overdoses,and we come across kids that car
wrecks, all different types of situations.
And I, I've had the, theprivilege, I'm a sell it like that,
(23:24):
the privilege of havingterrible experiences in my past.
But I've also had theprivilege of learning how to process
those, those situations in ahealthy manner.
So as a police officer aroundother police officers that may not
have ever gotten the chance.
(23:45):
Once you join the policedepartment, you're usually there
for 10 or 20 years.
A lot of people, they werethey in their career at 10 years
or so just because they, theycan't take any or more of the trauma.
I've had the privilege ofhaving a 10 year span of growing
and understanding how to dealwith trauma that they have never
(24:09):
gotten to have.
So that it's just, they'relearning as they go.
And now I can, like you said,chief of force multiplier.
I can sit down with theseofficers and say, hey, I know how
you feel about this situation.
Here's how I've dealt withthings in the past.
Maybe it'll help you out.
And if I can prolong a fewcareers of, of people that are actually
(24:33):
good for the community to beout there on the street and prolong
their commute careers to helpanother hundred people like I'm trying
to do, you can change thecommunity in a big way, in a positive
way.
And so trying to, trying tohelp these guys and gals getting
through these tough situationsand understanding it's normal to
(24:56):
feel the way they do andthey're allowed to feel that and
they're also allowed to talkabout changes, perspectives on things.
And if police officers, I'llput it, put this out there.
Police officers weren'tallowed to be police officers because
they had ptsd.
(25:16):
You wouldn't have any policeofficers in the United States.
You wouldn't have any leftbecause that's part of the job is
traumatic experience.
That's something you can't,you can't dodge that.
There's only 900,000 policeofficers in the United States.
And these 900,000 policeofficers police 350 plus million
(25:40):
people.
That's a hard job.
That's a hard job.
So you're talking far lessthan 1% of the population.
I mean, far less.
And the amount of traumaticexperiences you're going to experience
on the job as a police officeror a firefighter or EMS worker is
(26:01):
astronomical.
And if we can keep these guysand gals healthy and on the street
a little bit longer andhelping people, we can, we can change
the attitude of Americans as,as well as what they think about
ptsd.
Definitely, definitely make a difference.
(26:23):
Chef?
Yeah.
You got anything for himbefore we kind of have him close
out?
Brett, I, I applaud you forusing your life experiences in, in
what you've overcome.
You know, a lot of peopledon't realize that when you go in
the service, most people thatgo into service have a servant heart
(26:44):
and you're of service to yourfellow comrade.
You Know, your life depends onhim and his life depends on you.
And there's no other servitudethat's any higher than that.
And I applaud you for that.
Now you're, you have thatservant heart in the community, like
(27:06):
you said, some of the thingsthat you've done and, you know, you're
a pillar to people to, to lookat and see you can make it, you can
overcome.
And that's, that's what's soimportant, is you're making a difference
every day.
And that's what I want to doin my life.
I work with a lot of communityservices and stuff, and I want to
(27:30):
make a difference.
And, you know, I told God along time ago, you keep me living,
I'll make a difference for you.
And that's the way it is.
So, you know, Brad, I, Iapplaud you.
Sometime I'd like you to comeback on the show.
We'll have you again and we'lltalk again, you know?
(27:50):
Absolutely.
There's always lifeexperiences out there.
You know, you just gotta.
Yeah, yeah, I definitely.
I'm gonna have you throw insome stuff real quick first.
Yeah, Say whatever you'regonna say.
Also, you know, it's New Year's.
Give that safety brief.
You know, and I know Marinesknow how to give good safety briefs,
so we're going to have you dothat because.
Yeah, hey, here we are, man.
It's a great, perfect opportunity.
(28:11):
You're, you're out there doing duty.
Your guys are going to be onduty this week.
So make sure you give thatgood safety brief.
So.
Any last words, brother?
Go ahead.
All right.
Yeah.
So one thing before we endthis, I wanted to thank you and,
and Jim Gilardi out there.
One of the most rewardingexperiences of my life is to, to
(28:32):
go from where you guysoriginally met me and to where I
am today and come back andsay, hey, I want to want you to see
me now.
And, and you and Jim have beenthe best mentors any Marine could
ever ask for.
And I want to thank both of y'all because y' all made some of the
most impact towards myrecovery out of anybody, and I just
(28:57):
want to thank you for that.
Secondly, safety brief, it'sNew Year's coming up.
Don't go out there drunk driving.
There's no excuses anymore.
You've got Lyft, you got allthese other avenues, friends.
You got Lyft, you got.
What's the other ride shareservice out there?
(29:17):
Taxis.
There's taxis out there.
There's no excuses to be outthere on the road drinking or driving
us police officers, save usthe traumatic experiences dealing
with dead, dead bodies.
There's children in these carsthat are traveling on this road.
None of us want to see it.
We don't want you to.
To end up in this situation either.
(29:39):
None of us take pride inarresting drunk drivers.
We take pride on.
On helping our community.
But dealing with drunk driverson the road is not one of those things
that we like to do.
So if you're out there, justbe safe.
Also, call somebody if youhave help.
Alcohol is a.
(30:00):
Is.
Is something that I see inthis profession, especially with
young warriors that have beenthrough war and traumatic experiences.
Alcohol is a huge trigger foryou guys.
Start to understand that.
Be safe.
If you're having an issue,call somebody.
For God's sakes, call somebodyand let them know and just go out
(30:23):
there.
Be good humans and.
And help your community andjust make the world a better place,
please.
Hey, thanks, Brett.
I appreciate you.
Hey, if.
If you need to get a hold ofBrett, if you want to get a hold
of him, you could definitelydo it through me.
If there's anything else, Iwant to turn it over to Chef.
He's got a coupleannouncements to make, and then we're
going to close this out.
But.
But yeah, if you want to get ahold of Brett Ross, definitely do
(30:45):
it through me.
I'll.
I'll get.
I'll definitely get a hold ofhim, and we'll.
We'll make some connections.
What do you got, Jeff?
We're moving down the street.
The VTRC, the VeteransTransition Resource Center.
New address is 2301 EastSunset Road, Suite 3.
And if there's any veterans orany volunteers, you want to have
(31:07):
a servant heart and work withthe rest of us.
We're moving Friday from 9 toabout 3 in the afternoon.
And we got trucks, and we justneed some bodies to help, you know,
helping hands.
The more hands, the easier itis on everybody.
Yeah, great stuff, Chef.
(31:28):
Hey, thanks.
Thanks a lot.
And hey, again, you know, makesure you're safe.
This is a new year.
2025 is closing out into 2026.
Hey, I hope everybody has agreat happy new year.
Thanks to Brian Colburn formaking this happen.
You need help with your ptsd?
Look up the PTSD foundation of America.
They got warrior groups almostevery single night.
Family groups as well.
(31:49):
Check into that.
And the.
The Warrior Built Foundation.
If you want to get into thevocational, recreational support
and.
And do some stuff with.
With Warrior Built, they gotsome really good action stuff going
on.
There's so many great programs.
I just signed up for a BigFish foundation event that's go g
to kick off sometime in March.
So if you want to look atsomething like that, check out the
Big Fish Foundation Reconchief incorporated.
(32:12):
There's so many other great organizations.
You got anyone to throw outthere, Chef?
Feel free to throw out any.
No, no, that's.
There's so many.
So many.
So many great organizations.
You got the vtrc, the VeteransTransition Resource Center.
So until next time, this isAaron Siebert signing off.
Strength and honor out.
(32:35):
The only way and we neednothing more the only way Together
forever.
That's for sure.
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