Military

My experiences in the military have prepared me to fight on the urban battlefield of business. I learned that victory is paramount and coming in second is unacceptable. I also learned to expect Murphy's Law, think on my feet and be comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Finally, I understand that preparation and excellence are key to success in both battle and business.
 
Transcript: "I absolutely do believe that my experiences in the military helped prepare me to fight on this urban battlefield called business. And first and foremost, I think it's because it is just that. Business is battle. And by that, I mean, we've got to win. Victory is number one. Coming in second is unacceptable. I mean, you think back of all the wars that's ever been fought in the history of the world, you know, the people that come in second, you know, didn't get spoils of war. So shaping people's mindset that we got to win, it's all or nothing is tremendously valuable. And you learn that, I think, or I learned that certainly in the military. Second thing I think directly applicable is this thing called Murphy's Law. And knowing that Murphy rides shotgun with us every day and no plan ever survives the first bullet on the battlefield, getting used to that and thinking on your feet and understanding that it's going to go sideways. Something is not going to go as planned. Makes you comfortable in an uncomfortable environment. And that's an advantage than a lot of people I found out here that weren't in the military don't possess. And third, I think the understanding that we make money with rehearsals. We rehearse everything we're going to do, all of our actions before we leave the wire in combat. We rehearse before we go out the door here to do any presentation, make a pitch, whatever it is we're doing, we want to be excellent. Excellence is what wins. Excellent is top of the heap, tip of the spear, the main effort on the battlefield. So there's a lot of things. If you do some history, you'll see that I think the leaders of the teams that were successful in battle have very similar traits to the leaders and teams that are successful in business."

We are proud of this book which captures the stories of men and women who serve in law enforcement and make split-second life or death decisions. It is important to read this book with an open mind and be thankful for the people who protect us from evil.
 
Transcript: "Walk the Blue Line, Jim Patterson and I are very, very proud of this book. Fantastic accounts from men, women who serve our local state and federal law enforcement agencies from big to small, east to west, city to rural, it doesn't matter, we captured them all. And I think what I hope readers most of all will understand is that these men and women, the moment they leave safety of their home to go to work until they get back, whether day or night, it doesn't matter, they are at risk of death at any moment. It's not hyperbole, it's not a grandiose statement coming from central casting of some movie set. No, these men and women protect us from evil that is out there and my gosh, there's a lot of it. There are just, there are dozens of stories of these men and women that make split second life and death decisions, shoot, don't shoot, in positions, predicaments that most of us would crumble in a second. So before anybody comes up with an opinion that's negative about these men and women, I would suggest you read this book and do it with your eyes wide open and understand we are thankful that they're there."

One of the biggest challenges I faced in transitioning from military to civilian life was that everyone did not follow the same rules as in the military. It was difficult for me to understand that not everyone followed the same rules and this caused conflict between me and my significant other. If you are struggling with the transition, it is important to seek out mental health help.
 
Transcript: "What challenges did I face during the transition from military to civilian life? Right off the bat, civilians didn't operate by the same rules. This was mind-blowing for me. Military life was so regimented. Everybody kind of knew what was expected, when it was expected, how it was expected. And you hit the civilian world and boom, nobody's playing by the same rules. I thought people were acting selfish. I thought people were self-absorbed or just flat-out rude. And I wanted to snatch them up the same way any NCO is going to snatch up a junior enlisted. Sometimes that worked. I had a lot of military friends, so that worked in their cases. But on the other hand, it didn't work so well with my significant other. Because when my significant other would say, why, it would drive me insane. It would send me straight through the roof. And I had a really hard time understanding that not everybody plays by the same rules. That, I think, was my biggest struggle with transitioning to much more civilian life. But at the end of the day, everybody struggles in their own way. Definitely go seek some mental health help if you need to. Until next time."

The VA has come a long way with the Community Care Act being passed, allowing veterans to get care outside of the VA at more convenient times and places. There are still areas for improvement, but overall it has been a positive transformation.
 
Transcript: "Great question, Steve. When it comes to getting care at the VA, you do have to remember that they are a government organization. And just like in the military, there's a lot of hurry up and wait when it comes to getting what you need. I'm very happy with how the VA has transformed with the Community Care Act being passed recently. I can now see a provider outside of the VA and still get the care I need at a more convenient time and more convenient place. Like when I was in North Carolina, there wasn't a lot of options for VA clinics, so they would send me to local doctors, local dentists to get the care that I needed. It's come a long way and there's still areas for improvement, but we're getting there."

Using a suppressor is really fun as it adds a level of stealth to hunting, especially when hunting hogs and coyotes in farm lands. It allows you to get close and take out your targets without setting off any alarms.
 
Transcript: "Using a suppressor is really fun. It adds a level of stealth to your hunting experience. When it comes to using a suppressor for hunting, I like to use it for hogs and coyotes. Because they're in farmlands, I don't want to scare cattle or horses or the neighbors. So using a suppressor will allow me to get close, kill a couple hogs, and make my way out of the area without setting off any alarms to the neighbors. It's fun. It adds that little Ricky Recon aspect to it. It is what it is. It's fun."

Basic training used to involve using pay phones and writing letters home, but now cell phones are allowed. How often you get to use it depends on the drill sergeants, but usually only once or twice during the nine weeks.
 
Transcript: "How did you communicate with family and friends while in basic training and how often were you able to do so? So when I went through basic training it was pretty old school. You had the old pay phones and we had to have calling cards to be able to you know call back home, call your friends and family or whatever. You could write letters if you wanted to. They could write you letters because you'd give them your mailing address. They could send you you know some letters. They could send you some packages but it had to be only certain items type of thing. But you know that was kind of how you had to be able to communicate with friends and family. But nowadays obviously you got cell phones. So now it's a lot easier. How often you'll get to use it it really depends though. The drill sergeants might only let you do it once the entire time. Maybe twice. Maybe you get to do it every weekend. It really just depends on the leadership there as far as how often. But I would expect maybe only once and if you get more than that then awesome. When I went through basic training probably about three or four times during that entire time of the nine weeks when I did it. But when it was still nine weeks back then. So that's kind of how it was for me anyways."