1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,640 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,920 This is Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:17,840 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,560 I am Jim Fausone. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,880 I'm the officer of the deck today. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,720 We've got some great programs for you. 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,760 I think you'll find very interesting. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:34,480 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site 9 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:37,280 or at the web. 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,720 VeteransRadio.org is our new URL, VeteransRadio.org. 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:48,240 Where we're on the web 24-7, you can find a lot of our podcasts there as well. 12 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:55,520 We post new ones every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a new interview, something 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,320 you didn't know before by going to VeteransRadio.org. 14 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,560 Before we get started, we want to thank our sponsors. 15 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:13,800 First up, we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org. 16 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:19,480 It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran owned businesses. 17 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:26,040 You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org. 18 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,560 We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. 19 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:35,080 Legal Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability rights all across the nation. 20 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:46,160 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at LegalHelpForVeterans.com. 21 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:51,200 Two interesting stories today, we're going to talk to Allison Jaislow, who is the CEO 22 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:58,480 of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, better known as IAVA. 23 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:06,480 Then we're going to talk to Brigadier General Doug Odie Slocum, who is the President of 24 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,840 Michigan Air and Space Forces Association. 25 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,920 That's part of a national organization as well, so you're going to get a real national 26 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:14,920 perspective. 27 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:19,880 First, we're going to start with Allison Jaislow. 28 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:25,840 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today Allison Jaislow, who is the CEO of Iraq and 29 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,680 Afghanistan Veterans of America, better known as IAVA. 30 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,280 Allison, welcome to Veterans Radio. 31 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:35,840 Thanks for having me. 32 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:41,680 We're thrilled to have the CEO of IAVA on and talk about a number of issues, but let's 33 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,360 sort of set this up a little bit. 34 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,840 How did a nice kid like you who graduated from the University of Central Missouri and 35 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:57,040 Wentworth Military Academy under ROTC scholarships end up in the U.S. Army? 36 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:01,480 Well, the Army was a dream of mine when I was a kid. 37 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,920 Starting when I was 13, I went on a career day field trip. 38 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:10,680 In fact, I regularly draw attention to the fact that I'm the only success story of career 39 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,320 day that I know of, and that's still the case. 40 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:22,040 But it was a year where at my school, you went on a field trip, and I picked a bunch 41 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:27,400 of other places to go because when you're 13, you want to go to a place where you can 42 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:33,920 get some free stuff or maybe some food, but ended up at Fort Meier, which is the military 43 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:38,600 base that's connected to Arlington National Cemetery. 44 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:49,400 From that day on, because the sort of ceremonial aspect of Fort Meier swept me off my feet, 45 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,840 I had wanted to be in the Army ever since. 46 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,440 In fact, the dream and goal, because I like to aim high. 47 00:03:55,440 --> 00:04:02,160 At the time, the Army had yet to have its first four-star woman general, so that was 48 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:07,000 like the path that I thought I was going to walk in my life was join the Army, however, 49 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:13,720 which way I could do it, and climb, climb, climb until hopefully I could reach the pinnacle 50 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,280 of service in the Army. 51 00:04:16,280 --> 00:04:24,400 With the school as you noted on an ROTC scholarship, I began school the fall of 2000. 52 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:31,640 So of course, my sophomore year was when September 11th happened, and of course the trajectory 53 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,960 of my career changed fundamentally. 54 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,200 I went in eyes wide open knowing that I could go to war someday, but of course, our country 55 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,600 and our military has dealt with a lot ever since. 56 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:52,080 But despite deploying twice to Iraq, it wasn't deployments that ultimately made me want to 57 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:58,120 get out, just some of the challenges that I faced while I was in the military. 58 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:06,160 But also, I had this sort of instinct or intuition that I could maybe make a better impact or 59 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:12,280 a greater impact for the greater good of my country and my fellow countrymen if I actually 60 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:13,920 did so out of uniform. 61 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:23,240 And so in the years since, I have crisscrossed the country, dabbling in political campaigns 62 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,400 and serving in a number of roles in government to include in the White House and on Capitol 63 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:28,400 Hill. 64 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:34,680 And I like to say that what I do today is sort of the perfect marriage of the skill sets 65 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:40,360 I have learned post service and then also my identity as a veteran myself because I now 66 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:47,240 have the great privilege of advocating on behalf of a generation of veterans that I belong 67 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:54,280 to in a community that I belong to on the national stage in the media and in Washington, 68 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:55,280 DC. 69 00:05:55,280 --> 00:06:00,720 And you really do have a great blend of talent and experience for that, the work that was 70 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:06,400 done on the staff of several members of Congress and then in the White House communications 71 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:12,640 area sort of helps set all of that up so that you can walk the halls and talk to folks and 72 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:19,440 know how they think and how they react to certain challenges that they face. 73 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:27,160 Before we get a little deeper here, I want to talk to folks about what your experiences 74 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:32,680 in Iraq were about and you exited, I don't know the years, I guess I didn't track the 75 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:37,400 years down, but you were in from when to when and I know your terminal rank was as a captain 76 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:38,800 in the Army. 77 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:50,160 Yeah, so I was sworn in to active duty upon graduation in May of 2004, went to my office 78 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:56,720 for basic course in June of 2004, graduated in September and by the day after Thanksgiving 79 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:02,280 of that year was on a plane to Kuwait before heading north into Iraq. 80 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:09,560 I served just under a year during that deployment, I was actually attached to a reserve unit 81 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,760 from your neck of the woods. 82 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:18,520 It was a reserve unit that drew from across the Midwest but was based in Bay City, Michigan, 83 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:26,240 was able to get my platoon leader time running that platoon and what we had originally deployed 84 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,600 with was a warehousing mission. 85 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,320 I had four different warehousing operations that I was the accountable officer for but 86 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:38,280 within 60 days all the warehouses but one were contracted out to Kelley, Granham, Root 87 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:45,720 and so my platoon then became both a force protection platoon and a which included not 88 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:50,240 just only base force protection but also convoy security. 89 00:07:50,240 --> 00:08:01,440 And so my platoon, myself included, did convoys up and down Iraq and provided basically the 90 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:07,400 convoy security element in between whether it was regular petroleum tankers or flatbed 91 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:14,720 trucks, you name it, on a battlefield where those particular trucks aren't as agile as 92 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:19,680 the gun trucks were but that there were basically IEDs everywhere. 93 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:27,160 I came home stateside to Fort Carson, Colorado for a little over a year after that and then 94 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:34,000 deployed again in January 2007 which was just ahead of the surge being announced and so 95 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,560 I was overseas for about 15 months that time. 96 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:45,480 I served on battalion staff for that particular deployment and that one was at Camp Liberty 97 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:52,200 or the Baghdad International Airport and my first deployment was to Taji, Iraq. 98 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:57,120 Well one of the things you learned in that first deployment is that responsibility shift 99 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:02,600 and change and you just roll with whatever the next assignment is and that's certainly 100 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,120 been the case in your post-military career. 101 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:10,560 You've had a lot of interesting assignments and now this most recent one here in 2023 102 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:13,240 is CEO of IEVA. 103 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:18,360 Why don't you tell our listeners and maybe there are some who are not familiar with what 104 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,040 the work and the mission of IEVA is. 105 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:29,720 So IEVA is the leading advocacy organization for the post-911 generation of veterans. 106 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,360 In fact we're commonly referred to as the leading voice of the post-911 generation of 107 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:42,400 veterans but essentially we are storytellers that tell the story of our generation whether 108 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:49,680 that's our needs or also our successes and oftentimes doing that work best in class means 109 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:54,240 we are telling that story and shaping that narrative in the media with the hopes of influencing 110 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:59,160 public opinion with the hopes of then influencing public policy action. 111 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:07,640 IEVA counts among its achievements the passage of the post-911 GI bill, the Clay Hunt Suicide 112 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:14,560 Prevention Act which was named after one of our member advocates who died by suicide and 113 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:23,320 also laws passed very recently like the PACT Act which helps veterans get care for exposure 114 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:32,800 to toxins which is a variety of different toxins over a number of generations but IEVA 115 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:40,360 really did spark the conversation around burn pitch exposure which are unique to our particular 116 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:41,360 generation. 117 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:49,680 Well certainly one of the aspects of IEVA is it's sort of a different veterans organization 118 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:56,520 than maybe the traditional nationally chartered ones like VFW, VVA which came out of a specific 119 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:06,520 generation, talk to us about how IEVA is intentionally a different type of organization. 120 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:15,000 Well our founder is usually the first to point out that we are the first digitally native 121 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,360 veterans organization. 122 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:25,040 We don't have it anymore but IEVA had a MySpace page back when MySpace was the thing but you 123 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:30,920 know our generation first of all we are much fewer in numbers but we're not congregating 124 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:37,600 necessarily in Legion halls and so we are more connected online than anywhere else whether 125 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:44,120 it's in a Facebook page whether it's you know on a group text between battle buddies or 126 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:50,720 a group chat of some sort and so I think that's one way that makes us unique both where our 127 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:58,800 constituency is living and breathing but also that we are uniquely capable of existing online. 128 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:06,760 You know IEVA I feel like has been a disrupter you know especially in Washington DC in a 129 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:11,920 way that has been necessary and I think this actually makes us similar to the VVA. 130 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,840 You know we stand in solidarity with other generations of veterans but we're there to 131 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,960 make sure that like our generation's needs don't get overlooked which is you know ever 132 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:28,040 more important because we're much smaller in numbers and I think you know organizational 133 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:32,760 posture aside something that also makes us a unique voice is that we're the only major 134 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:38,920 national veterans organization that represents exclusively volunteers. 135 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:47,160 You know every person who served in Iraq and Afghanistan or the other you know areas post-911 136 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,520 that we are still actually deploying troops to fight today they all stepped up to serve 137 00:12:52,520 --> 00:13:00,360 and did so willingly some of them deployed like myself multiple times and we have very 138 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:06,680 unique needs for that reason and I think you know you and I were talking about this before 139 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:14,640 we jumped on I think that puts us in a unique position to also advocate around issues like 140 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,400 the recruiting crisis you know and what we should be doing to make sure that we have 141 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:26,600 a healthy all-volunteer force because we are veterans who were all volunteers whereas you 142 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,720 know some of the other organizations definitely have a mix right. 143 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:36,760 And again I think it's a it just made sense that this evolved IAVA evolved into this position 144 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:43,040 because you reference VVA Vietnam Veterans Association had to do the same thing for their 145 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:49,080 generation of folks to try to get heard for their issues so this organization for the 146 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:54,360 veterans who've served since post-911 and you know we've just only within the last year 147 00:13:54,360 --> 00:14:03,880 or so ended the 20-year war IAVA has this unique responsibility to that group of veterans 148 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:10,640 which they're with their own set of issues and certainly it's a more digital more comfortable 149 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:16,360 on the internet sort of group more of an online sort of group and one of the things that you've 150 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:22,320 done with that is and I think this helps you become a better a policy advocate is when 151 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:27,280 you have data when walking the halls of Congress this is what probably one of those things 152 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:32,360 you learn because of your experiences on Capitol Hill and in the White House communication 153 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:39,280 but IAVA went out and surveyed its members about issues can we can we talk about the 154 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,560 2023 IAV member survey? 155 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:55,280 Sure you know I think over time IAVA has done two things really well with our our data 156 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:03,600 which is comprised of you know over 425,000 members and supporters and some of which are 157 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:08,160 verified veterans in other words like you haven't even just self identified but we have paperwork 158 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:13,280 that says you are 100% of that so when you're responding to our surveys we know for a fact 159 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:20,760 we've seen your DD 214 or we've seen your VA card etc and we have been able to field 160 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:26,720 the most comprehensive non-governmental survey of our generation but we also do what I like 161 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:31,720 to call flash polls which is what we did over the summer to just gauge where our membership 162 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:38,840 was on some of the issues of the day which you know it's funny people will like to pigeonhole 163 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:45,240 us on just veterans issues right but veterans veterans are like everybody they have opinions 164 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:50,840 about other issues of the day and I think that we believe that it's important that that 165 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,040 the veteran voice is heard as a part of other conversations as well. 166 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,160 You could say we are people too yeah. 167 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:04,320 Yes I know I will tell you a great deal of my advocacy is I was actually at a conference 168 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:08,520 last week where I highlighted this I was like we aren't this like you can't look at the 169 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:13,520 veterans population and like put us over in this corner as though like you know all the 170 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,040 vets are there it's like we are both veterans and part of like a variety of other constituency 171 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:24,080 groups you know and we are everywhere in terms of like geography socioeconomic status you 172 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,560 know. 173 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:33,280 One of the things you did in your poll and I think this was interesting because you know 174 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:38,760 folks in the military say hey we are always say we are the last ones who want more we 175 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:46,720 are peacekeepers we know the cost of war we don't we're not you know war mongers and 176 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:52,800 one of the questions you asked folks was about authorization of use of military force I thought 177 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:57,200 that was an interesting statistic talk to us about it. 178 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:03,640 Well actually nothing unifies our membership more than a desire to see the 2001 and 2002 179 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:10,480 authorizations of military force either repealed or reformed they've been open ended since 180 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:17,800 they were passed to authorize you know retaliation for 9-11 and then also to go into Iraq and 181 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:22,760 frankly those open ended authorizations have been exploited by administration after administration 182 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:32,240 and I think two things you're right in the sense that members of the military because 183 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:40,040 they understand the consequences of wars more so than people who aren't emotionally connected 184 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:46,000 to it are perhaps more inclined to be more thoughtful and judicious when we even go to 185 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:57,200 war but more importantly leaders should be doing the same right and so I think the beginning 186 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:02,960 and end of the AUMF isn't saying that like nobody still you know doesn't want to fight 187 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:08,040 terrorism you know where we have troops deployed right now in Syria and Iraq there may be a 188 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:14,000 very good reason why troops are deployed there to you know make sure that ISIS doesn't get 189 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,680 out of control or fill in the blank other threat that we're fighting across the globe 190 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:24,280 right now but what we do owe those troops and what we do owe their families is to have 191 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:31,400 a constant conversation about where they're going under what terms and what for what purpose 192 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:37,000 and we're not having that conversation at least Congress isn't and that is like their 193 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:43,200 most you know solemn responsibility in effect they've been advocating excuse me abdicating 194 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:51,720 their responsibility to our troops and their families for you know going on decades as 195 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:58,120 you say that that open-ended authorization 85% agreed or strongly agreed that that ought 196 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:04,440 to be reduced or eliminated again that was probably the highest highest thing everybody 197 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:11,160 agreed on on this 550 or so verified veterans that were surveyed another one that's you 198 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:19,640 know in the news is how your members felt about Ukraine and the US involvement in Ukraine 199 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:28,200 again not as high not not 85% but 67% either agreed with us involvement strongly or agreed 200 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:33,960 to it so so while there is experience there's also understanding that if you don't do something 201 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:40,920 the bad guys always win right so that led me to your results on China which is something 202 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:49,120 I worry about talk about how your members felt about the China situation I mean a majority 203 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:56,120 of IVA members you know over 50% indicated that they are only partly confident in the 204 00:19:56,120 --> 00:20:02,400 ability of the US to deal with press from China and 30% don't believe that we're prepared 205 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:11,480 at all so to your earlier point even if vets and IVA veterans specifically want sort of 206 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:17,840 checks and balances on how and when we go to war and how we combat threats and or want 207 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:24,840 you know political leadership specifically to be thinking through how and when we go 208 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:30,240 to war they also want to make sure that we are you know protecting for the threats of 209 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:37,400 the future and honestly the China is a good example like if we effectively protect ourselves 210 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:43,600 from the threats we could also avoid a war with China absolutely absolutely and your 211 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:51,480 members certainly the early ones in Iraq went there with unarmored vehicles right we weren't 212 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,840 ready for it at all and you don't you know I know the slogan was you fight the war with 213 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:02,280 what the equipment you've got but that just showed poor planning poor thinking ahead and 214 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:08,800 I kind of read this result where 30% of the survey says hey we're not ready we're leading 215 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:14,160 ourselves back into a situation where once if it does happen we're going to have folks 216 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:21,160 in unarmored vehicles if you will so it's an interesting observation I think from folks 217 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,280 who've been there and done that. 218 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:28,800 Well and I also think our generation to your point about unarmored vehicles not just like 219 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:34,440 unarmored vehicles like the the enemy was always one step ahead of us and so we needed 220 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:41,200 to be able to innovate in real time and I think our generation has sort of lived seeing 221 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:49,960 how the DOD is not very good at doing that you know the DOD is still very much like in 222 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:55,160 their procurement process is still very much stuck in the olden days of being able to like 223 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:01,760 you know plan out for wars in certain timelines that we just can't you know we need to be 224 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:07,080 able to move and shake like they do in Silicon Valley to keep up with war fighting these 225 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:12,560 days and I don't know that our our government and the bureaucracy is totally there and I 226 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,880 think that our our generation of veterans has a unique appreciation for that and I think 227 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,520 that would give us a higher anxiety level when it comes to like fighting the threats 228 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,640 of the future you know. 229 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,440 It is again one of those things where you say boy I hope somebody's planning the right 230 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:33,920 way on this stuff and we don't get caught short and you can hear a lot of that about 231 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:38,200 does the Navy really have enough ships are we going to do we have the right types of 232 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:45,560 ships if we do we the right technology to be able to fight China in the on the seas and 233 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:51,400 by the Philippines and down by Taiwan and Australia it's a big theater to fight in a 234 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:56,200 much different theater than the desert much different theater than urban warfare we're 235 00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,920 seeing in Ukraine so you've got to think about it a different way. 236 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:05,200 I want to move to another part of your survey which was domestic policy because this is 237 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:09,640 something that I've certainly anecdotally noticed every time I talk on the issue of 238 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:17,480 cannabis on veterans radio but talk to us a little bit about what you found in terms 239 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:24,000 of support on legalizing cannabis. 240 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:32,720 Well you know I'd say from the jump that something that you're listening to me to remember is 241 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:42,920 our generation of veterans has lived through the opioid crisis and so whether it's a cannabis 242 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:48,840 or other forms of alternative therapies our generation is more eager to get access to 243 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:55,600 alternative therapies than generations of the past so that's the first thing and something 244 00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:02,880 we have advocated for for some time is that minimum research into cannabis and atailing 245 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:08,600 properties not just for managing your PTSD but maybe also chronic pain because we do 246 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:14,560 know that there are veterans who are benefiting from use of cannabis you know products but 247 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:21,320 also because being legalized and many states across the country which I'm sure your listeners 248 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:26,440 have seen on the landscape but the reality is if you get your care through the VA in 249 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:34,720 a state that's legalized it your VA doctor still can't prescribe it to you or even say 250 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:41,320 you know I can prescribe you this medication or that medication or I can't prescribe you 251 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:48,120 cannabis but you do live in a state where it's available and some veterans have seen 252 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:53,640 positive effects from using cannabis for their PTSD or positive effects for using cannabis 253 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:58,560 to relieve their back pain after you know two different deployments with a bunch of gear 254 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:08,880 on and convoys and so our members more than I'm looking at the data right now but it's 255 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:15,720 an overwhelming number of our members would like to see legalization at the national 256 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,920 level because it's holding back veterans who want to get access to this care I mean we 257 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:28,440 have a we have one of our veteran leaders who lives in Indiana and regularly drives 258 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:35,320 to Illinois to access cannabis products that he pays for on his own dime after spending 259 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:42,440 time and gas money to go get the cannabis that has really helped his PTSD specifically 260 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:49,880 and I think our fellow vets even if you don't want to use cannabis yourself you don't want 261 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:56,120 your buddies like having to bend over backwards to get something that says that they or that 262 00:25:56,120 --> 00:26:01,560 they tell you really makes an improvement in their quality of life and usually somebody's 263 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,840 by the time they've gotten there they've right they've gone through all the prescription 264 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:12,560 drugs and other treatments that the VA can prescribed it was only 10% of the polling 265 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:19,000 that was opposed or strongly opposed to legalizing it everybody else fell in the you know 90% 266 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:25,680 or something 85% fell in the supporting legalization of cannabis and we really need to you know 267 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:31,080 the federal government needs to get on with this in part because so that the VA can say 268 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:37,040 we've done the research and these drugs and this cannabis use has interactions doesn't 269 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:42,640 have interactions and we can put some strength and dosages issues and around it I mean I 270 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,120 think that's part of what's missing and part of what you were commenting on we just need 271 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:52,320 to do more research don't we definitely and I think you know what you're speaking to 272 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:59,800 is sort of the broader like conversation around regulation period like there is a there is 273 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:06,280 positive incentive even people who aren't cannabis fans to because of where we are right now 274 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:11,200 both in cultural acceptance and legalization state by state to just get the federal government 275 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:16,440 there because once you do then we know that everybody's going to be using safe cannabis 276 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:22,480 to your point they'll be using the right amount of of dosage because we'll be we'll have research 277 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,880 behind it and we'll be able to give people that information because nobody would want 278 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:32,640 to you know if the purpose is to improve your quality of life and you want the right amount 279 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,720 of dosage to be able to do that versus you know just shooting from the hip right but 280 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:44,800 lots of people to your point who have already tried and knocked down success with pills 281 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:51,760 and or you know there are people who've taken pills and then you know maybe got addicted 282 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,880 to them and like don't want to keep taking them and they would want another therapy because 283 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:03,240 of you know what opioids are doing to some people these days then why wouldn't we want 284 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:09,480 to be able to at this moment in time regulate an industry and change the laws so people 285 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,680 can get access to what is already very readily available but also in the right quantity and 286 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:19,880 dosage that's fit for whatever condition they have you know and research will get you there 287 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:27,160 my friend it will and and I think this problem will solve itself is just taking too long 288 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:33,680 we'll come back and talk some more with the CEO of IVA but a few words from our sponsors 289 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:38,680 military veterans touch everyone's life I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran 290 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:45,080 a close friend relative maybe it's you even the toughest of us sometimes need help but 291 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,960 don't know where to turn for support you don't need special training to help a veteran in 292 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:53,840 your life we can all help someone going through a difficult time learn how you can be there 293 00:28:53,840 --> 00:29:00,440 for veterans visit veterans crisis line net veterans crisis line net a message from the 294 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:06,000 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs if you have a VA claim denied by the board of veterans 295 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:13,040 appeals contact legal help for veterans at 1-800-693-4800 their experts in handling cases 296 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:20,120 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for veterans claims their number again 1-800-693-4800 we're 297 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:28,600 talking to Allison Jaislow who's the CEO of IVA about their 2023 member survey we still 298 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,240 have a few more items there and then we've got a couple of other areas we want to cover 299 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:39,000 about women veterans and recruiting issues Allison one of the things that you I think 300 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:46,280 busted open in your data here was the we were joking about it earlier we're all people 301 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:54,960 too so yeah not all veterans of the IVA era if you will vote one way or the other way 302 00:29:54,960 --> 00:30:01,720 they're not all woke and they're not all strict right wing conservatives I thought 303 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:08,200 the statistics here were there were you know particularly interesting because it it helped 304 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:13,800 demonstrate or prove what I think most of us knew anyway it's not a monolithic block 305 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:19,840 so tell us what your results on elections to get you yeah I mean what I like to say 306 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:26,040 is the veteran vote is a jump ball at least among IVA members I mean we're about it a 307 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:31,720 third Democrat a third Republican and the third you know not overly impressed with 308 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:39,680 either party so I think that that also flies in the face I think of what a lot of people's 309 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:45,680 assumptions would be about the veteran population yes you know again our generation is unique 310 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:52,480 I'd like to say I feel like you know we're a combination largely of millennials and Gen 311 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,960 Z of course there are other people who serve or other veterans who serve post 911 who don't 312 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:03,240 count themselves as so far as those generations but you know the median IVA member is actually 313 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:11,720 the same age as I am it's 41 but I think most people of you know our age and generation 314 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:19,800 are more either small p progressive or libertarian then maybe you'd find another generation and 315 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:29,960 so I think there are more than anything else looking for a candidate that can I don't know 316 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:37,160 match their values and are probably open to somebody who's outside of the traditional 317 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:43,680 box that we've been fed in the past well but it'll be interesting to see specifically 318 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:48,520 and this is something that's important to me leading our organization is like we are 319 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:54,320 the candidates need to be speaking of or they will risk losing a very important voting very 320 00:31:54,320 --> 00:32:00,280 important because if they were liable voting block you know in that regards 88 percent 321 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:07,520 or so said they will vote in the 2024 election without question you know that's a high percentage 322 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:13,440 of folks that hey I'm gonna I've done my job here serving I'm gonna make sure I vote on 323 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:19,800 who's there but it was as you say a jump ball on presidential candidates and Democrats and 324 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:25,440 Republicans sort of split right down you know into thirds and so I'm not you know this 325 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,960 far out I'm not sure it tells us a whole lot but it does tell us they're gonna go out and 326 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:34,880 vote so yes I agree the candidates ought to be speaking with IVA members and veterans 327 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:39,880 in general and not just lip service which we get all too much of it election times don't 328 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:48,360 we yeah and I think our I think our generation specifically is kind of over it you know a 329 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:54,320 lot of my contemporaries their entire adult lives have been shaped by elected leaders 330 00:32:54,320 --> 00:33:04,200 failing us and so I think the hunger right now is for real authentic leadership I think 331 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:08,200 not just among our generation of veterans but I think we're hopefully getting to a tipping 332 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:14,640 point where the American electorate is gonna demand it too you know I think people have 333 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:20,120 talked like they've really wanted it but haven't necessarily voted that way and then I think 334 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:25,280 this is an exciting time for our generation of veterans because I think we're well positioned 335 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:30,360 to step in and be those leaders now you know it's taken some time for whether it's in the 336 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:36,840 private sector or the public sector for you know many of us to actually build up a resume 337 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:44,560 to be quote unquote qualified or you know worthy of elected office at this point but 338 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,960 I think that I think we're really hitting a moment when it comes to some of the best 339 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,960 among us being in positions to lead us forward and that actually gives me hope these days 340 00:33:52,960 --> 00:34:00,440 no that's good that's a good point we're talking to Allison jaslow who's the CEO of IVA and 341 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:07,080 an army captain served a couple times over in Iraq and certainly at a time when women 342 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:12,200 veterans weren't always treated the same or women military members service members weren't 343 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:17,160 always treated the same as their male counterparts so being in this position of leadership at 344 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:23,680 IVA I think helps communicate the value and that there are women veterans out there but 345 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:31,840 you probably experienced that Allison where women weren't in combat units there technically 346 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:37,000 although everywhere in Iraq was a combat unit essentially and you didn't get the same sort 347 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:45,080 of maybe awards and decorations as male counterparts and sometimes that can impact competitive promotions 348 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:53,960 or other career opportunities so this is this having the badge of CEO gives you a sort of 349 00:34:53,960 --> 00:35:01,360 a leg up to talk to folks about some of these distinctions doesn't it it sure does you know 350 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:07,360 I think we've come a long way since when I served women can now you know serve and combat 351 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:14,200 designated roles which even though I'm here to say you know there were bullets flying 352 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:18,440 over the convoys I was riding in and there were also IEDs hitting the convoys that I 353 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:24,080 was riding in when I deployed but I was a logistics officer by school training and so 354 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:32,040 even though I was you know in combat it was you know in a way that wasn't at least foreseen 355 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:41,840 by the people who made policy around women prior to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars this 356 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:49,360 created you know some cascading effects when it comes to you know whether women's wartime 357 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:55,200 service was appropriately acknowledged the way that a male peer would I think there are 358 00:35:55,200 --> 00:36:01,120 many women who service and especially some women who really served with distinction and 359 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:07,200 valor in combat did get acknowledged but many women who got overlooked and maybe weren't 360 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:12,320 given the awards or recognition that you know a man who was running the same platoon or 361 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:18,920 the same company would otherwise have gotten but you know hopefully times have changed 362 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:25,240 and I think it is important that we continue to lean into this conversation in part because 363 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:30,680 it does come down to not just policy change but leadership as well and you know step one 364 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:37,960 is getting in more women into combat designated roles but also into combatant leadership posts 365 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:44,880 as well which you're seeing a few women you know today serving in and that was also key 366 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:51,600 to getting we just celebrated the first woman who's a member of the Joint Chiefs and having 367 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:56,960 women continue to ascend into those types of leadership roles I think will help women 368 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:03,200 fully get the recognition that they deserve and will have earned the next time we go to 369 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:10,800 war. Oh absolutely and it's it means a lot not only to the service member but I've certainly 370 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:17,160 seen it over the decades how much it means to the veterans family the veterans community 371 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:26,160 their associates so so not getting the recognition has this ripple effect that that can be interpreted 372 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:31,560 as well as something less than and that's certainly not the case so I'm glad to hear 373 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:37,920 that it's still an issue that people are leaning in on. One more issue and I promise 374 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:45,720 is the last one we talked about when we started that I wanted to get some comments on because 375 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:52,640 of the recruiting misses that every branch of service is suffering at the moment as we 376 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:59,200 you talked earlier one of the unique things about IAVA is its members were all volunteers 377 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:05,520 we obviously have to have volunteers at full strength for our military it becomes a national 378 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:10,460 security issue so give us I know you've been talking and thinking about this issue give 379 00:38:10,460 --> 00:38:18,000 us some thoughts on how does the military in the country do a better job of recruiting 380 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:27,360 into these spaces. Well I certainly don't have all the answers but because this is something 381 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:32,600 that I've personally been spending time on that I feel like that's a responsibility as 382 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:41,240 you noted leading me the largest national veterans organization that represents exclusively 383 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:47,640 volunteers that I feel a sense of responsibility to be a part of a solution and you know I 384 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:57,720 think first and foremost I think service needs to be hip you know I think culturally instead 385 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:06,240 of just like you know otherizing the troops you know I wish we could foster in young people 386 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:13,560 a desire to be one of them and I think that that can happen two ways I think it can happen 387 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:18,840 just because America is what it is through Hollywood you know sure it's cultural the 388 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,640 Air Force will tell you that they saw a little bit of a bump after a top gun Maverick came 389 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:31,680 out but I also think as veterans especially because a lot of veterans that I know aren't 390 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:36,920 necessarily like self promoters who will like talk about themselves or their service I think 391 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:42,120 we need to be get more comfortable doing it we are fewer and fewer in numbers the American 392 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:50,400 people know less and less of us and I think you know how many people do you know who went 393 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:54,360 into a profession because that's what their parents did or somebody else who they knew 394 00:39:54,360 --> 00:40:00,720 absolutely you know doctor lawyer Baker candlestick exactly and so maybe your maybe your parents 395 00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:05,480 didn't serve although you know the military today is a good example of like families who 396 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:11,360 are serving you know it's sons and daughters brothers and sisters are making up a disproportionate 397 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:16,800 amount of the military even with this few of people serving these days but the more people 398 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:23,040 who know us and see us and who can get familiar with what it is to serve the more we can like 399 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:28,000 get young people in America curious about what that might be for them whether it's a 400 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:35,360 career or whether it's you know just a part of their you know adult lived experience and 401 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:42,240 that also gives like the conversation allows people to be more curious and interested and 402 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:48,400 maybe even see themselves in uniform but also allows them to understand some of the benefits 403 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:54,760 that can come from service whether it's the leadership training that I got or the education 404 00:40:54,760 --> 00:41:00,560 that I got you know and I think that's one of the things we need to all talk more about 405 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:08,320 is that that growth those things we got the intangibles we got when we served that kind 406 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:13,600 of carried on through life maybe it's showing up on time and realizing you're going to have 407 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:18,400 to work hard and not everything's going to be a hundred percent fair but those are all 408 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:23,000 life skills right that you have to learn to keep moving forward and you can learn them 409 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:28,400 in the military and you can serve a higher purpose in the military if you know it's 410 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:35,520 something that you know if you love your freedoms somebody's got to protect those freedoms and 411 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:41,720 I don't know that we do a great job of expressing those ideas and I think it'd be a wonderful 412 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:52,240 thing for IAVA to keep promoting out there and that is the real value of service to people. 413 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:57,600 Even if you get out and there are many people who are career soldiers you know I don't know 414 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:04,520 many of that who don't still carry a part of their service experience with them and hold 415 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:09,840 it near and dear to their heart even people who you know went out guns and blazing you 416 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:17,040 know not looking back they still have you know battle buddies or friends from that time or 417 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:23,680 memories from that time whether you serve peacetime or in wartime that profoundly change 418 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:28,960 you for the rest of your life and I think anybody who wants to serve should consider 419 00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:36,600 it and I think veterans should be encouraging young people to consider service but also 420 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:44,440 non-veterans you know I hate hearing stories about parents who sometimes think that their 421 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:51,560 kids are too good for serving in uniform I don't know where that mentality comes from 422 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:56,480 but you know parents even if you come from a very privileged background if you have a 423 00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:02,120 kid who says you know I feel like I'm being called to enlist in the Marines you should 424 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:09,080 support them doing that it is very inspiring especially to see children from privileged 425 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:15,640 backgrounds who want to roll up their sleeves and serve something greater than themselves 426 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:19,880 and think themselves no better than the other enlisted Marines you know. 427 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:24,920 Oh absolutely and you'll get a if you do that if you join up you're going to meet people 428 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:31,120 from all across the country all kinds of different approaches and experiences in life and that 429 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:34,040 will make you a richer person as a result. 430 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:39,440 Well and could you could you imagine what our country would be like today if more people 431 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:45,960 were we're stepping up to serve a common cause and meeting people from different backgrounds 432 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:50,840 like I feel like some of the problems we're facing in our country today could be ameliorated 433 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:58,760 if more people served together whether it's in military service or in other ways towards 434 00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:04,320 a common mission and a common goal that worked to make this country a better place than it 435 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:05,320 was yesterday. 436 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:10,600 Absolutely we create a commonality not build barriers in between folks. 437 00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:17,920 Well we certainly appreciate the extra time that Allison Jaislow CEO of IAVA gave us. 438 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:26,880 Your mission that you're supporting is really important and we are glad to be able to broadcast 439 00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:31,360 it out a little further and help bring folks to you. 440 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:36,920 You got an easy website for folks to find you why don't you give them that if they want 441 00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:41,080 to know more about it. 442 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:44,920 Sure you can visit us at IAVA.org. 443 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:52,280 We are a nonprofit that grinds away advocating on our generation of veterans. 444 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:58,360 Please visit IAVA.org and learn more about us and if you so choose donate and support 445 00:44:58,360 --> 00:44:59,360 of our work. 446 00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:02,680 Allison thank you for your time today. 447 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:07,200 Thank you for having me Jim. 448 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:13,680 Let's have a quick update on the Air and Space Forces Association. 449 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:20,200 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today Brigadier General retired Doug Odie Slocum 450 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:25,440 who is going to talk to us about the Michigan Air and Space Forces Association. 451 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:27,080 General welcome to Veterans Radio. 452 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:31,840 Okay it's great to be here Jim I look forward to talking with you how are you doing today. 453 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:36,680 We are doing great and this is some new things going on that we want to share with the Veterans 454 00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:40,960 Radio audience not only here in the state of Michigan but really this is affiliated 455 00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:47,240 with the AFA Air and Space Forces Association nationally. 456 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:54,600 Tell us a little bit about your career in the military how many years you served and 457 00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:59,160 I know that you have had a pretty distinguished career and we don't have time to go through 458 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:06,960 it all but I want people to understand from where your enthusiasm for AFA comes from. 459 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:10,440 Well sure and thanks for the opportunity and no we're not going to spend a lot of time 460 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:15,720 on this topic but I was blessed to spend 35 years in uniform. 461 00:46:15,720 --> 00:46:19,840 One of the greatest things was being able to serve some of the most amazing men and 462 00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:24,880 women you'd ever want to meet and if there's one part of my career that I would have to 463 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:31,060 say is a highlight it's a lot of opportunities to run what I would call caring for people 464 00:46:31,060 --> 00:46:33,040 types of programs. 465 00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:37,040 Although I spent my career as a fighter pilot I also got to be involved with many things 466 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:44,680 associated with safety, suicide prevention, resiliency, those types of things and then 467 00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:49,440 of course being the commander out at Michigan's hometown air base at Selfridge where we were 468 00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:53,560 able to implement some real world down to earth community based types of caring for 469 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:56,560 our people programs and I tell you that's just the highlight. 470 00:46:56,560 --> 00:47:02,760 Okay well I started off in the love of my life I call her the F-4 Phantom, the legacy 471 00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:08,160 platform there that fighter jet then I converted over to the F-16 and I spent most of my career 472 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:13,520 flying that more than 4,000 hours in the different models of the F-16 and then I got to top it 473 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:18,200 off out at Selfridge being a pilot of the A-10 Warthog with the big bad gun that does 474 00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:21,800 all the neat things that it does supporting the ground troops. 475 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:26,240 We've had more than one program on the A-10s it seems like every few years they say we're 476 00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:30,680 going to get rid of it and we have another program about the vital importance of the 477 00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:37,040 A-10 to the ground game but again we could get all of our time spent on your interesting 478 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:44,240 military career and the different airframes you've flown but I want folks to understand 479 00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:50,840 that's kind of where your passion comes from for your involvement with the Air and Space 480 00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:57,360 Forces Association it's hard to get space forces in there my mind just wants to go into the 481 00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,000 Air Force Association. 482 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:04,520 Well they changed it about a year and a half ago so it still kind of has a hard time coming 483 00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:11,080 out of my mouth too plus we still use the AFA abbreviation so you know to add air and 484 00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:15,400 space forces in there just to let everybody know we represent both of those branches 485 00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:16,960 of our military now. 486 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:22,160 Well you know and that's something we need to talk about more on what space force is 487 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:27,200 all about but AFA is really supposed to be the force behind the force. 488 00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:29,920 Tell us about the purpose of AFA. 489 00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:35,720 You know that is a grand question that I don't think we spend enough time talking about that 490 00:48:35,720 --> 00:48:41,000 essentially after World War II as the very founders of air power you know the Army Air 491 00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:45,720 Corps that was about to become the US Air Force realized that they needed to have a voice 492 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:51,240 beyond those who are wearing the uniform because those that are in uniform are very constrained 493 00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:55,160 on what they can say how they can advocate. 494 00:48:55,160 --> 00:49:01,880 So Jimmy Doolittle you know from the Doolittle raid General Doolittle was the one who was 495 00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:06,960 actually one of the primary founders of the Air Force Association and it was started to 496 00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:13,480 be the voice behind the force the ones that can talk to Congress that can keep us from 497 00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:21,400 reducing our strength for example we did between World War I and World War II where we pretty 498 00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:24,480 much ended up having to start everything over again. 499 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:28,800 So the very founders of the Air Force founded the Air Force Association to be that voice 500 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:34,480 to be that advocate to go out there talk to the community talk to Congress basically we 501 00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:39,320 have three verbs it's about education advocacy and support. 502 00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:45,200 You know teaching people about the air and space forces advocating for things that they 503 00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:49,440 need to be able to be that dominant force that they are and supporting the men and women 504 00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:53,440 who do or have worn that uniform. 505 00:49:53,440 --> 00:50:00,680 And General this is an organization at a national level who's it open up to is it just you 506 00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:02,880 general officer types? 507 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:07,000 Oh absolutely not we're open to the public you don't even have to have an Air Force 508 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:12,080 affiliation to be part of the Air and Space Forces Association. 509 00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:17,960 Anybody can go to aFA.org you know the website there's a membership tab there's lots of different 510 00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:23,760 ways to get involved to join the resources that just where the think tank of the Air 511 00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:28,640 Force the advocacy arm for the Air Force there are so many different resources and ways to 512 00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:34,080 get engaged at this point but the key the first step is that membership which is easy 513 00:50:34,080 --> 00:50:38,120 to do inexpensive aFA.org. 514 00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:45,840 I want to turn our attention to the specific work that you're involved in as president 515 00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:50,560 of the Michigan Air and Space Forces Association. 516 00:50:50,560 --> 00:50:58,640 There are aFA groups or chapters whatever you want to call them all over the world there's 517 00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:05,160 a reported to be a couple hundred of such aFA chapters and you're in the process of 518 00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:11,400 helping build out the Michigan aFA organization. 519 00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:16,720 So talk to us a little bit about the Michigan aFA. 520 00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:23,280 You bet you know like a lot of these advocacy organizations around the country I think that 521 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:28,760 inherently right now there are some struggles that these organizations are going through 522 00:51:28,760 --> 00:51:32,440 so it's very nice here in Michigan we've kind of flipped the script a little bit on this 523 00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:34,160 whole thing. 524 00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:38,320 We have monthly get togethers I wouldn't call them necessarily meetings because we don't 525 00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:43,200 talk internal business but this is how we engage with the public how we engage with 526 00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:48,200 our membership primarily right now which a lot of times well one it's always a great 527 00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:50,840 meal whether it's a breakfast or a lunch that we put together. 528 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,720 You gotta have food in there right. 529 00:51:53,720 --> 00:51:58,800 Oh you gotta get the food the coffee those types of things in there but then the networking 530 00:51:58,800 --> 00:52:03,960 you get to meet some of the most amazing people from the state of Michigan in all different 531 00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:09,160 aspects you know the very diverse from you know political involvement community leaders 532 00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:15,460 business leaders veterans all that and in our Sterling Heights location we have between 533 00:52:15,460 --> 00:52:20,800 80 and 100 people every month that we get together and then we dive into different topics. 534 00:52:20,800 --> 00:52:26,640 You know after what happened in the Middle East we very specifically jumped into let's 535 00:52:26,640 --> 00:52:31,480 talk about Gazel's talk about Israel Middle East not only did I get an opportunity to 536 00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:35,160 kind of frame the discussion but then we brought in the senior defense out of shape from the 537 00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:39,920 embassy in Israel and then we brought in an Israeli general to come in and talk to us 538 00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:46,440 and this is just one example of current relevant information that will leave people with a greater 539 00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:50,240 understanding of our air and space forces and what's going on in the world when they 540 00:52:50,240 --> 00:52:51,960 walked in the door. 541 00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:56,680 This model has been very effective we continue to grow, create memberships, we're opening 542 00:52:56,680 --> 00:53:01,680 new locations starting down in Ann Arbor and we're looking at expanding both west and 543 00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:05,480 north here in the state and we're going to jump into the virtual. 544 00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:12,260 We're going to start doing virtual events every month and then even expanding that possibly 545 00:53:12,260 --> 00:53:16,960 into a podcast here in the near future that will allow us to touch more topics bring in 546 00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:22,440 more expertise and just help people out whether they're trying to raise the business or just 547 00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:25,440 be part supporters of the men and women that wear the uniform. 548 00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:30,960 Well it's so important these days to try to get word out and educate the general public 549 00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:39,000 about what it is our air and space forces do and what needs they have so I think this 550 00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:45,520 is a really exciting time to be expanding the footprint, the geographic footprint of 551 00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:51,240 Michigan AFA and moving into the virtual world as we've all kind of become so used to zoom 552 00:53:51,240 --> 00:53:57,600 or teams or what have you to attend a program that we might not otherwise be able to drive 553 00:53:57,600 --> 00:53:58,600 to. 554 00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:02,200 So is that the thinking to reach that larger class that way? 555 00:54:02,200 --> 00:54:09,080 Well the way people engage nowadays is completely different some like in person, some like the 556 00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:12,440 virtual, some like a podcast, some through social media. 557 00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:16,920 So we're trying to meet people that the way they communicate so we're using all of these 558 00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:21,560 to be able to reach out and tell the story about our Air and Space Forces Association. 559 00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:29,060 So LinkedIn, certainly Facebook were involved there and like we said through the virtual 560 00:54:29,060 --> 00:54:36,200 options that are coming up here shortly as well as podcasts, emails, etc. 561 00:54:36,200 --> 00:54:38,680 Communication is the tough one and that's what we're pushing out there is to get the 562 00:54:38,680 --> 00:54:39,680 word out. 563 00:54:39,680 --> 00:54:45,800 You can hear my full interview with the President of the Michigan AFA, Brigadier General Odie 564 00:54:45,800 --> 00:54:47,360 Slokum retired. 565 00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:55,240 You can find more on their website at afa-mi.org and check them out. 566 00:54:55,240 --> 00:54:59,480 We also always want to thank our VSO sponsors. 567 00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:07,360 So thanks to the VVA Kettles Chapter 310 in Ann Arbor, the VFW Graf O'Hara Post 423 in 568 00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:11,880 Ann Arbor, American Legion Press Conference post 45 in Ann Arbor. 569 00:55:11,880 --> 00:55:15,120 You can help us out on Veterans Radio by donating. 570 00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:20,400 Go to our website veteransradio.org and help us out. 571 00:55:20,400 --> 00:55:22,720 Throw a little money our way to keep us on the air. 572 00:55:22,720 --> 00:55:28,400 This is a non-profit organization and your money is used to bring you this kind of programming 573 00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:30,080 at least twice a week. 574 00:55:30,080 --> 00:55:34,440 We'd like to spread the word to different affiliates, radio stations around the country 575 00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:39,520 and boost our internet podcasting, but we need your help to do that. 576 00:55:39,520 --> 00:55:40,520 This is Jim Fausone. 577 00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:44,600 It's been a privilege to be your host today on Veterans Radio. 578 00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:50,920 Dale Throneberry will be back next week and will bring you more great stories of interest 579 00:55:50,920 --> 00:55:55,400 to veterans and their friends and family members. 580 00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:58,960 We always have a benefits program at the last Sunday of every month. 581 00:55:58,960 --> 00:56:01,720 So if you have a question, throw it to us by email. 582 00:56:01,720 --> 00:56:06,880 We'll try to answer it, veterans benefits, whether they be disability or healthcare, 583 00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:09,240 can be kind of confusing. 584 00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:10,480 So throw us the question. 585 00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:13,520 We'll try to answer it on air or call on in at that time. 586 00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:18,840 But it's always a privilege to serve you, those that served our country, as we like 587 00:56:18,840 --> 00:56:19,840 to say. 588 00:56:19,840 --> 00:56:26,200 It's our obligation to continue our service even when we become civilians and to remember 589 00:56:26,200 --> 00:56:28,640 all those who are currently serving. 590 00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:31,680 So until next time on Veterans Radio, I am Jim Fosona. 591 00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:36,160 Dale Throneberry will be back again next week. 592 00:56:36,160 --> 00:57:03,000 And until then, you are Dismissed. 593 00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:12,760 Well, thanks for watching.