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 Fossone. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,880 I'm the officer of the deck today. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,760 We've got some great programs for you. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,760 I think you'll find very interesting. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:34,760 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:41,760 or by going to veteransradio.net where we're on the web 24-7. 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,880 You can find a lot of our podcasts there as well. 11 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:51,520 We post new ones every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a new interview, something 12 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,640 you didn't know before by going to veteransradio.net. 13 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,120 And before we get started, we want to thank our sponsors. 14 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:09,400 First up, we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org. 15 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:15,080 It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran owned businesses. 16 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:21,600 You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org. 17 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:27,520 We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans, Legal Help for Veterans Fights for Veterans 18 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,640 Disability Rights all across the nation. 19 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:42,720 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at legalhelpforveterans.com. 20 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,000 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today Dr. Kenneth Hartman. 21 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,440 He's here to talk about a great national program called Our Community Salutes. 22 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,600 Dr. Hartman, welcome to Veterans Radio. 23 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:01,560 Hey, Jim, it's an honor to be with you and to have a few words with your listeners. 24 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,120 Well, we're glad to have you on. 25 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:11,160 Kenneth is a e-learning authority, a former university professor. 26 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:18,560 He's run online college courses and programs. 27 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:25,960 And as a former Army officer, he's got degrees from the State University of New York, from 28 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,720 Michigan State University, and the University of Pennsylvania. 29 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:35,360 And all those confluences came together because he kind of not only has education and military, 30 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:45,200 but understanding kids, and in 2009 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, lightning struck. 31 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,240 And you thought, you know what, here's something I should be doing. 32 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,080 Tell us how our community's salutes came about. 33 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,920 Yeah, it really was lightning. 34 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:59,560 Actually it was a moment of weakness when I agreed to serve in our local school board 35 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:05,360 here, and it was on that school board that I discovered that we were doing nothing to 36 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:10,400 recognize and honor the kids who were graduating from our high schools and who were enlisting. 37 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:15,120 The kids who were going off and doing ROTC like I did a million years ago, and certainly 38 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,040 the kids going off to the academies, they got recognized, and their moms and dads were 39 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:20,880 made to feel special. 40 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:26,440 But for the small number of kids, those parents, literally I saw them going underground because 41 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,040 they were tired of defending their son or daughter's decision to serve. 42 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:36,000 I'm sure in communities like yours, when people ask a son or daughter, what's your son doing 43 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,960 next year, and they would say, well, what college is he going to? 44 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:41,600 Is he going to Michigan State, Michigan? 45 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:47,000 And parents would say, here, no, no, no, he's going to the Army, and they would hear, what? 46 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,480 Army, what happened? 47 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,120 Are you okay with that? 48 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:58,840 So I decided to do something about that, so I held our first event in the May of 2009. 49 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,440 I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for it, where I was going to have it, who was going 50 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,000 to come, but I wanted to honor all the kids in our county, and that was the first year. 51 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,000 We had this tremendous event. 52 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,240 I got 60-some-eyed kids, about 200 people. 53 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,960 I found a retired one-star in my community. 54 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,800 And what happened over the past 15 years is the word has gotten out about what we've 55 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,960 done, and we've grown. 56 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,360 We've grown from one community to 20 communities to 30 communities to 40 communities to 50 57 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,000 communities all over the country. 58 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:33,200 And as you know, right there in Detroit, we've had a ceremony for the kids from Detroit, 59 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,080 who are enlisting for upwards of the last five or six years. 60 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:42,000 So yeah, it's been quite a movement over the last 15 years. 61 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:48,120 Well, this supports not only the kids, but as you say, their families, their parents, 62 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:53,200 this important decision that's getting made by fewer and fewer of us in the country. 63 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,000 But did it start out to support the kids or the parents? 64 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,960 How did you think it would develop? 65 00:04:58,960 --> 00:04:59,960 Both. 66 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,280 You know, like I said, I saw these parents literally going underground, tired of defending 67 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:04,720 their mom's dead decision. 68 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,080 Again, back in 2009, these kids were still going off the war. 69 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,280 And so it was critically important to do that. 70 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:16,840 I should tell you also that I had a very good friend of mine at that time, whose son went 71 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:23,520 to the Marine Corps and was delayed going to college, decided to go to the Marine Corps. 72 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,400 And in the first month, he was in Afghanistan. 73 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,680 He was killed by a suicide bomber. 74 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,840 And when he came home, everybody in the community turned out to rally around this kid and his 75 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:33,840 family. 76 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:40,600 But the mother told me at the time that there was nobody there when he decided to enlist. 77 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,280 In fact, they questioned his decision. 78 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:47,560 So our motto is the first to say thank you. 79 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,320 And so that very reason. 80 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,920 But so it was about the kids, it was about the parents, it was about our nation and the 81 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,880 need for these young people to be willing to stand in the watch tower. 82 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,560 So the rest of us have the liberties and freedoms that we enjoy. 83 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:04,640 Oh, absolutely. 84 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:11,040 We have to encourage these kids who sign up and support their families because these are 85 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:12,880 hard decisions. 86 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:19,120 And we're such a social media visual society now. 87 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:25,400 When a kid decides he's going to play baseball or softball at the local college or community 88 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,200 college or maybe it's a division one, there's a big signing day and there's photographs 89 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:31,200 taken. 90 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:32,360 It's a big deal. 91 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,880 But you know, I sort of see what you're trying to do with our community of solutes, 92 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:38,320 somewhat in that same vein. 93 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:39,320 Absolutely. 94 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,480 And people have called this kind of their signing day, their signing ceremony. 95 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:48,920 And I think that's great because it does bring that recognition to them and their families. 96 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,560 And that a D1 athlete would get. 97 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:59,200 Or you certainly know, Michigan State or Michigan has a new student reception. 98 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:00,200 They get that. 99 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,440 So yes, it is their signing day, so to speak. 100 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:09,280 Now is this done in conjunction with or supported by or totally separate from whatever the 101 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:14,160 military recruiters are doing in a given area all across the nation? 102 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:15,160 Great question. 103 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,360 So we work very closely with the recruiting commands. 104 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:24,680 In fact, I just yesterday, as a matter of fact, had a briefing with the new incoming 105 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:26,760 commanding general for Army Recruit. 106 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,480 So we work very closely with them at a national level. 107 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:34,800 In fact, many of those commanders speak that the commanding general for Air Force Recruiting, 108 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:40,080 Major General Thomas was the speaker at my ceremony here in South Jersey this past May. 109 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:47,440 And the reason why these recruiters at local national level are involved with OCS is not 110 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,800 only because it's a good thing, but what they have found is that the kids who come to our 111 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,480 ceremony, nearly 100% of them actually get on the bus. 112 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,480 And so it helps them with retention. 113 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,880 Again, you can't come to our ceremony unless you've already taken that oath. 114 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,920 But when they do and they're surrounded by people like you and your listeners, the moms 115 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,720 and dads and the kids finally get it. 116 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:09,960 And they get on the bus and they do very, very well. 117 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,040 So we rely on them. 118 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:13,120 We honor them. 119 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,800 We have all sorts of awards for them for their support. 120 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:21,560 But that's the relationship between the individual communities and the recruiting commands. 121 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,360 Well, it's really is complementary. 122 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,520 And as you say, you've been doing this long enough that you've got some data now. 123 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:34,000 And for, I'll call you an old educator, for an old educator, data is really important, 124 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,000 isn't it? 125 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,440 I like to refer to myself as a recovering educator. 126 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:44,800 But you now have some data that really helps prove the point not only in getting these 127 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:50,560 kids on the bus, but sort of the return on investment to making that decision about joining 128 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:51,560 up as well. 129 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:52,560 Yeah, we do. 130 00:08:52,560 --> 00:09:00,360 And this past May, we had a giant ceremony in Boston where the chief of staff of the 131 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:05,120 Army, General McConville, was the future military speaker and 750 people. 132 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,520 There were 350 some odd kids at Gillette Stadium in Boston. 133 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:14,960 And so there you have the chief of staff of the Army seeing firsthand the impact and the 134 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:16,480 tears in the parents' eyes. 135 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:17,480 And he got it. 136 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:22,400 In fact, I'll be meeting with him in the Pentagon on the 23rd of September to talk about 137 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,840 what the Army could do to further support OCS. 138 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:31,760 But yeah, the challenge is always is that, as you know very well, people change commands 139 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:32,760 every two years. 140 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:34,680 Recruiters turn over every two years. 141 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:36,320 Community generals return over two years. 142 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:45,000 So I'm constantly finding myself educating our elected leaders and our military leaders 143 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:46,800 themselves on what we do. 144 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:52,560 Well, and the type of recruit has really changed over the years too, because what we need, 145 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:56,600 you know, back in my day, there was no cyber force. 146 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:02,440 There was, you know, we need, you know, kids who are smarter, more analytical, more technology 147 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:03,440 driven. 148 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:09,120 And I think that's probably also somewhat interesting to see when these kids get together 149 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,360 at your events that they have a lot of commonality and interest that they might not think they 150 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:14,680 otherwise had. 151 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:15,680 Absolutely. 152 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:21,120 Yeah, and today, unlike, you know, in our day, they're offering these kids anywhere between 153 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,840 10 and $50,000 signing bonus. 154 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:30,680 I saw a thing on the news the other day, NBC reported that the Navy is offering upwards 155 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:36,920 of $100,000 signing bonus for certain MOSs, certain technical MOSs as well. 156 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:44,560 So you know, there is a tremendous pathway for these young people if they choose to take 157 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:45,560 that. 158 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:51,320 And talk a little bit about the article you recently wrote, the op-ed on that kind of 159 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,880 compared the college and high school decision making. 160 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:59,360 Hey, I'm going into college or I'm going off to the military and the return on investment 161 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:00,360 on that decision. 162 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:01,360 Yeah, sure. 163 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,600 Anybody can read it by going to our website at OCSUSA.org. 164 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:11,240 That's OCS Oscar Charlie Sierra, OCSUSA.org. 165 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:12,240 It's on our website. 166 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:19,720 You know, as I said, as a recovery university president, I got tired of everybody saying 167 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,280 everybody's got to go to college. 168 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:27,600 And this is long before the discussion now about forgiving student loans came about when 169 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:28,600 I wrote this thing. 170 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,440 But it shows really what the ROI is. 171 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,360 Four years in the military because 75% of the kids who will listen to the military today 172 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:36,960 will only serve for four years. 173 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:37,960 That's it. 174 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:38,960 And they're getting out. 175 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:44,360 So if you compare what a four-year college degree offers and what, and the amount of 176 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:52,560 debt, the lack of actual, any meaningful real work experience compared to a person getting 177 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:58,160 four years of military experience, oftentimes getting secret clearance, making money, and 178 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,760 then getting out and basically having the GI bill that will pay for all of their education 179 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:07,760 plus housing, it's hard to argue against the ROI versus one verse the other. 180 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:13,240 And again, I'm not suggesting that everybody should serve the military, not at all. 181 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:18,440 Unfortunately, however, only 8% of young people today have even an interest in doing that 182 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,120 and less than 23% are even qualified to do that. 183 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,600 But it does provide people a perspective. 184 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,240 You know, one of the things we do at our ceremony all the time here locally is we always bring 185 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,280 back a kid who was a senior the year before. 186 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,400 It's been an activity for one year. 187 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:40,240 We make sure we bring back a soldier, a sailor, an airman, or a marine who has already earned 188 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:46,600 just from their military schooling alone in the first year, upwards of 60 college credits, 189 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,040 ace approved American College of Education, ace approved college credits, because we want 190 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:55,640 the parents to see that just by going into military, just by completing your military 191 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:00,840 schooling your first year, you could earn upwards of 60 college credits that you can 192 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:02,520 apply, almost in a social degree. 193 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,160 So you go back to the RRI, right? 194 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,360 One person is paying for those 60 degrees. 195 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,400 The other person is being paid to get the 60 degrees, 60 college credits. 196 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,400 It's really surprising. 197 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:15,840 It's really eye-opening when you look at it. 198 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,840 Yeah, it's really surprising how much training in whatever field you get put into or want 199 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,160 to get into that the military will do for you. 200 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:31,520 That's really what they do is they shape young folks, get them through that growing up period, 201 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:37,800 train them up whether they're going to be in the medical field or a diesel mechanic or 202 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,160 a jet mechanic or in the cyber area. 203 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:46,360 There's just a whole lot of training that goes on that's so valuable for down the road. 204 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:53,160 How many communities are involved in this, our community solutes program? 205 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:58,520 So we've had upwards of 60 communities across the country, including Puerto Rico. 206 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,840 And this past year we had two events in U.S. Virgin Islands, both in St. Croix and St. 207 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:03,840 Thomas. 208 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:08,480 You know, it goes up and down depending upon the volunteers. 209 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,960 Some years we've gone dark, some years we've come back because it truly is a grass-treed 210 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,520 effort and we rely on our volunteers to do that. 211 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:23,080 But I have to tell you, breaking news, we just received a significant grant from a foundation 212 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,640 to really scale up OCS over the next three years. 213 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,800 So we're going to be looking for communities around the country who are interested in working 214 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:39,000 with us to make sure that these young people, remember there's only about 150,000 kids in 215 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,440 a good year that make this decision. 216 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:47,760 And so if we as a nation can't figure out a way to make sure they have their signing 217 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:53,320 day and they get that recognition, then we're bigger problems, bigger trouble than we all 218 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:54,800 care to admit. 219 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:59,520 So we're really excited about this grant that we received, literally just found out 220 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,040 about last week. 221 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:06,800 And we're in the process now of putting together the team to rapidly expand what we're doing 222 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:07,800 across the country. 223 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:08,800 There you go. 224 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:17,480 We're breaking news with Dr. Kenneth Hartman, founder of our community salutes, Army Veteran, 225 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:22,880 Educator, and really on to something that I think was sorely missing, and that is to 226 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:28,440 give those 150,000 kids their signing day and to make sure that they understand their 227 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:33,400 community supports them going into the service and will be there to support them when they 228 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,760 come out of service as well. 229 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:41,000 Jim, can I offer your listeners one easy way to recognize these kids? 230 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:42,000 Absolutely. 231 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:43,000 Absolutely. 232 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,320 If they come to our website, we have a virtual thank you card that they can sign. 233 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:52,320 We've started it, just started for the class of 2023. 234 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:57,760 They can go under our website, sign that virtual thank you card to the class of 2023. 235 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:02,920 Our goal is to get 1 million Americans to sign that virtual thank you card by the 4th 236 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:04,480 of July. 237 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:10,280 So that's an easy way at OCSUSA.org, and they can sign it and they can add a little comment 238 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:11,280 or thoughts. 239 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:12,960 It will go a long way. 240 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,680 And if you go to the website, go over and get at the top, there'll be a button that says 241 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:23,280 get involved, and that's where you can click on to click on the thank you card, as well 242 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:30,040 as learn more about our community's salutes and all the good work that they are doing. 243 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,360 If you wanted to get involved with your local community and said, hey, I see it's in the 244 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:39,480 communities, it shows that there's one here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 245 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:46,560 How do I get myself involved if I'm down there in Baton Rouge or even maybe I want my kid 246 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,040 to know that he should go do this? 247 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:50,040 Yes. 248 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,520 Just come to the website, there's a form that you can fill out. 249 00:16:54,520 --> 00:17:00,000 We get them all the time from people that are interested in getting involved or supporting 250 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,960 their local event, and we respond to those as soon as we get them. 251 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:11,920 But if people want to write to me directly, they can reach me at simply at kenken at OCSUSA.org. 252 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,920 That's ken at OCSUSA.org. 253 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:19,880 You can email me directly and I'll put you in touch with our local community leaders. 254 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:24,080 So there's really no excuse if you're out there, you're a parent, a grandparent, an 255 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:30,720 uncle and aunt, and you know your relative's going to join up in the spring. 256 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:37,160 Maybe he's already committed to get him involved in this kind of local thank you at your local 257 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:43,480 community level so that, again, going in, he or she appreciates, hey, my community does 258 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:48,960 support me and that's the whole idea between our community's salutes. 259 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:55,400 Jim, one of the things we have found is that smart businesses, smart colleges know that 260 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:01,960 these kids are going to be very quickly getting out of the military after 48 months, or maybe 261 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,320 a little longer than that. 262 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:09,080 And if you want these young people to come back with all of those skills and all of that 263 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:14,000 maturity to work for you or to go to school at your institution, now is the time when 264 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,440 they're going in that you begin to express that appreciation because they will remember 265 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,880 it in a few years' time. 266 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,120 And I'm looking at some of these and some of them have the ceremony posted and maybe 267 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:27,800 the agenda posted. 268 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:33,400 So for a local community that isn't on your list and isn't doing this yet, but somebody 269 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,880 out there in the veteran radio listening audience because we're hitting a national audience 270 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:42,920 says, hey, we ought to be doing something like this, why aren't we? 271 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,400 Can they reach out and say, hey, I want to start one of these in my community? 272 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:48,600 Yes. 273 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,360 There is a forum on our website. 274 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:51,360 They can complete. 275 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:55,600 Just the example, I just got one yesterday from Jacksonville, North Carolina. 276 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,120 And I'll be talking with her tomorrow at 2 o'clock. 277 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:05,160 We had a new, we had a meeting not too long ago with about a dozen communities around 278 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,040 the country, San Diego, a couple in Colorado. 279 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:15,160 So just go throughout that forum and we'll get back to you to set up a conversation. 280 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:20,480 We've got everything you need, all the materials, the run a show, everything you need to do 281 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,560 a phenomenal event in your community. 282 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,640 You just need to have about five people willing to help you make it happen and we'll work 283 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:28,640 with you on that. 284 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:29,640 Yeah. 285 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:32,680 We don't want to scare people off in doing this because as you say, it only takes maybe 286 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,760 five dedicated folks and it's not a big budget item. 287 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:42,280 I mean, this is a volunteer grassroots effort to put these on on a given day and generally 288 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,520 probably in May or June, right? 289 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:45,520 Correct. 290 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:55,600 And again, we have ceremonies that are 750 people and big extravaganza. 291 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:56,600 Those are nice. 292 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:02,440 And then we have ceremonies where we have under 100 people and 25 kids. 293 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:10,960 And the moms and dads, big brownies and the pasta and they do that to a local gym. 294 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:16,600 It really doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter how, it's just you only get one shot 295 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:17,680 to thank these kids, right? 296 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:22,440 They only graduate once and they only go off to boot camp once. 297 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:30,120 And so it's terribly important to take advantage of that opportunity when it presents itself. 298 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:38,480 Well, again, a very simple idea, which is often the foundation of a solid program is 299 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,920 just if it's simple enough, we can all get it. 300 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,040 And I think this is the sort of thing that everybody gets. 301 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:50,040 You know, most of us didn't get sent off with any kind of maybe the family pedagogy 302 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,720 on the back, but that was about it. 303 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:58,560 So this is sort of a communal event where the community really gets involved and you're 304 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,960 not standing there alone, but with a number of other folks who are joining up that day 305 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,440 is really, I imagine a pretty special event, isn't it, Ken? 306 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:09,920 It is. 307 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:16,640 I tell people short of the birth of your children and your marriage and your kids' marriage, 308 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:25,800 you know, it is such an emotional event that you have to experience it to believe it. 309 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:32,480 It's just such this pent up love that these kids and particularly their moms and dads 310 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:39,480 are willing to share with people, but they're not typically surrounded by people who understand 311 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:44,760 or even know how to appreciate the decision that their son or daughter is going to. 312 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:48,040 Our culture is all about going to college, going to college, going to college. 313 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:49,800 And that's fine. 314 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,440 It's meant for some people. 315 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:57,240 But there are people who are delaying that college experience, willing to be in the watchtower 316 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,560 so their fellow classmates can do that right after high school. 317 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,520 And for those kids, this is their opportunity. 318 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,560 For those families, this is their opportunity. 319 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,600 And for those communities, this is their opportunity to be the first to say thank you. 320 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:14,320 So yeah, we don't need to make it any more complex than it is. 321 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:19,880 Well, and one of the things that's happened in our country is that military recruits tend 322 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:25,160 to come from the south where there are bases or there's a family history of military service. 323 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,360 And this is a great way to broaden that out. 324 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:34,720 You certainly have ceremonies in areas like Detroit, Michigan where there's no base or 325 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:35,720 in Indiana. 326 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:37,120 I don't see any in Illinois. 327 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:38,120 Come on, Illinois. 328 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:39,600 We need you to get involved here. 329 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:47,120 You know, Wisconsin, some areas where, again, there's not a deep rooted pool. 330 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:50,200 And those kids probably need more support than anybody else. 331 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:56,720 So let's go to the website, OCSUSA.org. 332 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:01,080 Let's click on where there were ceremonies in 2022. 333 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:06,480 And let's generate some more communities all around the country that help support this 334 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:07,720 great program. 335 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,360 Ken, you mentioned you got a nice grant. 336 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:11,400 That's wonderful. 337 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,440 But if people like this idea and want to help out, how do they do that as well? 338 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:16,740 Oh, absolutely. 339 00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:20,680 They can come to our website and make a donation. 340 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:25,680 One of the things where there's a button there, one of the things that we're pushing for is 341 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:35,160 helping us support our, we give a little 96-page guide to our nation's founding documents 342 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:36,160 that are history. 343 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,920 It's a little pocket guide that we give to all the way to the kids. 344 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:47,320 And with Constitution Day, National Constitution Day this Saturday, we are trying to get people 345 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:52,120 to help us support that initiative to make sure these young people have this little pocket 346 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:58,000 guide with them so they understand what they've taken an oath to defend and protect. 347 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:03,280 And if they're interested in helping us to do that, make a donation for every $50 they 348 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,120 donate will send that will help us to give 50 of these away. 349 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:08,880 We'll send them a copy of it as well. 350 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:14,320 Again, it's so important these days for these kids to understand the Constitution, to understand 351 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,160 their founding documents, to understand the history of our nation. 352 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,960 And we unfortunately, they don't get that in high school. 353 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,520 So we're trying to provide them with this resource. 354 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:28,160 So on our website, you can learn all about our pocket guide to our founding documents 355 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:29,680 and how you can support that. 356 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:36,840 And one last thing that I wanted to mention is you have a Colin Powell Award for guidance 357 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,200 counselors who really have helped out. 358 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:42,400 Tell us a little bit about that. 359 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:47,240 And there could be nobody better named this name for than General Colin Powell, who we 360 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:48,240 all know. 361 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:53,440 But we may also not know that he spent his post retirement years really supporting higher 362 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,200 education in New York. 363 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,800 So tell us about this award. 364 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:03,440 Why the honor of meeting him way back in the very beginning of 2009. 365 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,880 And when I asked him if we could name an award after me, he said yes. 366 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:11,640 And this award is really intended to strengthen the relationship between the high school guidance 367 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,680 counselors and the local military recruiters. 368 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:20,520 Because after all, counselors tend to be the gatekeeper. 369 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:26,320 And so this award allows the local military recruiter to nominate a high school guidance 370 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,120 counselor who's going above and beyond the call of duty. 371 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:33,320 And they submit a form to their local OCS planning team. 372 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:39,160 And then that team selects one, two or more school counselors to be honored at that event. 373 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,360 And again, strengthening that relationship, strengthening, allowing them to meet and get 374 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:45,360 into these schools. 375 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:51,240 We're looking right now actually for a sponsor to help us to do a new award where we would 376 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:55,120 honor high school science and math teachers. 377 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:59,720 Because again, as you indicated earlier, many of these new jobs that the military has are 378 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:05,640 very technical and we need kids who have an interest in a talent in science and math. 379 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:11,200 And so we're looking at a new award this spring that and someone helped us to present this 380 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:16,840 award, companies, businesses, individuals, so that these recruiters can also nominate 381 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:23,000 a science math STEM teacher, if you will, to be recognized and honored at these events. 382 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,920 Oh, that's a great idea. 383 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:31,320 I want to thank Dr. Ken Hartman, founder and president of our community salutes. 384 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,440 We're spending a little time with Veterans Radio today. 385 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:39,920 Again, I encourage all of our listeners to go to OCSUSA.org to find out more and get 386 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:45,120 involved and maybe bring this event to your community to support those who are joining 387 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:51,200 our military and make sure they and their family feel supported on the way into military 388 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:52,200 service. 389 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:53,200 Ken, thanks. 390 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,560 If you're in the room while they're there, they can check out our new virtual Patriot 391 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,760 Wall that we just started, thanks to the support of USAA. 392 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:06,120 We're putting up pictures of the kids that the parents are sending to us, of those who 393 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,520 attended our ceremony this past spring. 394 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,880 And then we're asking these parents to send us their pictures of their sons or daughters 395 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,400 at their basic training graduation ceremony. 396 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:16,400 Oh, that's great. 397 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,760 We're going to show before and after and make sure that America sees these young people, 398 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,560 who they are before and after, and help them reconnect on that. 399 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,760 So, kudos and thanks to USAA for helping us to make that happen. 400 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:33,400 But it's important for people to see these kids now and certainly when they get out. 401 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,200 Ken, thanks for your time today. 402 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,000 We really do appreciate it and keep up the good work. 403 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,000 Thanks, Jim. 404 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,480 And thanks very much to your listeners as well. 405 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:42,480 I appreciate it. 406 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,640 And I want to thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. 407 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:47,160 I am Jim Fossone. 408 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,520 It's been a pleasure to be your host. 409 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:53,440 I'm a Veterans Disability Lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans. 410 00:27:53,440 --> 00:28:01,880 And you can reach us at 800-6934800 or legalhelpforveterans.com on the web. 411 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,760 You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio 412 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,840 shows by going to veteransradio.net. 413 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,040 And until next time, you are dismissed. 414 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:19,720 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for 415 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,720 Veterans at 1-800-6934800. 416 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,720 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 417 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,680 Their number again, 1-800-6934800. 418 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:36,280 We again want to thank our national sponsors, the National Veterans Business Development 419 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:45,480 Council, NVBDC.org, VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, the Vietnam Veterans of America, Charles 420 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:54,160 S. Kettles Chapter, Ann Arbor, Michigan, VFW Graf O'Hara Post 423 in Ann Arbor, and 421 00:28:54,160 --> 00:29:00,120 the American Legion Press Corn Post 46 also in Ann Arbor. 422 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:01,600 We appreciate all your support. 423 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,040 You can go to veteransradio.net. 424 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:11,640 Click on the sponsor level and continue to support keeping Veterans Radio on the air. 425 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:41,600 And until next time, you are dismissed.