1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,000 This is Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:20,000 And now your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,000 I want to welcome you to our program. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,000 We've had some wonderful technical issues already today. 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,000 As most of you out there that are listening live are well aware of. 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,000 So I'm going to get right into it. 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,000 We've got a number of guests today that I want to mention. 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Number one is right off the top is we're going to be talking. 10 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Excuse me. 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000 There's a Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point. 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,000 They're reopening their museum and I've got Laura Jowdy with us. 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,000 She will be joining me shortly. 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,000 And then we're going to move right into an interview with Bob Taylor. 15 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,000 He's the CEO of the Patriots Promise Foundation in Michigan. 16 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,000 And so I'm really excited to talk to him and he's an Air Force guy. 17 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,000 So we're going to be talking, you know, big planes, little planes, 18 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,000 things like that. 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,000 As we turn the bottom of the hour, we've got an interview with Keith King of 20 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,000 the National Veterans Business Development Council. 21 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,000 They're celebrating their 10th anniversary and that will take us 22 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,000 probably up to toward the end of the program. 23 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,000 Also in the studio with me is Nick McBrien and Nick. 24 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Welcome back. 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,000 Oh, he's frozen. 26 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,000 So it's always good to be here. 27 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,000 It's always good to be anywhere. 28 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,000 So before we get into the program real quick, 29 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,000 I got to make sure that we thank our sponsors because we can never do 30 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 this program without them. 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,000 Number one is legal help for veterans. 32 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Legal help for veterans specializes in veterans disability claims. 33 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Give legal help a call at 800-693-4800. 34 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,000 The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as 35 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,000 NVVDC, is the nation's leading third party authority for certification 36 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,000 of veteran-owned businesses. 37 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 If you want to do business with a federal government and you want to 38 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,000 claim to be a veteran-owned business, you got to get certified. 39 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,000 So these are the people to talk to. 40 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,000 You can go to their website, that's NVVDC.org, 41 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,000 or give them a call at 888-237-8433. 42 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Charles S. Kettles, VA Medical Center here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 43 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,000 For more information about them, go to va.gov. 44 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,000 And Arbor Healthcare. 45 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,000 I also want to make sure that we thank our local veterans organizations 46 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,000 for their longtime support of Veterans Radio. 47 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,000 Almost 20 years, over 20 years now. 48 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,000 That's the Irwin Prescor and American Legion post-46. 49 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 And the Charles S. Kettles, Vietnam Veterans of America, 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 51 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Hey, if you want to get in on the action and sponsor a really great 52 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000 program for veterans, all you got to do is go to our website, 53 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,000 veteransradio.org, and click on the media. 54 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000 And you'll find all kinds of information there if you would like to become 55 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,000 a sponsor, or if you just want to make a small donation. 56 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:07,000 A quick reminder is that Veterans Radio is a 501-C3 nonprofit corporation. 57 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Okay. 58 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,000 So joining me on the line, and I'm not sure where she's going to be coming 59 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,000 from, either Zoom or the phone, is Laura Jowdy. 60 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,000 And Laura is the Society's resident archivist. 61 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000 So Laura, welcome to Veterans Radio. 62 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:25,000 Thank you. 63 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,000 I'm very happy to be here tonight. 64 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,000 Well, thank you for joining us. 65 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:33,000 So the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point has, 66 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,000 sounds like you've done some remodeling. 67 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Tell us all about that. 68 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Well, it's entirely reimagined. 69 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 We more or less gutted what was there before. 70 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,000 And what we have now is a gym of a facility. 71 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,000 It's got something for everyone. 72 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,000 It emphasizes the recipients of people, which is, you know, 73 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,000 they did extraordinary things. 74 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,000 And of course, we're honored with our nation's highest military medal 75 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,000 for valor and combat, but they were people first. 76 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 And so what we've done is created a museum that honors them, 77 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,000 while also recognizing their humanity, which of course makes it 78 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000 more inspirational for visitors. 79 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,000 I think it sounds really cool because this whole thing is on the, 80 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,000 it's on the USS Lexington, right? 81 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Well, it's on the USS Yorktown, 82 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,000 which is a retired aircraft carrier at Patriots Point, 83 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,000 just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. 84 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,000 And we're on the hangar deck, which is, you know, a phenomenal location. 85 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:34,000 Patriots Point's been a wonderful host for the museum since 1994. 86 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,000 So we're just thrilled with the location and the number of visitors 87 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,000 we get and the chance to really reach the public in this manner. 88 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:47,000 So what's coming up with your celebration on the 25th? 89 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,000 On the 25th, we are going to have historical reenactors 90 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,000 for various conflicts from the Civil War, 91 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,000 although the Vietnam War. 92 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,000 So they'll be there, you know, 93 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,000 demonstrating their equipment to the public who maybe don't know, 94 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,000 you know, how things were used or what life was like. 95 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:09,000 We're going to have a completely restored World War II era of Jeep 96 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,000 on property for people to look at and investigate. 97 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:18,000 We're going to have some giveaways, a raffle or two, you know, 98 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,000 it is a celebration, the reopening of this museum, 99 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,000 and you know, it's highly interactive. 100 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,000 So we're particularly interested in watching how children and families 101 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:31,000 embrace the museum and the stories that are told there. 102 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,000 Well, it sounds pretty cool. 103 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:38,000 Tell us about your, if not all of us can get to South Carolina. 104 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:43,000 Tell us where we can go and find more information. 105 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,000 You can always find more information at the Congressional 106 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:50,000 Medal of Honor Society's website, which is the initials of the organization, 107 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:55,000 cmoHS.org. 108 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Okay. 109 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,000 And so, let's see, I'm going to get you out of here. 110 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 So you are involved in the archival work. 111 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:05,000 What is that? 112 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:10,000 How would you define that for our audience? 113 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Well, in a capsule, it's like a librarian for old things. 114 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:22,000 My job is to take care of and preserve actual pieces of history. 115 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000 And I also take care of, usually an archive is going to be, you know, 116 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:27,000 paper and books. 117 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,000 So I of course take care of those, but I also take care of the physical 118 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,000 artifacts we have as well, of which there are many in the museum. 119 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:40,000 And if you go to our website, you can also see a database of all 3,500 120 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,000 plus recipients of the Medal of Honor. 121 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:48,000 So there's a lot of sort of legacy and history to be taught on our website. 122 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,000 Well, it sounds like a great organization, obviously. 123 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,000 And I know that you are sanctioned by Congress in order to do this. 124 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:59,000 And so the website again is cmoHS.org. 125 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,000 There's all kinds of really great information there. 126 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,000 They're having their grand reopening on the 25th of the month. 127 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,000 And I would encourage people down in the South Carolina area to head 128 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:15,000 on over to Patriot's Point and check this whole thing out, 129 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,000 especially the deck of the York down. 130 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,000 These decks of these aircraft carriers are really cool. 131 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,000 I know I've been to the Intrepid in New York City. 132 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,000 And it's pretty fascinating. 133 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,000 So again, I encourage you all to thank you for all that you do, 134 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,000 obviously, for the organization and thank you for keeping alive the 135 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,000 stories of all these amazing men and women. 136 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,000 Oh, you're very welcome. 137 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,000 And it's my honor really to have this opportunity to preserve this 138 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 part of American history and hopefully inspire a new generation to 139 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,000 rise to service. 140 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:50,000 Absolutely. 141 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:51,000 Absolutely. 142 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Thank you very much. 143 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:53,000 Laura Chowdy. 144 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:54,000 You're welcome. 145 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,000 From the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriot's Point. 146 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Okay. 147 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,000 So we kind of fell a little bit behind in our schedule here. 148 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:08,000 So joining me now right now is, 149 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:14,000 we've got Nick McBrien who's kind of joining in on the conversation as well. 150 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,000 And Bob Taylor and Bob, let me find your information here real quick. 151 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:24,000 And it says, according to your website, it says from service to 152 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000 success, you share real life experiences. 153 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:31,000 You were, let's see, mechanical engineering degree from that school 154 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,000 of no, from Michigan State University. 155 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Join the Air Force 1987 station at Griffith Air Force base in New York. 156 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000 I hadn't heard of that one. 157 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,000 Deployed to Diego Garcia. 158 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,000 That's where it sounds pretty cool. 159 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Or at least it sounds cool. 160 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,000 You flew 11 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. 161 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Of course, the mayor, mayor, muddle. 162 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,000 You started as a KC 135 navigator and finally as a liaison officer with 163 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,000 the Air Force Marines. 164 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,000 And in your civilian life, you, 165 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,000 these are great things. 166 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,000 We're going to ask to bring you right on. 167 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,000 So Bob Taylor, welcome to veterans radio. 168 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,000 Thank you, Dale. 169 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,000 Thank you for having me. 170 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:15,000 All right. 171 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:20,000 So let's, let's talk about, you know, your transition. 172 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,000 And that's, that's what we're going to be talking about today. 173 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,000 Mostly is your transition from the military into private life. 174 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,000 How did that go for you? 175 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Sure. Well, I think with veterans, there's a kind of a vast difference in 176 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,000 the stories on how we all transition. 177 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:46,000 Actually, when I, when I left the Air Force, I was very fortunate. 178 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:51,000 My best friend in college was working for a medical device company in 179 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,000 Kalamazoo, Michigan. 180 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:59,000 And I was very fortunate to, to land a job there as a R and D engineer for 181 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,000 designing medical devices for surgery. 182 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:08,000 And by all indications, everything was, was going great. 183 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,000 And like many other veterans, as we go through some of our 184 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,000 experience, some of our combat experience, we kind of tuck away 185 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:23,000 some, some of our experience, some of our challenges and some of 186 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,000 those circumstances pop up later in life. 187 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:33,000 And for me, it, it caused some, some challenges and I was able to kind 188 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,000 of get through that with some help from the VA and, and over a long 189 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:38,000 period of time. 190 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:44,000 So, you know, some, some people transition very easily. 191 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,000 Some people, some veterans have challenges right out of the gate 192 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,000 and then some, some seem to be going along and then experience some 193 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,000 challenges down the road. 194 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,000 And that was, that was kind of my story. 195 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,000 Yeah, I know that there's, I can relate to that. 196 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,000 I thought, I thought everything was fine when I got out of their 197 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:09,000 service, and then it kind of got all screwed up midway, it seems like 198 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 out there somewhere 10, 15 years later. 199 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:18,000 And I know that you, you know, you've written a book about this and 200 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,000 you've also started a foundation. 201 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,000 Can you tell me a little about the Patriot promise and what, what that 202 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,000 promise was? 203 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,000 Sure. 204 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,000 So, it was about seven years ago, I started doing research on, on the 205 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:35,000 book that I wrote and, and it took me six years to, to finally write 206 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,000 it and it, and it was published, just came out about a year ago. 207 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:45,000 And the, the premise of the book for me was that if I was having 208 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,000 challenges, I figured that there were others. 209 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,000 And I wanted to do some research to find out just how prevalent the, 210 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,000 the issues were. 211 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:00,000 And I wanted to share my story, but not only my stories, but also 212 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,000 those of other veterans. 213 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:07,000 And then I wanted to, to make sure that I laid out in the book from, 214 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:12,000 from service to success, I wanted to lay out a roadmap that, you know, 215 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:18,000 if, if we do certain things, we have the potential to not only 216 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,000 survive, but to thrive and reach our highest potential. 217 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,000 And so that, based on the book, I started the Patriot promise 218 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,000 foundation. 219 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:33,000 And the, the primary effort of the foundation is to create an 220 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,000 academy called the Patriot promise academy. 221 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,000 And the, the purpose of the academy is to teach, you know, when we went 222 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,000 in to the military, we went in through either basic training or 223 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,000 officers training school or through one of the academies or 224 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:54,000 there, there's just a host of ways, but the, the foundation of the 225 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,000 training is the same. 226 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,000 They take us from all of our many different backgrounds and all of 227 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,000 our different personalities. 228 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,000 And they change us to be, change us to focus on one mission and one 229 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,000 purpose. 230 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,000 And that's to either fly fight win, you know, to go into combat, to 231 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:18,000 fight an enemy and to prevail and to overcome tremendous obstacles. 232 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,000 And they do a fantastic job of training us. 233 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,000 And as you know, as a helicopter pilot, you probably felt like you 234 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:30,000 were pretty prepared to do just about anything with that, with that 235 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,000 helicopter under some unbelievable challenges. 236 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:41,000 And so when we leave the military, we give up a lot of 237 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,000 things that we've become accustomed to. 238 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:51,000 One is the training that, that prepares us to be phenomenally 239 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,000 successful against all odds. 240 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,000 And the, the tribe that we formed, the camaraderie and the 241 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:05,000 friendships and the people that we rely on and, and who rely on us. 242 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:10,000 And there's, there's really very few things in the, in our life that 243 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:16,000 has as much meaning as making sacrifices for other people. 244 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:22,000 And when we leave the military, it's not really clear where we fit 245 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,000 and what we can do. 246 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,000 And so the purpose of the academy is to, is to kind of retrain our 247 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:36,000 mindset, retrain us to be prepared for this new life outside the 248 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,000 military. And like I said, not only to survive, but to thrive. 249 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,000 And I believe that military people have the raw materials to be as 250 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:50,000 successful as anyone else in society. 251 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:53,000 I think that's, you know, that's an interesting point that you make is 252 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,000 that, you know, while we are, while we are in the military, we're 253 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,000 provided with everything. 254 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:05,000 You know, our food, lodging, everything, everything. 255 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:11,000 And, you know, then we go to, you know, we go to back to civilian 256 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,000 life and it's suddenly we're, we're, we're on our own. 257 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:21,000 And our schedules were pretty, I don't know, you know, rigid, I 258 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,000 guess you could say, schedules were pretty rigid while we were in 259 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,000 the service. You know, again, we come out, we have all, you know, 260 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,000 all this free time and so forth. 261 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,000 And we're trying to figure out what it is that we're going to do. 262 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,000 And I know that this has changed dramatically over the years, 263 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,000 especially, you know, in talking with Nick that, you know, the 264 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:45,000 transition out of the service in today's world is a lot more efficient. 265 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,000 I guess you could say are hopefully more efficient, where there's 266 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,000 more opportunities, but if that way, for, for the military, people 267 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000 that are transitioning out, but you still have that same thing. 268 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,000 You know, you, you, you, you lose your, that camaraderie you were 269 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,000 talking about in many cases. I mean, again, social media today can 270 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,000 still connect with people, but it's, it's, I don't know, it's just 271 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:14,000 not the same. So how can, how can we help these men and women that 272 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,000 are so talented? I mean, today's military has probably got the 273 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:26,000 most intelligent people in it ever. 274 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:35,000 And I think the training is even more highly effective and, and 275 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:40,000 targeted and focused. And so I think, you know, very intelligent 276 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:47,000 people that are going in the military and extremely highly 277 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:53,000 effective training that prepares us to do pretty unbelievable things. 278 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:58,000 Well, yeah. And I guess it because, you know, we've talked 279 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,000 about this before on veterans radio, and we're talking with Bob 280 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:07,000 Taylor here, he's CEO of an organization that is really out 281 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:13,000 there to help help veterans and just, I admire everything that 282 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,000 that you're, you know, that that you've done, and that you are 283 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:23,000 continuing to do. And I'm just trying to figure out, you know, 284 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:28,000 what, what else can we do? What else can, you know, you mentioned 285 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,000 you wanted to set up this Academy and I guess I kind of cut you 286 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,000 off. What are we going to do with this Academy? 287 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:41,000 So the Academy starts out with assessing where the veteran is at 288 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:46,000 that moment in time. You know, are they healthy? Are they kind 289 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:52,000 of in a good place in their mental health? Do they have the 290 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:58,000 basics, you know, with a job and, and, you know, just kind of 291 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,000 helping them assess where they are in their life. And then we 292 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:07,000 start to go into the program to explain what they went through. 293 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:11,000 You know, what happened when they went through basic training 294 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,000 or officers training or whatever their training was, what 295 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,000 happened when they went through advanced training. And then what 296 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:23,000 we start to discuss the differences about military life 297 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,000 and civilian life. And then what are some basic things that they 298 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:32,000 can do to really start to make their lives better? One of the 299 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:37,000 things, just a simple exercise of gratitude, for example. 300 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:44,000 It sounds silly, but being grateful for the things that you 301 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,000 have in the, in the situation that you're in, if, if you start 302 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,000 to really practice gratitude intentionally, like writing a 303 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:56,000 list of things that you're grateful for, all of a sudden, your 304 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:02,000 mind starts to shift and you start to recognize more and more 305 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:08,000 things that you're actually grateful for and that you're in a 306 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:13,000 better situation than you might really understand. And so the 307 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:18,000 practice of gratitude really does help us shift our mind from 308 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:25,000 you can't wallow in misery and be grateful at the same time. So 309 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,000 the effort is to kind of shift our mindset to be grateful. 310 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,000 The other thing is, like you said, we, we kind of lose some of 311 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:37,000 our camaraderie. And so what we have to do is we have to start 312 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:42,000 identifying people that we come in contact. We have to start 313 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:47,000 forming new relationships and appreciate the people that are 314 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,000 around us. Because chances are the people that are around us 315 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:55,000 when we leave the military, the ones that were praying for us 316 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,000 when we were off on our missions or the people that care deeply 317 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:03,000 about us. And we need to really kind of value those, those 318 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,000 relationships, even though they're not military, even though 319 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:11,000 they don't understand everything that we went through in our 320 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,000 military experiences or the stresses and the strains of life 321 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:19,000 that we're going through, they still care deeply about us. And 322 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:24,000 they're, they can bridge the gap of just being without those 323 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,000 same buddies that you were with when you were in the military. 324 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:33,000 And then the other thing is, we have to start devoting ourselves 325 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,000 to something that's greater than just ourselves. If we kind of 326 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:42,000 just focus on what our own needs are, and the challenges that 327 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:47,000 we face in the, in the difficulties of life, which, by the 328 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:52,000 way, everybody has, everyone experiences some, some tremendous 329 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:59,000 challenges. And if we just focus on our own needs and our own 330 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:08,000 wants, it's not as fulfilling. And so that's what I've dedicated, 331 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,000 you know, my life to is, is trying to help other veterans to 332 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:17,000 try and help, you know, and the, I, I'm the owner and CEO of a 333 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,000 medical device company. And I really focus on trying to help 334 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:28,000 the people that work for me to, to really achieve their, their 335 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,000 greatest potential. And when you can devote yourself to 336 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,000 something's great, that is greater than yourself, you start 337 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,000 to experience something that you didn't really expect. And so 338 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,000 those are some of the things that are in the academies to teach 339 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000 people how to change their mindset to be more grateful, to 340 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,000 look around them and to, to find new relationships, new friends, 341 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:56,000 and then find a passion. And hopefully that passion is 342 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:00,000 serving people in ways that are just greater than what you can 343 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,000 accomplish on your own. 344 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,000 So if I wanted to go to your academy, maybe a little too late 345 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:13,000 for me, but it's never too late. It absolutely is not too late. 346 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:20,000 And I've, I've actually been approached and, and I've spoken 347 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:27,000 to groups where people year age, my age, you know, they, they're 348 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,000 still going through some of these challenges from decades ago. 349 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:36,000 My issues really didn't come into full light until 16 years 350 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:43,000 after I left. So we always are in a, in a time of our life that 351 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:48,000 we can benefit from some of these mindset changes. 352 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:54,000 We are talking with Bob Taylor here. He is the CEO and founder 353 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,000 of the Patriot Promise Foundation. And we're talking about 354 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:01,000 this academy. And I think this is sounds really interesting to 355 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:08,000 me. So is this in person or is it on like a zoom call or do you 356 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,000 have to, do I have to come to wherever you are? 357 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,000 So the academy is still being created, but it's designed to be 358 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:23,000 an online kind of learn on your own pace. There's another program 359 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:30,000 called civilian ready, which is a, which is a sounds like a very 360 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,000 very good program. They take veterans and they kind of put 361 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,000 them all together in a, in what they call a cohort and they go 362 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:43,000 through classes together. And there's some benefits in going 363 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,000 through a class together. Ours is designed to be more kind of 364 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:53,000 learn at your own pace. If you need to hear a certain lesson 365 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:59,000 multiple times, you can do that. If you want to kind of speed 366 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,000 through some sections and pick up some, some time, but it'll be 367 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:08,000 online learning. Everyone will receive a workbook. There's 368 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:13,000 certain books that we're going to recommend people read and 369 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:19,000 study as part of this program. So it's, it's about 10 to 12 weeks 370 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,000 to go through this online classes. Some can take longer, some 371 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,000 can probably go through a little bit faster. 372 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:30,000 I know I've taught online classes and sometimes it's okay. 373 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,000 You know, most of the time, especially if you do the work, 374 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,000 that's less like everything else, do the work, follow the 375 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:41,000 assignments and you'll be fine. What other things are you 376 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,000 planning to do with the Patriot Promise Foundation, Bob? 377 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:51,000 So the, the, the primary purpose was, you know, I spent so much 378 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:56,000 time writing this book from service to success. Tagline of it 379 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000 is new mission, new purpose and a great new great journey to a 380 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,000 great life. And so all I want to do is get that information in 381 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:12,000 the hands of the veterans. And so our website, the Patriot 382 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:17,000 Promise Foundation, people can go there, they can buy a book and 383 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:21,000 donate several copies. And we do what we do is we take those 384 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:26,000 books and we take them to different VAs. We send them to 385 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,000 different organizations and they distribute them out to 386 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:34,000 veterans. And I'm very honored and I'm very happy that as people 387 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,000 have read through the book, I've gotten a lot of positive 388 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:44,000 feedback that for, you know, you write a book and you hope that 389 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,000 people kind of can benefit from it. And I don't expect that 390 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,000 people are going to turn it into a manual of how to live their 391 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:56,000 lives. But if you can get one or two profound messages from that 392 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,000 book, that's all I, that's all I can ask for. And I've, I've 393 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:04,000 gotten some messages from people that were, you know, kind of 394 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:11,000 thinking about, you know, ending their lives and have found 395 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:17,000 motivation from what they read to, to dedicate themselves to 396 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:24,000 learning some new ways. And that's all I could ever hope for. 397 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,000 If that's the only person I reached out to and made a 398 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,000 difference, that's, that's all I could ever ask. 399 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,000 I think that's so important that the veteran community as well as 400 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,000 the civilian community realize that there are people out there 401 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,000 who really do care about you. And we'll do anything that, that 402 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:47,000 they can or we can to help you, you know, get through whatever 403 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,000 it is that's dragging you down and, you know, making you think 404 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,000 about ending it at all. So I would encourage you to, to go to 405 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:00,000 Bob's website, it's patriotpromise.org. And I understand 406 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,000 that you are a nonprofit organization. And can we make a 407 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:09,000 donation there? Absolutely. Just go on the, on the website. 408 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:15,000 You can go right to the, the part of the website for donations. 409 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:21,000 And we're, you know, every penny that we get, we turn into 410 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:27,000 either getting the books in the hands of the veterans or we're 411 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,000 using those funds to, to get veterans through this 412 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:36,000 patriotpromise academy. We are having a big golf event. 413 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:41,000 We've joined forces with the, the organization called Folds of 414 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:45,000 Honor, which is well known all over the United States. 415 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:50,000 And they have a mission of, you know, for Gold Star families 416 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,000 of educating their children, giving them scholarships so that 417 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,000 they can go through college. And so as we spoke to them, 418 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:04,000 you know, teaching the Gold Star, you know, getting the 419 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:09,000 Gold Star families into their education and also helping to 420 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:15,000 teach veterans how to transition and, and pursue the highest 421 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:20,000 level of performance in their lives seemed like a very good 422 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:24,000 synergy. And so we've partnered up and we're having a golf 423 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:30,000 outing called the greatest honor golf classic, which is August 424 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:37,000 19. And we're, I'm just, I'm looking forward to seeing what 425 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:43,000 we can raise and, and get veterans into this academy. 426 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,000 Well, I'm going to support this. I've got, I've, next, let me 427 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:52,000 note here is that it's on the 19th. Oops. Go up there we go. 428 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:57,000 Golf event August 19, Monday, August 19 at the American 429 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:03,000 Dunes Golf Course in New York and even Michigan. 430 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:08,000 And if you, if you've never been to that golf course, there's a 431 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:14,000 you walk through an entrance and it's almost hallowed ground. 432 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,000 It's a memorial for, for different veterans and the 433 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,000 sacrifice they've made. It's actually difficult for me to go 434 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:29,000 through there multiple times. So it's just very captivating and 435 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:37,000 it's humbling. And, but it is a absolute gorgeous golf course. 436 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:42,000 And it's kind of the home of the folds of honor and the 437 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000 American Dunes is just a beautiful place. 438 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,000 All right, well, I would encourage you to go put that 439 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,000 information up on our website and Bob Taylor, I want to thank 440 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:55,000 you so very much for being on Veterans Radio. The book is 441 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,000 from Service to Success. You can get it on their website, 442 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,000 PatriotPromise.org. And if you buy one, they give away two. 443 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:08,000 If you buy a bunch, they give away a bunch more. So I 444 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,000 encourage everybody to go to that website, PatriotPromise.org 445 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,000 and Bob, thank you so much for your time and your patients 446 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:18,000 today. And I look forward to talking to you again sometime 447 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,000 soon. 448 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,000 Oh, it's a great pleasure. And in spite of all the technical 449 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,000 challenges, you guys made me feel right at home and very 450 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,000 gracious host. So thank you very much. 451 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:31,000 Thank you very much, Bob. 452 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,000 Hey, thank you. 453 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,000 All right, we are going to take a real quick break here and for 454 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,000 our Medal of Honor segment. And then when we come back, I'll 455 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,000 introduce the interview with Keith King from the National 456 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,000 Veterans Business Development Council. So you're listening to 457 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,000 Veterans Radio. We'll be right back. 458 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,000 The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat 459 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,000 given a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. 460 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,000 There have been over 3,400 recipients of the nation's 461 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,000 highest award. This is one of them. 462 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,000 Morehouse, your Frederick Ferguson led a force ship helicopter 463 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,000 formation into a South Vietnamese Army compound under heavy 464 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,000 fire. Details after this. 465 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,000 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans 466 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:19,000 Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1-800-693-4800. 467 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,000 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. 468 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,000 Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Their number again, 469 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:30,000 1-800-693-4800. After completing a hitch on the Navy, 470 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,000 Ferguson got his commercial pilot's license and then joined 471 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,000 the Army to fly helicopters. Two weeks after graduating from 472 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:42,000 helicopter school, he was in Vietnam. On January 31, 1968, 473 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,000 Ferguson heard that a first cavalry helicopter had gone down 474 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,000 in way and another had been badly shot up trying to rescue 475 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:53,000 them. Ferguson and his crew agreed to go get them. 476 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,000 While refueling, he asked three Huey gunships if they wanted 477 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:00,000 to accompany him. They did. The GIs and the compound 478 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,000 reported they were under heavy fire. Ferguson circled until 479 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,000 the fire abated, then began a low-level high-speed run into 480 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,000 the compound. He descended blindly in a dust storm from his 481 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,000 rotors. When he touched down, he saw there was only one foot 482 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,000 clearance on each side of his blades. The GIs jumped aboard 483 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,000 and Ferguson pulled up. A mortar shell exploded under his 484 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:26,000 aircraft, spinning at 180 degrees. One of the Hueys was 485 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,000 shot down and the crew rescued. The other two were so badly 486 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,000 shot up by the time they landed, they were no longer able to 487 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,000 fly. Ferguson received his Medal of Honor from President 488 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,000 Nixon on May 17, 1969. The Medal of Honor series is a 489 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,000 production of Veterans Radio. 490 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,000 Military veterans touch everyone's life. I'm guessing right now 491 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,000 you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, relative. 492 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:55,000 Maybe it's you. Even the toughest among us sometimes need 493 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,000 help, but don't know where to turn for support. You don't 494 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,000 need special training to help a veteran in your life. If you 495 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,000 know a veteran in crisis, don't wait. Reach out. Call the 496 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:11,000 Veterans Crisis Line at 988, then press 1. 988, press 1. 497 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:14,000 A message from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 498 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,000 We're back here on Veterans Radio, and as many of you know 499 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,000 over the last couple of years, one of our main sponsors and 500 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,000 supporters has been NVBDC, the National Veteran Business 501 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:34,000 Development Council. Coming up right now is kind of a review 502 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,000 of what they've been up to for the last 10 years. My partner 503 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:43,000 Jim Fauston interviewed Keith King, founder and CEO of NVBDC 504 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,000 last week, and so we're going to play that interview right now. 505 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,000 Stick around after we've got some announcements that we need 506 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,000 to make here on Veterans Radio. So here's Jim Fauston and 507 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,000 Keith King. 508 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,000 Hi, I'm Jim Fauston, and this is Veterans Radio's spotlight on 509 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,000 the National Veteran Business Development Council, well known 510 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:10,000 as NVBDC.org, and we're honored today to have with us its 511 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:15,000 founder and CEO, Keith King. Welcome back, Keith, to Veterans Radio. 512 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:19,000 Well, thank you, Jim. It's always a pleasure to be with you. 513 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,000 Well, as our regular listeners know, NVBDC is the nation's 514 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,000 leading third party authority for certification of veteran-owned 515 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,000 businesses, really of all sizes, and we're kind of talking today 516 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,000 because it's about 10 years that this nonprofit that got 517 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:40,000 started back in 2013 has been certifying companies. I think 518 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:44,000 that's a great place to start, Keith. Give us a little, hey, 519 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:49,000 what's going on after this decade of certifying veteran-owned 520 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:53,000 businesses? Well, you know, we never, you know, we talk to 521 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,000 obviously a lot of businesses and small or any business that's 522 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:03,000 been in, up and operating for a few years. The 10th year always 523 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:08,000 seemed to be one of those, you know, anniversaries that you should 524 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:14,000 pause and say, hey, I know we made it 10 years, but we actually 525 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:18,000 have been certifying our veteran-owned businesses for 10 526 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:23,000 years now, and, you know, people have said, well, we've done it 527 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:28,000 10 years, you know. And that's one of these things that really 528 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:32,000 what we're trying to do is put out some of the information I 529 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:37,000 think is surprising to not only our veterans, but to our corporate 530 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:43,000 members. And I know one of them is we went back into our files 531 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:49,000 and we have actually certified over 3,000 veterans. So, you 532 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:53,000 know, we're there, we're pounding and we continue to grow. 533 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:59,000 Well, that level of certification has certainly also turned into 534 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:03,000 a lot of contracts for certified veteran-owned businesses. And 535 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,000 I know the billion dollar roundtable did some analysis, 536 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:10,000 and there's some other analysis of how big the market is for 537 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:14,000 certified veteran-owned businesses. And as I said, NVBDC is the 538 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:18,000 gold standard for this. Give us some sense of how big the market is. 539 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:24,000 Well, I'll start with the one that probably is the closest to my 540 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:30,000 heart in the sense of they did, they being the BDR, did a 541 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:36,000 impact study. And in that impact study, what they do, among 542 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,000 all the other information they gather, is they have each of 543 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:45,000 their members report the contract amount of what we call the 544 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,000 spend per category of women, minorities, veterans. And when 545 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:55,000 they came out and said, well, the members of the billion 546 00:36:55,000 --> 00:37:01,000 dollar roundtable reported that they have spent 4.3 billion 547 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:07,000 with our veteran-owned businesses. And we went, well, 548 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,000 that's even bigger than I could dream. 549 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,000 And that's not over the 10-year period we're talking about, right? 550 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,000 That's an annual spend. 551 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:24,000 Yes, that was last year, 23. And now that we're working with 552 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:28,000 them even closer with all of these things, one of the side, 553 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:33,000 if you will, you know, the guys who love the numbers, we, in 554 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:39,000 this impact study said, does anybody know how much money is 555 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,000 in the supplier diversity market, if you will, as a whole? 556 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:50,000 And they actually said, yeah, it was a $122 billion market. 557 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:54,000 And as you know, Jim, I keep talking about, I want a bigger 558 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,000 piece of this pie. 559 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,000 Yep, that's what our veteran business owners want, absolutely. 560 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:04,000 Well, at $122 billion, I think I'm finally getting people's 561 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:05,000 attention. 562 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,000 Well, I would hope so. And that's, that's a, is that a 563 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,000 corporate spend or is that a government spend or a combination? 564 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:21,000 Well, neither. Strictly the 30, now 32 at the time was 26, 27 565 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:26,000 corporations that spent that much with our veterans. 566 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:32,000 And I know in the opening, you mentioned, you know, that we 567 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,000 certify, you know, small, medium, and large. 568 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,000 And we have a corporation now that is over $2 billion, 569 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,000 veteran owned. 570 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:46,000 You know, we had one that was at a 900 million a year. 571 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:50,000 We had 1800 employees in five countries. 572 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,000 So that was one of the, one of the issues, I think, right from 573 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,000 the beginning, that our corporate members really drove home, 574 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,000 really helped us. 575 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:04,000 They said, don't ever get caught up in the small business. 576 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,000 You know, everybody loves a small business, but if you're 577 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,000 sitting here talking to, you know, some of the largest 578 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,000 corporations in the world, we need to make sure that if we're 579 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:19,000 hiring somebody as a supplier, that they can, in fact, meet 580 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:25,000 our demands, you know, and do whatever they need to do to 581 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:30,000 have the ability to, you know, expand and, and meet our goals. 582 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:34,000 And that's how we got to the point we are. 583 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:39,000 Well, and it's important because the government had some 584 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:45,000 programs not very successful in ways of certifying, and, and 585 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,000 they were for small business, veteran owned businesses, and 586 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:52,000 you kind of could grow out of them, which wasn't really good 587 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:56,000 for the, anybody in the sequence, but that's sort of the 588 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,000 problem with a government run program. 589 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:05,000 And last time we talked, the Congress was moving certification 590 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:09,000 out of the hands of the VA and over to the SBA, but that 591 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:14,000 really hasn't gotten up and running very well, has it? 592 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:19,000 Well, I hesitate only because... 593 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,000 Okay, I can say it, hasn't. 594 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:23,000 Well, that's okay. 595 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,000 What are they going to do? 596 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,000 You know, can't fire me. 597 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,000 What they did is they had, and I know we discussed that, 598 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:36,000 that originally the plan was that the SBA was not going to, 599 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:41,000 in essence, raid the VA, that they were going to go and build, 600 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:45,000 you know, the whole new team, build a whole new program. 601 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,000 That was a lie. 602 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:55,000 And unfortunately in that form, they brought, and that's 603 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:58,000 been a lot of time with these guys, they basically brought 604 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:05,000 the key executives of the VA running the CVE or their 605 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:09,000 verification program to the SBA. 606 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:13,000 And I was like, well, what happened to, you're not going 607 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,000 to be allowed? 608 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:18,000 Well, I guess, you know, depending on your point of view, 609 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,000 if you cry and whine enough, maybe somebody else will say, 610 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,000 yeah, okay, go ahead and hire them. 611 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,000 Yeah, they just took the easy way out rather than creating, 612 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:30,000 and this is what the beauty of NVBDC is, it's really a 613 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,000 rigorous certification process. 614 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,000 You really got to prove yourself up. 615 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:39,000 And then there's some comfort to the corporate America that 616 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:43,000 this certification was rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny, 617 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:44,000 isn't it? 618 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:51,000 Yeah, and, you know, again, I always try to acknowledge the, 619 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,000 you know, the National Women's Group called WeBank and the 620 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:59,000 National Minority Group who were truly our mentors. 621 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:03,000 You know, I joke about it, that, you know, they said, 622 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,000 yeah, we'll take pity on you, come on, we'll teach you. 623 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,000 But they did. 624 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:13,000 And, you know, it took, that was like a 15 month process for 625 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:18,000 us to take, learn what the rules are, learn why they do what 626 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:22,000 they do, then write up the SOP and write up, you know, 627 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:26,000 the whole program, design it, and then implement it. 628 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:31,000 And that's what we did basically 10 years ago in April. 629 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:36,000 So, you know, it was just a few weeks ago, we'd have been 630 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:40,000 actually spied on 10 years. 631 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:46,000 So we're always acknowledging and always thinking those groups 632 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:51,000 for teaching us in food corporations, for accepting us 633 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:56,000 because I get these calls more often than that. 634 00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:00,000 You know, somebody will ask me a question and I'll jump into it 635 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,000 and they'll go, no, that's enough. 636 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,000 Okay, we believe you. 637 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,000 Okay. 638 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:09,000 Well, and that's really important and that's why you should 639 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:13,000 celebrate 10 years of success because when you have that kind 640 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,000 of rigorous standard and people say, well, that's a gold standard, 641 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:19,000 we don't have to look any further, you get opportunities to do 642 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:24,000 things and partner with other groups that have similar 643 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,000 reputations and you have one of those going on at the moment 644 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,000 with the International Trade Association. 645 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,000 Tell me what that's about. 646 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:37,000 Well, what we have been talking to them about is really how many, 647 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:42,000 if you will, expats, how many patriots do we have all over the 648 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:46,000 world and a lot of the guys who got out of the military in Germany 649 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:51,000 is probably one of the ones, England definitely, Philippines, 650 00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:56,000 Guam, there are a lot of Americans living overseas, running 651 00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:03,000 what they call a veteran-owned business and our whole, you know, 652 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:07,000 position is really, how do you know they're veterans? 653 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:08,000 Right. 654 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:13,000 So, you know, the ITA said, you know, the knowledge and I think 655 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:17,000 that's one of the things that we've been really proud of is when 656 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:25,000 you see the knowledge and you actually jump into what our veterans, 657 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:29,000 well, soldiers, if you will, are being taught today, you know, 658 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,000 I make the comment all the time, where do you think cybersecurity 659 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,000 came from? 660 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:39,000 You know, I mean, this is all military technologies, right? 661 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:44,000 And so we have some very highly trained, very sophisticated 662 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:48,000 people, you know, running businesses all over the world. 663 00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:54,000 And the ITA said, first off, we would love to know if they're 664 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:58,000 really veterans and secondly, you know, we'd love to work with you 665 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:03,000 and see how many other people we have here, stateside, who would 666 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:08,000 like, you know, to start looking at doing, you know, international 667 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:13,000 trade and they have, man, these guys got some incredible 668 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:14,000 programs. 669 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:18,000 And so, you know, what we said is what was, start putting programs 670 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:23,000 together, put webinars together, put meetings together. 671 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:29,000 We're involved with the UN weekly program. 672 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:32,000 You know, besides the ones I've told you about, another group 673 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:34,000 called Betsco Global. 674 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:40,000 So between the ITA and Betsco Global and the UN, we are definitely, 675 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:47,000 you know, building it and trying to make sure that whatever we do, 676 00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:52,000 in the sense of going international, we've got to be the key players 677 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:53,000 who will help us. 678 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,000 So. 679 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,000 Well, one of the things I want to do before we get into two other, 680 00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:59,000 three other areas I want to talk about is I want to say to veteran 681 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:04,000 owned business owners who are listening, if you think certification 682 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:09,000 is something that you ought to go on and do, go to NVBDC.org, they 683 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,000 will help you through this process. 684 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:15,000 It is important that you realize it'll be rigorous. 685 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:19,000 You'll have to provide a lot of information, but that's exactly 686 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:24,000 what you want coming out the other end so that when you have work 687 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:28,000 opportunities, bid opportunities with corporate America, they 688 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:30,000 know you're the real deal. 689 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,000 So go to NVBDC.org. 690 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:37,000 That's the easiest way to get started and reach out because it'll 691 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,000 help you get going. 692 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:44,000 That was Jim Fousone talking with Keith King from NVBDC, 693 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:47,000 National Veteran's Business Development Council. 694 00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:50,000 With an interview a couple of weeks ago, they're celebrating their 695 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:54,000 10th anniversary of certifying veteran owned businesses. 696 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:58,000 I've got a couple of things that I want to talk to you real quickly 697 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,000 about. 698 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:03,000 Veteran's Radio has a fundraiser coming up next Sunday, the 26th 699 00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:05,000 of May. 700 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,000 It's going to be at the Carlisle Grill in Ann Arbor on Jackson 701 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:10,000 Avenue. 702 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:13,000 You'll be able to find more information on our website, but 703 00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:17,000 they're going to be splitting their proceeds with us as part of our 704 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,000 fundraiser. 705 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:24,000 We're going to be doing a little bit of a review of the 706 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,000 501C3. 707 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,000 I would really like you to come on out. 708 00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:32,000 You get to meet all the people that seem to enjoy Veterans Radio 709 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,000 around here. 710 00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:38,000 The other thing that's coming up next week is Memorial Day is 711 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:41,000 going to be a Memorial Day program as well. 712 00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:44,000 We're going to try something new this year. 713 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,000 I need your help to accomplish this. 714 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:50,000 I'm going to be doing a little bit of a review of the 501C3. 715 00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:53,000 We've had a lot of people that have been in the past. 716 00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,000 It can be either a relative of yours. 717 00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:59,000 We've got, obviously, we have names of veterans that we can read out 718 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,000 that we've lost here in our local area. 719 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:06,000 But I would really like you to, if you'd like to honor a family 720 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,000 member or something along those lines, 721 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:13,000 to just send an email to info at veteransradio.org. 722 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:16,000 It's info at veteransradio.org. 723 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,000 I think that would be great. 724 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:21,000 I appreciate you doing that. 725 00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:25,000 I would really like you to send an email to the veteransradio.org 726 00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,000 and I think that would be great. 727 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:29,000 I appreciate you doing that. 728 00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:33,000 And I would also like you to send your email to the veteransradio.org. 729 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:36,000 If you have any questions, feel free to send them to us. 730 00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:39,000 If you have any questions, feel free to send them to us. 731 00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:41,000 And we'll be happy to answer them. 732 00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:46,000 I would really like you to send them to veteransradio.org. 733 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:47,000 I think that would be great. 734 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,000 I appreciate you doing that. 735 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:53,000 Also, I want to thank Nick Bryan for being on the program today 736 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:57,000 and for promoting the, I keep looking at it. 737 00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,000 Patriots Promise Foundation and their upcoming golf outing. 738 00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,000 So, Nick, thanks very much. 739 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:04,000 Keep bringing those stories to us. 740 00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,000 Hey, that's what I'm here for. 741 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,000 I'm going to keep rolling for the rest of the year. 742 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:09,000 I'm excited. 743 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:11,000 I am excited. 744 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:14,000 Nick has opened up a whole new audience to us 745 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,000 and a whole access to more people. 746 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,000 So, we've got to go right now. 747 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:20,000 So, until next week, this is Dale Thronebray 748 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:23,000 for all of us here at Veterans Radio. 749 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:50,000 You are dismissed. 750 00:50:53,000 --> 00:51:03,000 Thank you. 751 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:33,000 Thank you. 752 00:51:53,000 --> 00:52:03,000 Thank you. 753 00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:33,000 Thank you.