October 2023 Volume 1, Issue 10

FIRE WATCH

MAGAZINE

OCTOBER 2023

VETERAN

SUICIDE

Behind the Numbers

Veteran Employment Revolution Who is Oplign?

Out of the Darkness

LaHarold Woodhouse

SELF

Dr. Damon Friedman

Forever Green Beret Richard Corson

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Sincerely,

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OCTOBER 2023

At FireWatch Magazine, we proudly offer a publication focusing on local veterans, service members, and those who support them.

The pages of this magazine are filled with stories of local veterans, veteranrelevant news, and influential contributions from veteran supporters. FireWatch Magazine provides the space online, in print, and in person for veterans, organizations, and veteran-supporting businesses within the community to collaborate, serve, honor, and celebrate our veteran community.

In this edition of FireWatch Magazine, we focus on the veteran suicide epidemic that has ravaged our ranks for decades, with a prevalence since 9/11 that is astounding. Nearly 30,500 of our veterans and service members have died by suicide since Sept. 11, 2001. In late Aug., Fort Cavazos in Killeen, Texas, had lost three members of the 1st Cavalry Division in just one week, with another undetermined death just one week later.

Our feature article, “Suicide: Behind the Numbers,” dives into the core causes of veteran suicide, the numbers we have all come to recognize (22 a day), and how we can come together as a community to save veterans’ lives. Our “Veteran’s Voices” section asks veterans to share their experiences and thoughts on suicide awareness, prevention, and community responsibility.

FireWatch Magazine’s commitment to discovering holistic and revolutionary alternative treatments for veterans can be found monthly in our “Veteran’s Health & Wellness” section, where LTC Richard Corson (Ret.) shares his trials and triumphs as he explores veterans wellness programs throughout the country.

CONTENTS

From the Editor

VETERAN’S DAY 5K TRAIL RUN Kick Up Some Dirt for Veterans

6 9

OUT OF THE DARKNESS A Talk with LaHarold Woodhouse FIREWATCH KICK ASS PLACES 5 Branches Brewing

18 20

RICHARD CORSON Forever Green Beret WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE GOLD STAR The Power of Love Through Loss

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DR. DAMON FRIEDMAN, SELF Inspirational Speaker, SOF Missions Founder, and Veteran

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WITHOUT GLORY, THE TOWER 30 Author Ken Smits Recounts Facing Death VETERAN VOICES Veterans Open Up About Suicide THE POWER OF EMPLOYMENT VETERAN EMPLOYMENT REVOLUTION Who is Oplign?

32 34 35

BATTLE BRIEFS & WAR STORIES

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VETERAN SUICIDE

The Truth Behind the Numbers

THE RABBI, PRIEST & TWO PREACHERS A Story of Selfless Service VETERAN HEALTH & WELLNESS HOME BASE WARRIOR A Health & Fitness Program for Veterans VET TIPS Martin Security Services Talks About Phishing

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The American Legion was chartered and incorporated

by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness.

If you have served at least one day of active military duty since December 7, 1941 and were honorably discharged or you are still serving active military duty honorably, you are eligible for membership with The American Legion.

The Auxiliary and The Sons provide an opportunity for children, grandchildren and spouse of veterans to honor their family members that served our country, and keep their legacy alive for years to come.

SERVICES AND PROGRAMS: BENEFITS CENTER CAREER CENTER EDUCATION CENTER HEALTH CENTER TROOP AND FAMILY SUPPORT USAA FINANCIAL CENTER WOMEN VETERANS BASEBALL BOY STATE/NATION NATIONAL EMERGENCY FUND OPERATION COMFORT WARRIORS ORATORICAL CONTEST SCHOLARSHIPS MEMBER DISCOUNTS E-NEWSLETTER PUBLICATIONS CAREERS Join Veterans and our families 4th Monday of each month 5pm Auxiliary • 6pm Sons • 7pm Legion Plantation Palms 23253 Plantation Palms Blvd.

Land O’ Lakes, FL 34639 www.americanlegionpost108.org October 2023

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1st Annual VAN Veterans Day 5k Trail Run Teams up with

to Celebrate Veterans on Veterans Day

Join us at the beautiful Anclote Gulf Park on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2023, as we run the trails of Anclote Gulf Park and Key Vista Nature Park to celebrate American Veterans! Proceeds from the event will support VAN veteran events, veteran scholarships, and veteran business grants.

Proceeds will also benefit Pasco Parks Adaptive Programs.

The day’s event will begin with an opening ceremony to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of American Veterans, followed by a timed 5K run along gulf trails. Participants will receive a custom race T-shirt and participation medal and support VAN’s mission to bring fun and adventure to every veteran!

Tickets are available now and are limited to only 250 participants! Get your tickets before they are gone! Scan code on next page.

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VETERANS DAY 5K

TRAIL RUN TIMED EVENT PARTICIPATION MEDALS CUSTOM T-SHIRT

ANCLOTE GULF PARK

KICK UP SOME DIRT TO SUPPORT LOCAL VETERANS!

SATURDAY NOV. 11

2305 BAILLIES BLUFF ROAD HOLIDAY, FL 34691

October 2023

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Out of the Darkness HOW DO YOU PULL YOURSELF OUT OF A DARK PLACE? If you’ve never found yourself in a dark place, you would have to guess the answer. If you really want to know, you seek a success story. You find someone who has come through the darkness into the light of fulfillment.

The most important lesson of the story is that it doesn’t end with how they made it out of the darkness. Instead, it begins there.

On a warm Florida day, we meet LaHarold Woodhouse, Founder of iGolf4Vets, a local non-profit organization, to hear his story.

LaHarold and I agree to meet at Just Love Coffee in Brandon, which has become a FireWatch remote office—a loud yellow Slingshot drives by, music blaring. I give an awkward wave and nod, only to see it is my interviewee, LaHarold himself. His success and air of confidence are what I am here to investigate.

Inside, we settle down at our table, and I pull out my voice recorder, pens, and notes.

Coffee is on the way as we get started. In my research of LaHarold, I found he serves on multiple boards and has had an extensive military career. But the nitty-gritty of a person always starts with where they are from, so we start there.

SO, TELL ME, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I am originally from Memphis, Tennessee. I don’t go back often. When I get back home, it’s to support the Memphis Tigers basketball-football or the Memphis Grizzlies basketball teams. I spend as much time as possible with the family members I love still in Memphis.

LET’S GET INTO YOUR MILITARY HISTORY. HOW DID YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THE MILITARY?

LaHarold sighs with an unspoken, Where do I start?

My military history is pretty interesting.

It started in ROTC in High School, where I served four years. I loved it and left with the rank of Sergeant Major. I earned a scholarship for ROTC but elected not to use it. In hindsight, I should have.

My mom ended up taking a position in Indianapolis with Federal Express. I

chose to move there with her, and not long after, I started college at Indiana University. I had some trouble in school and wasn’t doing well, and I began thinking that the Military may be the way to go.

I had made some friends, and we all decided to go into the recruiter’s office.

The five of us collectively scheduled for the ASVAB test (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), and I was the only one who passed the exam. So, I ended up going into the military alone.

My service officially began in 1988, and my first duty assignment was in Germany. After a few years in Germany, I was deployed as part of Operation Desert Storm. Later, my unit was deactivated, and I went to Hinesville, Georgia, at Fort Stewart.

After Fort Stewart came Fort Hood, and from there, I mobilized to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I was in Cuba in 1995 in the middle of the Cuban /

Haitian migration crisis in Miami, Florida.

IS THAT WHEN YOU STARTED THINKING ABOUT LEAVING THE MILITARY?

Yes, leadership had to pack up and move roughly every three to five years.

I had a family by then and didn’t want that life for them. I craved more stability and decided to leave regular service and enter the Reserves back in Memphis.

After six years in the Reserves, there came a time when I recognized the promotions I was getting in the civilian sector were limited without a college education. I had few advancement opportunities, so I again looked toward the Military as an answer.

My decision to reenter active service took me to Kuwait, and while there, I worked at the Kuwaiti Armed Forces Hospital. After that, I went to Afghanistan.

SEE OUT OF THE DARKNESS, PG 10

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Out of the Darkeness OUT OF THE DARKNESS, FROM PG 9

You may have heard on the news about the wedding party that American forces bombed accidentally, resulting in a young boy’s death in 2002. I worked at the hospital when the victims arrived and had a chance to help them.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER SOME OF YOUR SIGNIFICANT MILITARY EVENTS?

While in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, I was the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Army Reserves with 23,000 Soldiers under my command. We were the center for chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. When Soldiers came to Fort Leonard Wood for training, I directly impacted them. Later, I was a

Drill Sergeant at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and retired from there in 2016.

WHEN YOU RETIRED FROM THE MILITARY, DID YOU STAY IN SOUTH CAROLINA?

We came straight to Tampa, Florida.

We wanted to be somewhere warm and near water, so we focused on finding a place along the American Gulf Coast.

We eventually settled in Tampa, Florida, because it was far and near enough to our extended families in Tennessee and South Carolina.”

Not Going as Planned

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR TRANSITION FROM MILITARY TO CIVILIAN LIFE.

When I left the Military, it was a very hectic time. I knew I had been successful in the military and wouldn’t have a problem succeeding in the civilian sector. I had done my research and planned to move to Florida and open a Tropical Smoothie franchise.

That was my initial goal. I wanted to open my franchise in Riverview, Florida.

At the time, Tropical Smoothie was not interested in opening a Riverview franchise. It’s funny because right about that time, Tropical Smoothie opened here in Brandon, and then another one opened in Sun City—I was like, what the heck happened to Riverview?!

When the franchise didn’t work out, my transition downslide started to hit me. I thought I had everything figured out, and I was a little lost when my plans didn’t work out. I even had a backup plan: to be a JROTC instructor.

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However, a local JROTC instructor was sued by some parents for stopping a fight at a high school. The instructor tried to break up the fight, but the parents were suing because he “put his hands” on a student. I thought, oh no, that is not for me.

My hat is off to any senior JROTC instructors. It is a fine line they have to walk in schools today.

Finding My Way

I started to do some real soulsearching. I had transitioned from the Military to Tampa, Florida, with no family and from single to newly married.

It all took a toll. I did not see how this transition would happen, and I ended up in a very depressed stage in my life.

I found myself at church. I don’t remember what the sermon was about, but it just really hit me. I had contemplated suicide during this time. I was mentally and emotionally depressed. I didn’t feel like I was worth anything after leaving the military. The plans I had made for my civilian life had not worked out, and it just hit me hard.

Ultimately, these experiences sparked my desire to start my non-profit to help other veterans. I understand that things can spiral when your mental health is not where it should be. Your mental health, physical health, spiritual health, financial health, all of it, it just trickles down.

Once I realized where I was, I told myself, look, this is nobody else’s fault.

I chose to leave the military, I chose to move to Florida, to get married, and I had chosen all of that in three to four months.

When I see someone successful,

It is hard to rebound once you get emotionally broken.

someone who seemingly has everything in life, and then I see them impacted by mental health issues and suicidal thoughts, I realized it can affect literally anybody.

DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAD ANYWHERE TO TURN TO FOR HELP?

Being a Sergeant Major in the Army, I knew the programs were out there.

But when you experience depression and anxiety, none of that matters. I saw myself as the family’s role model. A lot of my family from Memphis looked up to me as someone successful in life. But when I didn’t feel successful, the weight of responsibility on my shoulders and the perceived pressure from immediate family, friends, and military comrades felt … overwhelming.

The resources are out there, and most veterans know they are, but the veteran has to seek them out, or have a brother/ sister veteran say to them, “Hey, you don’t look right. Let’s go get you some help.”

We all need a battle buddy who can recognize triggers and support our efforts to get help.

In the Army, everything is “HOOAH!” You have to be tough and strong. Don’t even think about going on a sick call.

That messed up many people in the military because you were looked down on if you went to sick calls, or reached out for help or assistance. You would have been labeled weak by your peers or senior NCOs. The new leaders in the military, the community, and veterans organizations need to help us unlearn this type of thinking and create an atmosphere of engagement and healing.

A lot of people have suicidal thoughts; they come up with a plan to harm themselves, and then they take action.

You have to catch someone in the planning phase because if you don’t, that’s it. That’s a wrap.

That is what it felt like to retire.

My goal had fallen through with the franchise, and I wondered, What will I do now? I’m not going to do the franchise, and I’m not going to be an instructor. Those were my plans! When my plans fell through, I didn’t have another backup, leaving me nothing to hold on to.

With everything on my shoulders, I was just done. I had done all I could do. I knew my kids were in college, and I was like, I’m done. What else is my purpose on this earth?

I want to mention church. My outlet was church, and that is where I found my source. I remember going to the altar to speak with the minister; he was a young guy who said to me, “What do you need me to pray for?”

I told him I was having suicidal thoughts and needed prayer and strength to make it through all of this.

That day, he prayed for me. He just prayed for me, and to this day we are still friends … real close friends.

HOW DID ALL OF THESE EXPERIENCES AND CHALLENGES BRING YOU TO GOLF?

To be honest, I had no prior interest in golf. I did 27 years in the Army, and when I went to the Sergeant Major Academy, I quickly learned that it was the home of golf in the military. That is where all the enlisted bigwigs go for training, but they spent much of their time on the golf course.

I didn’t drink coffee, I didn’t smoke, and I didn’t play golf, so they told me I would never make it at the Sergeant Major Academy.

Now I play golf, drink coffee, and smoke a stogie from time to time. I’m just being genuine.

Right Where You’re Meant to Be

In April 2021, my wife and I pulled into a Waffle House. A man was there with his daughter; he was a veteran. The man noticed the license plate on my car and asked if I was a veteran also. I shared my business card for my travel business, and he told me about a trip he coordinated that took 15 veterans to the Dominican Republic to play golf. His story was fascinating, so we scheduled another meeting to talk further.

The second time we met, he told me more about what he was doing and trying SEE OUT OF THE DARKNESS, PG 12

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Out of the Darkeness OUT OF THE DARKNESS, FROM PG 11

to do with golf for veterans. I told him I would love to tour the golf course in the Dominican Republic and help him plan a larger outing with 50 veterans.

I first hit a golf ball at Casa de Campo in La Romana, Dominican Republic, in June of 2021. Baseball greats Sammy Sosa and Anthony Rodriguez both have membership at Casa de Campo. It’s where all the prestigious people hang out. It’s one of the top golf courses in the world, and that is where I first tore up some greens. I mean, I literally tore up some greens.

My wife joined me on that trip. The two of us had a one-hour lesson with a PGA player. When the training session ended, he said, “Now go out and there and hit some balls.” I call it “chasing balls” instead. I always hit the ball, but then I would have to go and try to find the ball. that is my level of Golf.

The Veteran I met who introduced me to golf wanted to do this for more veterans and needed to charge about $1,500 for each person to go. I knew that would be out of reach for most veterans.

I knew the answer was to develop a non-profit organization for veterans. In July 2021, I filed my 501(c)(3) to start my non-profit. From there, I started practicing golf. These days, I “chase balls” about two or three times a week.

HOW DO YOU WORK WITH VETERANS IN YOUR NON-PROFIT?

I have a weekly event where a couple of veterans come together. One week, we go to Top Golf to work on our drives.

The following week, we will go to an actual golf course to work on their game,

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then we will visit Pop Strokes to work on putting, followed by another week at a golf course.

I designed this process to help veterans work on their game in a more rounded way. This is what I do every month with the organization. In addition to my work with veterans, I am always working on my relationships with Top Golf and Pop Strokes to become one of the top veteran golf organizations they support and sponsor. iGolf4Vets is free for veterans, and one of my biggest goals is to have a chapter near every military installation or major city.

WHAT HAS BEEN ONE OF YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH IGOLF4VETS?

My biggest accomplishment was earning the PGA Tour Grant.

I learned about the Grant Program, Grassroots, while attending a golf show in Orlando this past January. It is one of the largest golf shows in the country.

All the big players like TaylorMade and Calloway Golf are there.

I attended a seminar there called the

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DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion). I am an African-American and a veteran, and I run a non-profit, so I was a good contender for the grant. Learning about the program and its application criteria prompted me to do so. I had planned to hire someone to write the grant letter but realized I could do it myself.

About 1,100 people applied, and 81 non-profits were awarded the grant.

The other accomplishment, the more important, had to do with a veteran in our program suffering from a traumatic brain injury. His wife shared with us that getting him out of the house was difficult; he didn’t like to be around people. His work with iGolf4Vets has helped get him out of his shell.

Another guy, retired military, was spending his days drinking while his wife was at work. That is why I started the weekly events to get him out of the house once a week. His wife loves our program and is grateful her husband has a new outlet.

I am starting to help change and impact other veterans’ lives. That makes me feel like what I’m doing is a great cause, and it is thriving. I can now help others, and I do it all from the heart.

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Reality

A 20-passenger minibus full of local veterans crashed today, killing all.

Imagine hearing that on the news every day. The public would demand to know why the buses crashed, who is at fault, and how to fix it.

When it comes to veteran suicide, we lack a definitive answer, so we continue to explore, question, and wonder what the hell is going on.

Veteran Suicide THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBERS

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by Toni Hedstrom

Programming

Military and civilians are wired differently, and the U.S. government accomplished this purposefully. It takes a mindset most of us cannot even imagine to do the things expected of our service members, especially in wartime.

Joining the military involves an indoctrination process.

Marine Adam Gornall explains in his article, “How I Deprogrammed From The Military,” that to take a person and transform them into someone who will be “fit and ready to engage with the enemy,” they must “undergo a systematic reprogramming of the mind.”

Once people enter the military, they attend basic training, essentially collective programming of the mind and body. In a study published in the European Journal of Psychology, researcher Phillippa Lally found on average that it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic – 66 days, to be exact. Basic training across service branches ranges from 8 weeks to 13 weeks. Coincidence?

If you are a civilian, and you have a veteran in your life, whether it be a friend, family member, or spouse, you have likely heard the canned response to any military-related inquiry, “You wouldn’t understand.”

The truth is, civilians won’t understand; they could never understand. Civilians lack the programming to understand.

In author Kayt Sukel’s article for the Dana Foundation, “How Military Service Changes the Brain,” Sukel references findings from the 2017 Neuroscience press conference chaired by Colonel Deborah Whitmer, commander at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where studies are focused on military service affects on brain health.

Kayt writes, “Soldiers may experience various blast exposures during their service, both in combat and training.”

In addition, Alaa Kamnaksh, a researcher at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Denes Agoston’s laboratory, says that most soldiers are exposed to five to 20 blasts on average—just during training.

Service members have been programmed and exposed to potential brain injury after training. In an article titled, “Psychological Effects of Military Training,” Banyan Treatment Centers argues, “…the psychological effects of military training alter the personality, emotional stability, and social function of the individual.”

Banyan says, “The military can either change your perspective and morality in a positive way, granting

you the opportunities to handle a situation in numerous ways, or negatively impact your mentality, which may alter your personality to display vulnerability, aggression, and paranoia.”

Do these opinions argue that civilians are okay and military folks are all screwed up? No. Civilians have their issues to overcome. However, there is no denying the military experience is unique, challenging, and difficult to detach from.

Research led by Washington University in St. Louis suggests that military service, even without combat, has a subtle lingering effect on a person’s (sic) personality.

Joshua J. Jackson, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in Arts and Sciences, shares, “It’s (military service) one of the few situations in life where an individual’s daily actions and expectations are completely controlled by someone else. From the moment you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night, someone is actively working to break down anything individual about you and build up something in its place.”

Transitioning

Now imagine it’s over. Everything you have been programmed to do, think, and feel is gone. The incredible mind shock of reintegration into civilian society is exacerbated by losing the community and social support of like-minded people.

I’ve spoken recently to three veterans and asked them the same question: “How did you feel when you left the military?”

Two of the three veterans were officers with a rank of LTC or higher, and one was an enlisted soldier. All three of these veterans had served over 20 years in the military.

The two officers described the transition to civilian life as “easy” and “uneventful” because they retired in the same town where they lived and took contractor or GS (civilian federal government) jobs, which allowed them to remain in the same military environment. One described the transition as “going to the same job in different clothes.”

By contrast, the enlisted soldier left the military, moved to a new state lacking a support structure, entered a new marriage, and found out the career he had planned for would not work out. “This,” says the soldier, “took a toll and left me in a dark place where I found myself contemplating suicide.”

SEE SUICIDE, PG 16

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SUICIDE, FROM PG 15 Having been isolated with no sense of identity, purpose, or community, he found himself in a real battle for his life. These feelings of isolation and disassociation are core issues related to veteran suicide.

The Numbers

The Veteran Administration has made preventing suicide among all veterans a top priority. The 2022 National Veterans Suicide Prevention Annual Report shows a decrease in veteran suicide in 2020 for the second year, and fewer veterans died by suicide in 2020 than in any year since 2006.

Is there a correlation to the COVID pandemic of 2020, when everything from colds and flu to back pain was blamed on the pandemic? I raise this because in a contradictory story published that month and just days before the Veterans Administration report, Leo Shane III’s article in Military Times reports “veterans’ suicide rate may be double federal estimates.”

The article points out the discrepancy exists because of undercounting related to drug overdose deaths and service record errors. Does anybody know the actual number of veterans we lose to suicide?

Shane says, “...officials from America’s Warrior Partnership, in a joint study with the University of Alabama and Duke University, reviewed census death

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data from 2014 to 2018 for eight states and found thousands of cases of suspected or confirmed suicides not included in federal calculations.”

He goes on,”If those figures were to be repeated across the other states, it would push the veteran’s suicide rate from 17 individuals a day—the official estimate released by the Department of Veterans Affairs last year—to 44 veterans per day.

Most of us have heard “22 a Day,” which represents the loss of 22 veterans per day to suicide. According to Wes O’Donnell, managing editor at InMilitary.com and a veteran, “The problem is that the number 22 is built on a false narrative.”

He explains, “This number is based on a Veteran Affairs report in 2012 using numbers reported from only 21 States from 1999 through 2011, representing only 40 percent of the U.S. Population. The other states, including those with massive veteran communities, like California and Texas, don’t report suicides to the VA. We should be using the number 22 as a starting point or bare minimum.”

What are we doing about it?

This article does not contain a solution to veteran suicide. It does, however, propose a new kind of community involvement that allows us to come together (civilian and military) to save the lives of our neighbors.

Mission Daybreak, a U.S. Department of Veteran

Identity, purpose, and camaraderie are significant influences on veteran suicide.

Affairs program, is searching for grassroots involvement and problem-solving. The VA has created a $20 million grand challenge through Mission Daybreak to reduce veteran suicide.

The VA called on innovators to develop suicide prevention solutions that could meet the diverse needs of veterans. The Goal: transform how our nation addresses suicide by engaging veterans, community-based organizations, health tech companies, startups, and universities that are not traditionally engaged in suicide prevention.

The community (not clinical) involvement of the service members struggling with suicide is a crucial component in identifying the problems that lead to suicide.

Mission Daybreak awarded $250,000 to 30 finalists and $100,000 to 10 Promise Award recipients for a total of $8.5 million in funding during phase one of the challenge.

Phase two will award $3 million to two first-place winners, with three second-place winners receiving $1 million and five third-place winners receiving $500,000 each.

Identity, purpose, and camaraderie are significant influences on veteran suicide. With good intentions, some popular veteran and civilian groups created segregation.

“We need to grow community connectedness, which can foster interactions with friends, family, neighbors, peer groups, and community organizations,” suggests the Rural Health Information Hub. The RHIhub lists initiatives to reach connectedness as support groups, community-wide events, mentoring, and

buddy programs. Initiatives include expanding volunteer opportunities to increase social interaction and instill a sense of purpose, worth, and accomplishment while giving back to the community.

For veteran identity and purpose, a community must provide opportunity and inclusion. Employers must learn to align military experience with their job requirements (see our story on Oplign | Vetlign).

For camaraderie, no matter how much community we give veterans, they still need a place they call theirs. VFW and American Legion posts have historically been that place, but with post-9/11 veterans, there may be a need for a more modern and inclusive place for families.

No matter what, it is a process to build collaboration and a sense of community for our veterans. We can start by joining forces with all the incredible organizations working toward these goals.

Local non-profit Veterans Adventure Network (VAN) has found that you can name a veteran need, and there is likely an organization out there that can help. These organizations offer alternatives to clinics and hospitals.

They provide a real opportunity for friendship, support, and the camaraderie needed to battle feelings of isolation and disassociation.

“Our mission at VAN is to bring together a network of these organizations that can work together, support each other, and reach a larger population of veterans with different interests, hobbies, and ideals,” says a VAN spokesperson.

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FIREWATCH KICK ASS PLACES 5 Branches Brewing TARPON SPRINGS

www.5branchesbrewing.com www.facebook.com/5branchesbrewing

HIBISCUS STREET LOCATION COMING SOON!

5 Branches Brewing is a veteran-owned and operated nano-brewery in Tarpon Springs, Fla. The name pays homage to the five branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard—they left out Space Force, but, we won’t remark on that here.

The brewery officially opened in Nov. 2019, and has enjoyed great success on the Sponge Docks of Tarpon ever since. So

much so that the owners, Ramey Simpson, a veteran, and Jerry Brown, still on active duty in the Army, have decided to transition their successful brewery to a larger Tarpon Springs location, which they announced in late 2022.

Ramey and Jerry embraced the project full force, determined to do much of the renovation work themselves. Over the past 10 months, fans have been able to follow

Message from the 5 Branches Family

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“We here at 5 Branches owe a huge thank you to everyone who has stopped by, popped in, and stepped up to help us clean up after the storm, recover what we can, and pack up everything to try to get moved to the new location. Although the packing was coming soon anyway, the water damage and clean up was not on our timeline. We are beyond grateful to all of you who have been there.

“To everyone who has reached out to check on us and see how we are doing, we appreciate it more than we can explain. The Tampa Bay brewing community is such a great family to be part of.

“We have made great progress, but there is still a lot to be done. We are pushing towards getting back on schedule in order to open the new location and put this all in our bank of memories. Some would say that a hurricane flooding your brewery three days before closing to move is not something you would want to remember, but seeing how everyone has come together to help us has been nothing short of amazing.”

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along on the new location’s progress through social media and updates from the 5BB family.

On Aug. 28, 2023, 5BB officially announced that the Sponge Docks location would close on Sept. 1. Plans were thwarted with the arrival of Idalia, however, when the flood waters came in.

On Wednesday, Aug. 30, the 5BB family reported, “Needless to say, this is not the way we wanted to end our time on Athens Street. Our thoughts go out to all the other

businesses and residents in that area. With that being said, our time at Athens is over.”

5 Branches Brewing has not released an official opening date for their new Hibiscus Street location but has shared, “We will be sinking 100 percent of our attention and time on Hibiscus Street so we can open soon and be fully up and running.”

For #TeamFireWatch, we hope for one hell of a grand opening Oktoberfest at the new 5 Branches Brewery location!

Stay Tuned!

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October 2023

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RICHARD CORSON, Forever Green Beret In the military, they say if you aren’t early, you’re late. So, we aren’t surprised to find Rich Corson settled in his seat, waiting for us to arrive for his interview. His ability to look half his actual years has motivated us to dig deep to find out what drives Corson, what keeps him healthy, happy, and motivated.

WEST POINT EXPERIENCE Tell us about your college experience at West Point.

Through laughter, Corson exclaims, “West Point is not a ‘college experience’.

You were locked in the entire first year and couldn’t leave the Academy, not even on the weekends except for school-related activities. I believe they have loosened up those rules since I attended school there. At the Academy, you go to class five and a half days per week, and when classes are over, you must participate in either intramural or intercollegiate sports. There are controlled times when you get up and go to bed; it is extremely disciplined and academically and physically challenging.

WEST POINT GRADUATE DIFFERENCE What makes a West Point Graduate different from any other person entering the military?

West Point graduates are neither better nor worse than any other source of commissioning; we are just different.

Our experiences are different. We did not have the freedom to socialize on weeknights or on the weekends like a regular college does. The flip side to that is we were absolute social zeroes.

We didn’t really know how to interact socially in a relaxed atmosphere. We know how to act formally and in formal

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situations. The Academy emphasizes posture constantly, which results in us carrying ourselves erect, with a head up, look them in the eye, attitude. These traits can come across to some as arrogant in a regular social situation.

Getting out into the regular college atmosphere felt uncomfortable at times because it was so foreign to us. The difference really comes into light when out in the civilian workplace.

OVERCOMING THE SOCIAL ZERO DILEMMA How did you overcome your social angst?

The only way to overcome all of that is through trial, error, and life experience.

You must get out and experience life, which can be more challenging for some. You realize quickly that the civilian and military worlds are quite different. Each one does not understand the other, and you try to fit in the best you can. Even in the military, coming out of West Point and into my first day reporting to duty in the Army, my Company Commander said, “I hate

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West Pointers.” Obviously, I had to overcome that and prove to him my capabilities.

CORSON, AROUND THE WORLD You have had a long military career.

Where has your career taken you?

After Airborne and Ranger Schools, I began my career at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I then went into the Infantry Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. Afterward, I was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where I attended the Special Fores Qualification Course to become Green Beret qualified. Later, I went to language school in Monterey, California, followed by five years in Panama.

I have been deployed throughout Central and South America over the years conducting

various Mobile Training Teams (MITs) and assisting the Hondurans in stemming the flow of weapons from Nicaragua through Honduras into El Salvador.

In September 1981, my team was ambushed by terrorists. We were not permitted to carry weapons at the time; thankfully, we all survived, with only two wounded in action.

In 1984, I returned to the States and was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington, with the 1st Special Forces Group, followed by the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. I ended up at Langley Air Force Base, at the Army-Air Force Center for Low-Intensity Conflict, where I worked with the DEA for three years. I finally landed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for the Battle Command Training Program (BCTP), which conducts computer-simulated war game exercises for Division and Corp Commanders and their staff.

My job at the BCTP was to integrate Special Operations into the training exercises. My team literally traveled around the world conducting war games with each Army Division and Corps Headquarters. I had to incorporate Green Beret, Psyop, and Civil Affairs representatives into their staff and show them how to best utilize these assets.

WAR GAMES Tell us about these War Games.

The war games were all computergenerated. I was sent to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to work with designers of the computer simulation to build and replicate the Special Operation Forces into the simulation. During the war games, the staff would be in the field conducting operations. They were fed information on the battle’s progress, which was all done in the simulation. Whatever actions they took would replicate a response.

We would insert civilian displaced personnel to block roads and create havoc, giving us the opportunity to teach

the Commander and staff how to use civil affairs and psyops to deal with those types of situations. We also taught them how the Green Berets could conduct special reconnaissance, etc.

CORSON AT MACDILL AFB How did you finally end up at MacDill Air Force Base?

I was at Fort Leavenworth from 19901993 and had worked under General Downing off and on over the years.

The General knew he was headed to MacDill as the Four-Star Commander of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), so he brought me to MacDill with him in 1993. It was then I started getting involved in Operation Center design, function, and operation.

THE MODERN OPERATION CENTERS Have there always been operation centers?

USSOCOM had an operation center prior to 9/11, but we only stood it up when something was going on in the world that we had to react to. After September 11, all of that changed. The Operation Center went 24/7, and we never looked back.

When the order came down from the Commander on 9/11 to stand up the

operations center, I worked for three straight days to get it up and going and pulling in other people to operate the center. We quickly realized we needed more capability and were given a warehouse room over by the runway.

The General said, “Okay, design a temporary Operation Center here.” I drew up a design, and it was built in three months. Meanwhile, I designed a more extensive space over in the main compound. I subsequently ran each of the operation centers (sequentially) as the Operations Center Chief. I was always looking for better ways to do things. I spent a lot of time visiting other civil agencies like the State Department, CIA, NSA, DIA, and the Secret Service.

I also visited private companies like Fidelity Investments and AT&T to share lessons learned and to gain insights on new technologies. I earned a reputation as a subject matter expert in operation center design and operation.

DECISION TO LEAVE When did you decide to retire from the military?

In 1997 I was due for rotation. I had spent 5-years in Panama and had spent time in both Central and SEE CORSON, PG 22

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N, O S R CO et r D e R B A RICH er Green v Fore

S S E PPR

R E B O LI

O E D CORSON, FROM PG 21

South America, so I could speak fluent Spanish. The military planned to send me down to Bolivia or Peru for three years. I was going through a divorce, and my kids were becoming teenagers, and I didn’t want to be away from them for three years. If I wasn’t going back to work with troops, or being promoted, or being made the Green Beret Liaison to the Swedish Bikini Team, I figured I was good and decided it was my time to check out. I retired at that point after 23 years of active-duty service.

AFTER THE ARMY What was life like after you left the military?

After leaving the Army in 1997, I felt lost because I didn’t have a job lined up. Dumb move! I knew about a Government Civilian (GS) job that was in the wind, but it wasn’t a sure thing.

I was sweating it for about six months.

An old Company Commander of mine was now the Theater Special Operations Commander in Korea, where I had run the BCTP simulations for multiple years.

He called me up and said, “Rich, you’ve been running this for the past five years; you need to get your ass over here and run it now.” So, a Contractor hired me to go over there and do that. I also did some High School teaching for a while.

The difference between working in the military and civilian worlds was night and day.

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The job I ultimately ended up with was as a GS, Chief of the Operations Center at USSOCOM. That made my transition easy because I was right back where I had been. My experience has no comparison to those who leave the military and enter the civilian world; I can’t even imagine. My first real interactions with the civilian world happened when my wife and I started dating (after I had retired). She was not exposed to the military world, nor were her friends and peers.

I remember one time, one of her friends invited us over for dinner. They told us to be there at 5 o’clock. We showed up at 4:59 and 59 seconds. I knock on the door, and they’re running around, just getting out of the shower. They said, “Most people don’t show up until 5:30 or 6:00.” And I said, “Well, I’m military. If you tell me 5 o’clock, then I’ll be there at 5 o’clock.” It became a standing joke called ‘Rich Time.’ They would tell us 6 pm and tell everyone else 5 pm.

Those were the types of experiences that showed me that most civilians don’t have the same understanding of punctuality as we do in the military. We were taught that you’d better be right here (Corson points at an imaginary map) at this exact time because we are dropping bombs here, and if you’re still moving through there, you are a dead man.

DE OPPRESSO LIBER What is your main focus today?

I am currently the President of the Tampa Green Beret Association.

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Our goal, as an association, is to be a resource for veterans and activeduty service members throughout our community. We have maintained a dream for many years to open a Team House in Tampa. The Team House would always be ‘Our House,’ but it would be more inclusive with the ability to host other organizations to hold meetings, rent space, etc. We want the Team House to be a place where all veterans can better understand what is out there for them. There is so much out there for the veteran community, yet the average veteran has no idea what is available. We started the Veteran Benefit Socials, which are held quarterly to bring veteran assistance organizations together in a relaxed atmosphere where veterans can come to meet with and learn about the vast array of assistance available to them. The event is free and hosted by TGBA, along with area sponsors from the community. Veterans can come to enjoy some camaraderie, share their experiences, and have a free beer courtesy of TGBA. LOOKING BACK “I worked at USSOCOM from 1993 until 2018 when I decided it was time to fully retire. I spent 23 years on active duty and another 25 years (counting Academy time) as a Government Civilian (GS) in the Special Operations community, giving me forty-eight years of service to this great nation. Some friends asked why not stay two more years to make it an even 50. I say, “Nope, I am done!”

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What Does it Mean to be a

GOLD STAR?

The Gold Star designation has a long history dating back to World War I. Family members would wear black armbands with a Gold Star to represent a loved one who had died at war. In an article by author Abigail Carey, she reports, “The stars would later find their way to being displayed on banners that were hung in windows or front doors.” The Gold Star would represent a fallen loved one, while a Blue Star would represent a loved one still serving. You could tell by the number of stars on the banner how many had been lost or were serving from each family.

The American Gold Star Mothers nonprofit organization was founded in 1928 and now has Chapters throughout the United States. The American Gold Star Mothers organization, albeit a blessing to those it serves, is not a membership any mother would want.

Gold Star Mother Kathy Wagner, President of the Gulf Coast Chapter of Gold Star Mothers Organization, lost her son, Navy PO2 Herman Fred Bolte IV while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. She shares her experience with the Gold Star Designation, “I had no idea what Gold Star Mother was. I learned about the organization when I visited a local restaurant, Frankie’s Patriot BBQ in Clearwater (now closed), owned by Gold Star Family Toni and Craig Gross, who had lost their son, Cpl. Frank Gross in Afghanistan in 2011.” Wagner says she was taken back by all the military and patriotic memorabilia on the restaurant walls and learned what it meant to be a Gold Star Mother during a meeting with the Gross Family. Kathy is a woman who has experienced loss not once but twice, having lost her 18-year-old son, Jeffrey, to murder only to lose her son, ‘Bud’ (Herman Fred Bolte IV), to homicide just two years later while he served his country in Iraq. Kathy says in her LinkedIn profile, “Nothing matches the excruciating pain of loss, and no one really knows that pain but you, so where then do you go?” She reminds us all “to not get lost in your loss” and shares her personal experiences in an ongoing book series called The Next Day Came Trilogy that can be found online under the author’s name, K.D. Wagner, MA. For Kathy, it was the murder of her son while he served; for the Gross Family, a roadside IED, but the loss can come in many different forms.

Tanya Mort, mother to SGT Anthony Muhlstadt, received the call no mother wants with news that her son Anthony had taken his own life. It was November 19, 2021. Anthony was 23 years old and stationed at Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms in California. Gold Star represents loss without consideration to place or time of military service and does not consider whether the circumstances of death involve hostile conflict or not. Mothers of service members missing in action are also welcomed into the Gold Star Family.

America’s Gold Star Mothers and Families are to be cherished and honored beyond measure as they have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. They have given their sons and daughters. These are not people who expect anything but give everything to help others, raise awareness, and find ways to honor and remember their loved ones. Most Gold Star Mothers and Families continue to serve throughout their communities through volunteerism, support, and events that raise funds and awareness for the battles still being fought. The battle at the

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forefront of many Gold Star Family hearts is the ongoing loss of service members and veterans to suicide. In 2023, Jean Uffalussy, Vice President of the Gulf Coast Gold Star Mother’s Organization, who lost her son Patrick during Operating Enduring Freedom in a devastating fire in Herat, held the 1st Annual Love Remembrance Walk in Pasco County, Florida that raised over $3000 for Mission 22, a nonprofit organization, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Gold Star Mom Tanya Mort held the 1st Annual Anthony Muhlstadt Defender Ruck Walk this summer in St. Petersburg and raised over $22,000 for the Stop Soldier Suicide Organization. The event was held in June to commemorate Anthony’s Birthday.

Many other amazing Gold Star Mothers and Families continue to work within our communities to support other families, active-duty service members, law enforcement, and other first responders. Kelly Kowell, Founder of My Warrior’s Place in Ruskin, Florida, lost her son, Army Spc. Corey J. Kowell, on September 20, 2009, honors his memory daily by “Giving the gift of hope and healing to those who keep us safe, secure, and free!” My Warrior’s Place is a beloved retreat center for Veterans, Military Service Members, Law Enforcement, Firefighters, Gold Star, Blue Star, and Silver Star Families.

How can you help, honor, and support the missions carried on each day by these incredible Americans? You can visit www.GoldStarMoms.com/chapters--departments.html to find the contact for a local chapter!

A Brief History of Gold Star Mothers and Family’s Day

By Abigail Carey, Army Public Affairs Fellow on 9/25/2022 https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Blog/Post/12728/A-Brief-History-of-Gold-Star-Mothers-and-Family-sDay#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20what%20would,had%20died%20in%20the%20war.

K.D. Wagner, MA, The Next Day Came Trilogy: Book One: Jeffrey-The Injustice of Murder, Book Two: Bud – Homicide Turns a Blue Star Gold, and Book Three: Kathy-Survive Tragic Loss with Limitless Resilience

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DR. DAMON FRIEDMAN

SELF |

You commit to yourself and SOF Missions commits to you. Your healing journey begins with that first call to SOF Missions. As you enter the SOF Missions BE RESILIENT CLINIC, you are embraced in a most extraordinary way. Dr. Friedman has brought together a team of experts just for you, intent on exploration, identification, and resolution to heal your mind, body, and soul. The journey begins with a five-day intensive clinic, but it doesn’t end there. SOF Missions stays the course for up to 365 days of follow up care.

CONSUMED

I served 20 years in the military, predominantly special operations. I was part of the invasion in 2003 and couldn’t sleep since then. By 2010, I was suffering the repercussions of intense deployments and continued traumatic experiences. It was all compiling, sleep deprivation alongside the inability to solve the problem called Post Traumatic Stress. The symptoms are overwhelming.

There is brain inflammation from all the concussions, nausea, headaches, blurred vision, feeling sick; waking up in the ER, not knowing what is going on. It doesn’t matter how strong of a man or woman you are; you crack.

My chassis was fractured, and I found myself in a dark place in 2010. We all hear about the loss of 20+ veterans a day to suicide. Well, I understand why.

Everyone has a reason to take the pill or hang themselves, and I understand that.

For me, the pain was just overwhelming. I wasn’t angry at the world or having moral conflicts. I was just consumed by pain and wanted it all to go away.

I heard a voice in the darkest, deepest depths of my pain. I heard a light, and that

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light said, “I have great plans for you, plans to win, to persevere, and not to lose.”

I’m hearing that I am meant to do something great, but what does that mean? What does it mean to do something great?

I made the decision not to kill myself that night.

There were other reasons; I didn’t want my wife or son to walk downstairs and see that mess. It was just a lot. It was physical, and it was psychological, social, and spiritual. I had a lot of trauma, and I didn’t know how to process it.

JOURNEY

I sought out Dr. David LeMay, who focuses on physical rehabilitation and functional medicine. He works as a consultant for dozens of major league sports teams. He’s an incredible man of faith, and he helped me begin my journey to become healthy physically, socially, spiritually, and psychologically.

When you experience trauma, it’s processed through different domains: the psychological domain, the physical domain, and the spiritual domain.

Throughout my journey, I went through

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a lot of therapy. I saw psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and chiropractors. I saw conditioning coaches, nutritionists, and internal medicine physicians. I began to feel better.

After a year and a half of feeling better, I woke up one day and was no longer in the dark. I had light in my life and felt good again.

WARRIOR

Humans are not made to kill. However, sometimes there is no other choice.

It’s the only way to defend another that is oppressed. When you have extreme terrorist networks putting bombs in schools, killing children, and just randomly killing and shooting people, it must be stopped.

Someone has to do it—I was called to do it. But there is a cost. There are consequences to war.

Millions of men and women have deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and experienced some sort of trauma. If you join the military, I would argue that you experience trauma just going through boot camp.

It doesn’t matter if you are the head of the spear on a mission or the supply guy who gave us the boots; they are both important. In victory, they are all a part of the process. In the kill too. It is all a chain, and everyone processes trauma differently.

MAINTENANCE

I had deployed again, and while in Afghanistan in 2011, I shared with Dayna, my wife, that I was feeling better.

I had found hope, and now, suddenly, I have faith, and it’s restored, strong, and sound. I have cognitive clarity and am sharper physically and socially reintegrated.

Dayna and I started our non-profit then, right there in Bagram, Afghanistan.

With everything I have gone through and learned, we now apply and provide for all of our warriors at SOF Missions.

Stress is absorbed. It is processed differently by different people. I’ve had a lot of stress, and I’ve had a lot of trauma throughout my whole life. So I’m doing maintenance.

In our program, does everybody go away not wanting or having suicidal ideas? No, not at all. Do I still think about suicide? Every once in a while. Why? Because this life is filled with trauma.

Every year I am reminded at least a dozen times that somebody I love, somebody that I trust, has passed away. They have killed themselves, been blown up, or something bad has happened.

It’s a constant reminder of why I’m here. This is my calling.

ONGOING BATTLE

When I was a young boy, I was called to be a freedom fighter. I began fighting for my freedom in downtown Los Angeles, in the projects—an extremely abusive environment.

As a young man, I was called to be a freedom fighter for my nation and to fight extreme terrorism. That’s what I’ve been

doing for 20 years. The worst people in the world, the evilest and most vile.

Today, I have a new enemy and a new mission. I’m still a freedom fighter.

My calling is the same, but now I am fighting against one of the greatest evils of all time: suicide. Suicide is an evil that nobody can see.

Today, we have this incredible clinic where we spend $50,000, if not more, for ten warriors to spend five days at our clinic with more than 20 healthcare professionals. We take care of these men and women for a full year.

There’s no bureaucracy, no politics, no capitalism. It’s just efficacy.

All of our work is research-based and is being renowned. We currently have a 2-year grant with Dr. Kelly, founder of Intrepid, whom we met at the University of Colorado Brain Health Institute conference. We are gathering data on how effective our program is psychologically, physically, socially, and spiritually.

MISSION

There are a lot of programs out there that say they help veterans—especially with PTSD. Some of them are marginally successful, others are not.

Research shows there is a reason pragmatism works, and there’s a reason why objective data is critical. We need to be analytical about this. There’s a difference between a program that makes you feel better for a moment. It could be a day, it could be a weekend, it could be a week, but that’s not enough.

We need to solve the underlying problems. Veterans will continue to struggle if we don’t.

WHY SOF MISSIONS?

We work to find the core issue. Our program is not a feel-good program.

Our warriors are here to work. You come into our program and work from seven in the morning to the evening. You’re matched with a variety of healthcare professionals.

Is it a resort? Yes. Why? Because people don’t want to go to a hospital.

Hospitals are smelly and stressinducing.

We do this in a better type of place. We are here to bridge the gap. Speed is key.

The VA has advantages. I appreciate my VA benefits; they help me do what I’m doing today. But at the end of the day, when you have a lot of challenges, it may take too much time for the VA to fully take care of you.

Our advantage is that we can serve people at Mach 1 speed, and polytrauma is our specialty.

What we do differently than anyone else is to take a generally holistic approach to the five major components, including social and spiritual dilemmas.

I had a great psychologist at the VA who helped me solve a major problem and helped to open Pandora’s Box. But I had a profound question, “God, why would you allow this to happen?”

I asked a spiritual question to a subject matter expert in psychological treatments and modalities. While there, we also took care of my concussions which are cognitive in nature, and psychologists don’t know much about that.

That is why you need a team; you need a tribe.

That is how we solve problems at Mach 1. The ratio of veterans that find tremendous hope and become fully productive members of society through our program is extremely high. This is because we address all of the domains; psychological, physical, social, and spiritual; and within the physiological, the cognitive.

THE DEMAND

The goal is to have clinics running throughout the year. I’m a non-profit leader. What drives me is not the money I make but the money I need because SEE DR. FRIEDMAN, PG 28

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DR. FRIEDMAN, FROM PG 27 every dollar goes into the veteran. That is my mantra. You donate, and the money goes into serving the veteran. One donor pays for our administrative costs so that when someone gives to SOF Missions, their money can go directly to the veteran.

Unfortunately, we are not immune to inflation. What cost us $100K last year is costing $150K this year. This year we should be hosting nine or ten clinics, but we are forced to maintain our current schedule because of the increased cost.

I’m spending more money to do the same things.

HELP

There are a variety of ways to help.

Number one is advocating on behalf of our men and women who are suffering, sharing our mission with those you know who can benefit from our program and resources.

Join us at one of our signature fundraising events that are hosted throughout the year.

We are excited to announce we are launching Operation Red Belt. It’s a great opportunity to join forces with a monthly donation of only $22.00 a month. By joining, you will receive a Red Belt. It’s organic in nature. Your monthly donation will provide the resources and tools needed to bring hope and healing to our nation’s heroes who are in great distress.

Please join this movement, and help end the suicide epidemic.

REALITIES

I recently retired after 20 years of service and I’m here to tell you we are now witnessing the consequences of war, just the way we saw in the Vietnam era. About 10-to-15 years after the conflict ended, BOOM, the suicide rate went through the roof.

I have a stack of papers on my desk about programs the government has provided, but they haven’t moved the

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needle. Some will say they have, but that is political in nature, or I wouldn’t be doing this work.

SOLUTIONS

The Department of Defense does not provide the appropriate resources and services to help our men and women in uniform.

To put a dent in the suicide epidemic, you must put politics aside. You have to be a good commander, and you need to provide every viable option. You must put the warrior first and not the mission.

That is the problem. The mission is always first. Every leader will say without the mission, you don’t have a force. Well, you know what? Without people, you don’t have a force; without a force, you don’t have a mission.

As a squadron commander in special operations, I told my leadership, “people first, mission always.” I was raised mission first, people always. But, if you take care of the person and their family, they’ll always accomplish the mission.

That philosophy resonated with my first commander. My second commander, not so much.

The DOD is not doing what they are supposed to, and they know it.

Wherever you put your money, time, and energy, that’s where your heart is.

You look at the programs they support, and it’s simply throwing a psychological therapist at every problem. That is not how you solve problems. I struggle with the current DOD initiatives because they claim to have a holistic approach.

My response is simple: No, no you don’t. I was there, I know the process.

By the way, the troops may have a difficult time trusting leadership. I know I did. I hid my injuries until 2017, when I woke up in the ER with no choice but to admit my struggles.

MACHINE

A guy like me, an Alpha Male, has a critical vulnerability. It is a weakness,

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and there is a stigma. I don’t want people to think I was struggling like that, thinking of killing myself. When you are thinking about it and how you would do it, how do you tell somebody about that?

And what if you told your leadership?

As a result, your leadership opportunities would be canceled.

The military tries to program us to set aside our humanity; to become a machine. I’m paid to be a machine. But there is an inescapable human aspect to this machine. I have a family and a future, and we all have other chapters in our lives.

The veteran community is small yet significant portion of the population. Did you know only one percent of Americans sign on the bottom line? Only one percent of over 300 million people say, “I’ll do it.”

It’s important that we take care of them.

THE LENSE

Look at the veteran issues this country is dealing with. Look at homelessness in America. In April 2019, the U.S. had a homelessness population of over 630,000, with 67,000 being veterans of the armed forces.

There is obviously an issue, something is broken in the system. It doesn’t matter if you are Republican or Democrat, black or white; we owe it to them as a country.

When I was in the military, I never judged you based on your skin color or the job you did. I judged you based on your character and work ethic.

When I came out of the military, I saw the movement in equality as a Hispanic, I understand the struggle. My mom is from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was a minority, and while being raised in the projects, there were Koreans, Vietnamese, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, the whole shebang. When I was growing up, I didn’t see anybody’s skin color. I just saw you as a person. Even in my office, I don’t hire based on anything other than skill – I hire the best people.

I think that is the lens America should look through.

TRANSITION

In the military, somebody is always telling you where to go, what to do, and when to do it. That’s hard. Being away from your family on Christmas, anniversaries, and birthdays is just hard.

When I left the military, I was anxious to get away from the system, but I had no idea how much I depended on it. It seems like when you get out, nobody cares.

One of the things we offer at our clinics is Brotherhood. I used to complain about half the guys at work, and those are the guys I miss. Why? Because they were my family. I didn’t realize how important they were to my daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly regimens. When I left, I was sad because I didn’t have them anymore, and now I feel lonely a lot. I’m not around my brothers, and that is a loss that feels deep.

This is a gift given to the men and women in our program: bringing them together. They are all from different walks of life, and it doesn’t matter what they did in the military; we all have something in common. We’re in pain, so we go through this pain together.

In any special operations team, you have a weapons expert, a medic, an engineer, an intel person, and a communication expert. We all have our gifts, and then we all come together and help each other get through the ambushes of life. When they leave, they are friends.

RESILIENCY PROGRAM

It’s all free for veterans. If you raise your hand and say, “I need help.” We will help you. That’s just the bottom line.

How much help do you need? We will help you as much as we can. Will we solve every problem? No. Are we going to solve most problems? Absolutely.

That is what we are here to do.

So when veterans come here, we bring them in, fly them in, and drive them in. We pay for all of it. They come here

and leave different people. And, God willing, they are 1,000 percent better. But when they go back home, that is when the war begins.

The whiskey is there, the gun is there, and the angry significant other is there.

The kids, are pissed off, and they’re there. Bad memories are there. If you have made mistakes, you must face them and patch things up; that is what you must do. Most of us have made mistakes; I know I have made more than most. It’s one thing to run away from them. It’s another to stand up and say, “I’m going to face them all.”

There is power in forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation. Those pieces lead to redemption.

Accountability is paramount to our program. We have to look at ourselves, and we have to be honest. Humans are really good at lying to themselves, and believing the lie. They try to convince others that the lie is the truth. Healing requires you to look at yourself and at the things you did, admit that you had options, and you chose the worst of them. You did that. It’s on you.

We tell people when they go back home, perhaps, as an example, you have been abusive verbally, maybe even physically and psychologically for, say, 10 years. Is it your fault? I don’t even get into that. I just know that you made a choice, and you did what you did.

So, you’ve had ten years’ worth of poor behavior but think that you can come back from the clinic, and suddenly everybody wants to journey with you because you’re in a better mindset. No. There is a trail you have left behind.

Our process asks you to let go of the irreparable past and focus on the invincible future. Here is what you do; you find your inner strength and courage. You ask for forgiveness, repent, reconcile, and find redemption.

It’s hard. 10 years’ worth of abuse, 10 years’ worth of destruction. It’s going to take at least a year to fix all that.

LEGACY

I am very passionate about this because I am grateful. I got another chance, and this is what I have been called to do. I am a professional speaker. And, God willing, I make good money doing that. But I do that to fulfill my purpose, not for the money. I have one shot in this world to make an impact.

Do you know what I want people to say about me when I’m gone? I don’t want them to talk about my decorations or my positions. I want them to talk about how many lives we saved. I want them to talk about the program that revolutionized medicine.

I don’t need money, and I’m not looking for fame. I want to be known as a vessel on this earth that made an atomic impact that resonated throughout all communities, not just the veteran community.

Suicide is an American issue, and it is the second leading cause of death for adolescence between 11 and 33 years old. How is it possible that our young men and women are taking their lives at such an alarming rate? We are not on this earth for ourselves but for others.

I still experience the pain. The pain, the agony, the disappointment, the anxiety, frustration, all of that I use as fuel. There is nothing more powerful than turning pain into fuel. That is how I can be an unstoppable force for good.

I will not stop until I’m done, and God will be the one to extract me out.

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WITHOUT GLORY I WATCH THE LONE SHADOWY FIGURE CLAD IN BLACK GARMENTS CROSS THE THIRD FENCE. HE’S LESS THAN THIRTY-FIVE FEET FROM OUR POSITION. HE HAS NOW ENTERED OUR KILL ZONE ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES FROM CONTROL. “WASTE HIM,” SERGEANT ADAMS WHISPERS. “WHAT?” I FLINCH, TURNING TOWARDS HIM. “WHY ME?” I FREEZE, MY MIND SUDDENLY BLANK. SERGEANT ADAM’S SARCASTIC WHISPER RINGS IN MY EARS, “CAUSE IT’S YOUR TURN, NEWBIE.” Looking down through the aiming sights of my M16 assault rifle at a target is nothing new. I’ve spent countless hours on the firing range. I must have ‘blown away’ a thousand or more targets, but this is different.

This is a living, breathing human being with dreams the same as mine.

I think of the steps to take when firing. All I can remember is, ‘Sight on dead-center mass, breathe, squeeze,’ or is it, squeeze and breathe? It’s all jumbled up in my head. This target is not simulated. It is flesh and blood.

I continue tracking him through my rifle sight, attentively following the man’s every move. He is being cautious. He stops and stands still for what seems like an eternity. Then he moves again. After a few steps, he stands motionless again. Only his eyes move, scanning left, right, then forward. The VC never looks up! He never looks up toward us! What is he thinking? Doesn’t he see the tower silhouetted in the moonlight? He must see the dark shadow of the tower cast on the ground by his feet.

Does he not know someone is sighting him in, like a lamb to slaughter?

My mind is rattled with thoughts zipping through my head. Does he know he will die tonight? Does he have a wife? Does he have kids? He must have a mother.

Everyone has a mother. Is he thinking of his mother?

My heart pounds uncontrollably. It feels as if it’s going to jump right through my chest. I know Sergeant Adams

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BY KEN SMITS

and the VC can hear my heart pounding. It sounds like a drum in my ears. Why doesn’t he look up? Why doesn’t he run away? I can always kill someone else later. I don’t need to kill tonight. Not tonight!

Run, you son of a bitch! Please run away. Pl-ee-ase, do it now!

I am soaking wet, and I don’t know if it is sweat from fear or just the rain, but I’m sure Sergeant Adams can tell I am unsteady or even afraid. I’m trying hard to stay still but keep shaking. Please, run away, little yellow man! Go to your family now before it’s too late for both of us. God, please….oh, please make him run away.

The VC is now less than twenty-five feet from the tower. I’m practically looking straight down at him. I have to lean over the edge of the rail to see him below us. I tell myself, ‘Think, think, think, damn it, think!’ Come on, asshole, see the legs of the tower? Are you blind? Your enemy is up here with GUNS! My hands tremble, my body shudders, my mouth is dry like I’ve been sucking on cotton balls. Yet, it is filled with the coppery taste of panic.

I hear voices – my voice – inside my head. ‘God, please, steady me and give me the courage to pull the trigger.’ I hope I’m thinking and not mumbling out loud.

I can’t think logically. Twisted thoughts jumble together.

I’m asking God to help me kill someone. Somehow, that doesn’t make sense to me. However, God does love his soldiers. Someone told me that once.

“C’mon, shoot the bastard, Smits!” Sergeant Adams’ voice rings in my ear. It sounds like he is screaming at me, but the VC on the ground STILL does not look up.

“Pull the damn trigger and waste him before he sees us.”

Sergeant Adams urges me on.

“Now, Newbie! Do it now!”

THE TOWER

Suddenly, fear strikes again. It’s a different feeling, like an angry outburst in my head. What if he has a friend watching me? A VC sniper prepared to put a round between my eyes if it appears I am ready to fire on his friend? That could be why the VC hasn’t looked up at us.

While Sergeant Adams and I have been watching him, someone else could’ve been sneaking into place right under our noses! The other enemy soldier could have me in his sights right this second. I could be the dead one in a flicker of an eye. I hope Sergeant Adams has been searching the area for the other VC. I cannot take my eyes off my target. My living, breathing target, for fear he’ll look up at that very second and kill me.

Too many things are happening in my mind, and none make sense. Damn!

The front blade of my M16 is centered on his chest.

I take up the slack on the trigger, “Whack!” A single explosion from my rifle breaks the silence, startling me.

1968 The yellow-white fireball that erupted from the recoiling barrel immediately in front of my intently focused eyes temporarily destroyed my night vision. The slight kick in my shoulder jars me back to reality or ushers me deeper toward insanity. My mind cannot distinguish the difference. Breathe – damn it, breathe, breathe, I command myself.

Sergeant Adams’ voice splinters the haze, yelling, “Yes! Damn, good shot, Newbie! What took you so long?

He almost crawled up our ass.” He slaps me on the back.

“Go check the body, Deadeye. I’ll notify Control. Hot Damn! KIA!” His voice is cheerful as if I hit the ball over the fence at the bottom of the ninth with two outs.

The descent down the staircase feels like five hundred feet instead of fifty. The twenty-five feet to the corpse feels like a mile. I point my rifle at the figure of a man.

Standing above the body, I realize it no longer resembles a man because it’s not one. It’s death…real death…not play death like in the movies. I kneel on one knee next to the lifeless VC. The stillness is frightening. Thick, red liquid saturates his clothing and the ground around him.

I flop down just inches from him, the damp ground penetrating my pants and soaking my bottom as I stare helplessly at the corpse. A short time ago, this was a living, breathing person, no one special to the world. He was just a man like me.

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N A R E T E V

VOICES

T

here can be a room full of Ph.D.s trying to understand the causes of veteran suicide. Their collective knowledge and analysis are crucial, but they lack the experience of living in that dark place. FireWatch Magazine chose to sit down with five Veterans for a bit of soul-searching. Each Veteran had very different backgrounds and military experiences. Still, all had shared experiences of suicidal ideation or depression after leaving the service. Having walked through their own darkness, these four Veterans help answer the question:

AS A NATION, ARE WE DOING WHAT IT TAKES TO STOP VETERAN SUICIDE

Latora

?

VETERAN

nize B.S. If we see le from bad. We recog op pe od go ow kn we ; izations that has a discerning spirit look at all these organ I en wh t, Bu Everyone in the military lp. he t ard tha rely trying to help us. we will venture more tow ney-hungry or are since mo t sincerity and true love, jus are y the if er the National to help veterans, I wond was frustrated. I called I s. ue iss n ow are starting programs my gh ing throu I was just on the brink out that when I was go I found help was when I remember thinking ab ere Wh . tes nu mi 15 ese were just y put me on hold for s going to be okay. Th wa it me l tel Suicide Hotline, and the d an me d brace ily and always had Go lete stranger would em w up in a religious fam gre of giving up, and a comp I . me d ve sa ly like ate d felt h someone who ultim lost faith in humanity an random encounters wit ver lost faith in God. I ne I , hts ug tho understand al to is icid terans . Amid my su . The key to helping Ve life at the center of my life my d ve sa le op pe ine people, but genuine the world lacked genu in on a different level. terans carry fear and pa or attempt to relate. Ve

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Steve

N VETERA

s? r experience lk about you ta d n a t re a a h w to sh t is nd I think tha a the right place , d se fin o u rp u yo p n d d identity an ard. Where ca p. We all nee how to be he u is d t e in w o re p sc e h ll T they are a ts to be told No one wan e military. n we leave th e h w se lo e w

VETERAN

Rich

When I left the military, I had no clue what was out there, so I didn’t get much help. It hasn’t been until the past five years or so that I’ve realized my PTSD and TBI. I am now getting help for it and feeling much better. I apologized to my wife, our family, and our friends. I’ve even apologized to my ex-wife for being such an assh ole. I wasn’t in control of my emotions. I have since learned how thing s have affected me and caused me to be a ‘bad person.’ I’m not afraid to say it if it will help one person get up and admit they need help. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just your experience, and it affected you in one way or another.

VETERAN

Damon

on what divides ision. They are focused div on ed us foc so are People erences. need to embrace our diff

ites us. We us and not on what un

all

MMUNITY; VE THEIR CO A H S K L O F T MILITARY D FROM THA RE REMOVE A Y E H L T IA N T E N WH SSE ITION, IT IS E S N A R T H G UNITY THROU SE OF COMM N E S A H IS L TO REESTAB CIVILIAN N LIFE. THE IA IL IV C IR E IN TH NDERSTAND NEEDS TO U Y IT N U M M O C TO HELP. EARN HOW L D N A S N A VETER

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POWER of EMPLOYMENT

The

Veterans

Spouses

Graduates

The most advanced job tool available to Vets and Transitioning Military.

Military spouses bring unique perspectives and skills and are flexible and committed employees. Oplign’s military spouse alignment tool helps to match these unique characteristics with skills in the workforce.

Oplign shows new graduates their aligned opportunities. Oplign begins with your educational major, then zerosin on full- and part-time entry-level opportunities, including internships.

Oplign uses the power of big data to provide complete market awareness.

Vetlign, Oplign’s Veteran Alignment Engine

Oplign understands veterans like no other system in the world. Oplign’s algorithms update daily. As new skills emerge in the workforce, Oplign makes the connection.

Vetlign’s Military Spouse Alignment Tool

Gradlign, The New Graduate Breakthrough

Veterans, how do your skills match up in the civilian world?

Many before you have had the same problem: how to match up military skill sets with the civilian job force. No one need to tell you how to dress for an interview, but someone needs to tell you what you are qualified for. That is where Oplign comes in. With Oplign’s Veteran Alignment Engine, you are guaranteed to be matched with well-paying jobs!

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VETERAN EMPLOYMENT REVOLUTION

Who is OPLIGN?

Now, with Oplign, a veteran simply takes out their phone, and within five minutes, can find multiple job opportunities whose job descriptions match the veteran’s skills.

We sat with Oplign Co-Founder, Brian Halstead, to learn about Oplign, Its origin, intent, and magic.

We are here to learn about Oplign and how it has revolutionized the veteran employment experience.

Through exclusive Machine Learning (ML) software, Oplign has managed to recognize the unique earned experiences of veterans from all ranks of service and pair that to civilian jobs. This innovative approach has attracted high volume employers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Verizon, and others to the Oplign experience. What has resulted is an extreme shift in the standard approach to ‘job searching’ for veterans.

There are four owners of Oplign, all veterans who had never worked together but were in the same industry. They like to say the word frenemies was designed for government services. One day you are competing, chasing the big government contracts, and the next day you are teammates.

“The four of us had never worked together, but we always dealt with the same problem.” Says Brian, cofounder of Oplign. “As a senior leader, I consistently needed to get the right people to the right place at the right time, and so did they.”

The vision for Oplign was born out of this inherent need as it related to veteran employment. Oplign’s slogan is, “Where Opportunities Align”, and in a nutshell, that is exactly what their ML (Machine Learning) system is all about, job alignment for veterans.

OPLIGN FOR VETERANS

As Brian and his colleagues left the military, they each faced their own challenges finding the right work environment. Brian says, “One of the biggest challenges veterans face when transitioning out of the military is finding the right job to fit their unique experience.” Oplign co-founders had recognized that existing programs like military’s TAP (Transition Assistance Program) is focused on ensuring all military information and data are closed out correctly, and in a manner most beneficial to a service member when they are in transition.

The DOD wants to ensure that people leaving the military benefit optimally from what they have earned. “The other colossal half of TAP,” explains Brian, “is about getting jobs.” Most of TAP includes tips on getting a job.

The program offers classes on how to write a resume, how to interview, how to search for jobs online, etc.

“Some guy will get up in front of the class and talk about how to present yourself at an interview, right down to what you should wear. Let me tell you, nobody needs to be told to dress nice and to comb their hair for an interview. What a veteran really needs to know is what jobs they are qualified for.” Exclaims Brian.

At Oplign an applicant doesn’t have to research the job they are after and then tailor their resume to it.

They don’t have to create 15 versions of their resume because they want to apply for 15 different positions.

SEE OPALIGN, PG 36

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VETERAN EMPLOYMENT REVOLUTION

OPALIGN, FROM PG 35

Oplign’s efficient Machine Learning software asks the applicant a series of auto-generated questions that move the applicant into a specific range. From there, the ML software has analyzed the answers and recognizes the industry. The system then automatically applies a list of specific questions related to that industry, all the while moving the applicant through the system very quickly. “Veterans can do all of this on their phone. Creating a profile takes about two minutes.”

A great example of how Oplign works involves a civilian company in the upper Midwest who needed Electrical Lineman to work high off the ground and around high-voltage electricity. The Oplign ML system was able to match job description requirements to the skillset of former Paratroopers.

OPLIGN FOR EMPLOYERS UNDERSTAND THE OLD TO APPRECIATE THE NEW

The Old Brian and the team at Oplign don’t want to bad-mouth traditional Human Resource departments and operations, but to understand the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) is essential to understand the enormity of Oplign’s impact on the job market. “If you are connected to HR in any way, SHRM is your bible.” Explains Brian. According to SHRM, 92% of people who visit a website with the intent to apply for a job will ultimately abandon the website because they find the process for applying too difficult. Brian

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VETERAN EMPLOYMENT REVOLUTION If you are reading

this right now and need a job, all you

have to do is scan the QR codes on

page 34. Scan the

codes, and within seconds, you will be in the system

with Oplign pairing your unique

experience to thousands of

available jobs.

goes on to say, “Traditional HR systems want an applicant to upload a resume, then chop up the resume to put two or three sentences into numerous cells, it just doesn’t work,” he adds. Most HR folks believe their job as a recruiter is to gather as many resumes as possible, then do a Boolean word search, and then kick them up to the hiring manager, who, must weed through them again before kicking them up to the PM (Project Manager), who is actually the one in charge of hiring. “That isn’t really the job,” explains Brian, “The HR Department’s job is to close demand as quickly as possible. Every day they don’t fill that position, they lose out on downstream profitability.”

SHRM has a 92% failure rate whereas Oplign has a 98% success rate. Here is how.

The New With Oplign Software, a hiring manager has three to five high-quality profiles to review instead of hundreds of resumes. Oplign’s ability to reduce the hiring process by over 100 days is another profitable asset of the program.

Amazon, one of Oplign’s first customers, realized quickly that Oplign was a crucial missing piece in their hiring process. Currently, nearly 100% of people with TS or above clearance make their way to Amazon through Oplign. “If Amazon wants to hire a software engineer that writes three different types of languages and has a top-secret security clearance, they tap Oplign for that resource.” Says Brian.

Historically, it takes about 96 to 126 days for a position to start from the point of

initial demand signal. 30-Days of that is the

onboarding process for a new hire, Oplign

can’t fix that. But Oplign can take the other

100-days and turn that into 10 or 15 seconds.

– Brian Halstead

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BATTLE BRIEFS & War Stories

1

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A-TEAM, SPECIAL FORCES: Training Exercise Gone Bad I was part of a Chase Team, the first to leave the aircraft as we jumped into Honduras. We had a fullsize bulldozer on the back of a brand-new C-141. We are attempting to push this bulldozer out of the back of the aircraft while in flight. As soon as it exits, the plane jumps about 30 feet, knocking us all to our knees, faces, and asses.

We staggered up and attempted to crawl out of the aircraft to follow the giant bulldozer. We were the chase team; our job was to “chase the bundle.” We saw the bird make another large loop before 100 or so additional troops jumped out behind us. The whole plan could have worked out better. As we reached the large open field, our landing spot, we saw the giant bulldozer, and it looked like a big piece of modern art with a twisted blade poking out of the earth.

We began our journey to the target: a tiny village that simulates a national capital. We walk through giant blades of sawgrass, and after a mile or two, our uniforms are rags; everyone is sliced up from the sawgrass.

Once we leave the murderous grass, we come onto an open field where we are forced to hop over three- and four-foot-wide streams. They are easy enough to jump over. I stood there watching everyone jump over these streams. Then this one guy—you can tell he was tired as hell—steps into the stream instead of hopping over it … and disappears!

It took a good 4 or 5 seconds for my brain to figure out the soldier was gone.

“Oh, Shit! Prez just disappeared!” I yelled as I threw off my rucksack and ditching my LBE. I start running toward

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the hole with every intent of going down to get Prez. Just as I get there, Prez manages to push off the bottom of what turns out to be an eight- or ten-foot hole to get out.

He scrambes out of the hole with a hundred-pound backpack, his LBE, and his weapon, screaming, “It’s fucking deep! It’s fucking deep!”

FUTURE GREEN BERET AT WEST POINT: The Presidential Pardon When I was a freshman at West Point, my best friend from high school came to the Academy to visit because we weren’t allowed to leave the campus. It was late fall, and he brought some booze with him. My friend and I, along with another Cadet, went to one of the soccer fields to get drunk. This was against the rules, obviously.

After our adventure, my classmate and I stumbled back to the barracks, where an upperclassman approached us. Big Mistake!

The punishment for being drunk at West Point was called a “25-66-3.” It consisted of 25 demerits (you were only allowed 35 for the entire year); 66 hours of walking punishment in full uniform, including weapon, every weekend; and three months of weekend confinement to your room.

About a week later, President Nixon visited the Academy.

By way of tradition, anytime a head of state visits the Academy, they “grant amnesty to those cadets who are undergoing punishment for having committed certain infractions of United States Military Academy regulations,” The order of amnesty customarily comes at the conclusion of their speech.

Nearly 4,000 cadets gathered in the mess hall to see the President and his entourage. The Cadet Adjutant introduced the President, who then gave a short speech. After the address, the President returned to his seat.

On this occasion, the President returned to his seat without having given amnesty, resulting in a 4,000-person collective groan throughout the mess hall.

The Cadet Adjutant steps up to the mic, “Mr. President, did you forget something?”

The President, realizing his omission, obliges, “Oh! Oh yeah! Publish the Order!”

The place erupted.

I ran toward the President intent on shaking his hand and thanking him. Sadly, I was blocked and ushered away by the Secret Service.

TO BE A GREEN BERET: The Wrong Stuff at the Right Time When I went to join the military in 1968, I wanted to join the Army and be a Green Beret.

The Army recruiter squashed my dream.

I was too young and didn’t meet the requirements to be a Green Beret.

As I was leaving the recruitment center, unsure of my next move, an Air Force recruiter approached me.

“The Air Force has something even better than a Green Beret,” he says.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Air Commandos,” he replies.

“How old do you have to be for that?” I asked.

“You’re old enough now,” he says.

I quickly took the test and signed up for service in the Air Force.

After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, I was told to pick the three “wish list” places I wanted to go after basic. I reminded them I had signed up to be an Air Commando, but they insisted I still put three places on the list. I reluctantly added weapons and munitions to the list.

When basic training was over, they called us all into a room, and I heard, “Okay, Smits, you’re going to munition school.”

“Wait a minute! What happened to Air Commandos?” I ask, insistently.

“They don’t have any openings,” came the response.

Great! That was the only reason I joined the Air Force!

When I got to Vietnam, I was training with the security police when a guy came around trying to recruit for the Air Commandos. I, along with a few of my buddies, quickly volunteered.

About six months in, our team was shot up badly. Most of the team had been killed or injured. The Colonel pulled me aside and asked what I wanted to do next. He told me I had two choices: get another team or return to munitions.

“There is another option,” the Colonel says, after a moment of consideration, “It’s called SOG: Special Observation Group. It’s the elite of the elites,” he explains.

Easy decision! SOG, here I come!

To get onto a SOG team would typically take years of time and training to qualify. But I had the wrong stuff at the right time. … It seems I beat the system.

Richard Nixon, Remarks Announcing a Proclamation of Amnesty for Cadets at the Military Academy, May 28, 1971

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HAUNTS & FESTIVALS

It’s that time of year when Floridians get to pretend it is fall! Yes, around here the weather stays warm, and the trees stay green. But that doesn’t stop Floridians from reveling in the spirit of FALL! Tampa Florida and the cities that surround her are known for festivals of all kinds. Be it music, food, or drink, there is no shortage of fun things to do. The fall season is no exception with festivals around every corner. It would be impossible to visit them all so #TEAMFIREWATCH has a few favorites to share with you.

MILITARY SCARES What do you think you will find on an old decommissioned 1945 World War II Battle Ship, at night, in the dark, during Halloween season? SCARY SHIT THAT’S WHAT! The American Victory Ship presents, UNDEAD IN THE WATER THE BREACH! 705 Chanelside Drive | Tampa, Florida (Behind the Florida Aquarium) Open Friday and Saturday Nights in October (a few Thursdays too)

I AIN’ T SCARED CREW If you think you are brave enough, check out SCREAM-A-GEDDON in Dade City, Florida! This scary ass place has been voted #1 in USA’s Best Haunted Houses three times and winner for top overall attraction by Florida Haunted Houses. In addition to the six terrifying attractions, you can hang out at the Monster Midway and grab a beer at Bonzo’s Beer Garden. Don’t take your dog, they might become a Zombie’s dinner.

Scream-A-Geddon 27839 Saint Joe Rd | Dade City, FL 33525 Open every day through November 4th, 2023

FAMILY FRIENDLY Check out the 32nd Annual Pumpkin Festival at Hunsader Farms in Bradenton, Florida. For an incredible collection of fall-themed events, Hunsader Farms is worth the drive! Each day of the festival features live music and shows, hayrides, pony rides, a corn maze, a petting zoo, and so much more.

Friendly dogs on a leash allowed).

Hunsader Farms 5500 C.R. 675 | Bradenton, FL 34211 October 14-15, 21-22, 28-29 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

FAMILY FRIENDLY Awe, we love the Zoo, especially ZooTampa at Lowry Park.

The animals are so neat and sweet, UNTIL THE BITE YOUR FACE OFF! No, really, the animals won’t bite your face off, but you will have to keep an eye out for elder vampires Count Chirop and his wife, Countess Tera! This venue is honestly for all ages!

ZooTampa’s Creatures of the Night 1101 W. Sligh Avenue | Tampa, FL 33604 Open Fridays and Saturdays in October (a few Sundays too)

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A rabbi, a priest, and two preachers changed the lives of 230 young men, along with an untold number of their family members, in less time than it takes to drink a cup of coffee.

It’s my hope that you will feel like sharing this story with the young people in your life, so that the next generation will understand the importance and meaning of selfless service and sacrifice.

THE RABBI, PRIEST & TWO PREACHERS

By Don Hinst A rabbi, a priest, and two preachers changed the lives of 230 young men, along with an untold number of their family members, in less time than it takes to drink a cup of coffee.

It’s my hope that you will feel like sharing this story with the young people in your life, so that the next generation will understand the importance and meaning of selfless service and sacrifice.

It is late at night, and you are one of 902 passengers crammed onto an old cruise ship designed to carry 314. The luxury cruise ship is now a troop transport traveling through the rough seas of the Atlantic. It is freezing cold, with icy winds slamming against the hull and the faces of you and your shipmates on board. There is barely room to move about, and most passengers are seasick.

Massive ice is weighing down the ship, causing it to move at a snail’s pace of 10 knots.

And it’s World War II. Today is February 3rd, 1943, and you are on the USAT Dorchester traveling in the sea lanes known for German U-boat attacks on any ship in sight. Word has spread that there was a sighting of an enemy periscope. The captain has ordered everyone to sleep in their clothes and life jackets, but you know of

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some buddies sleeping below deck in the hot engine room who have disregarded that order.

There are four chaplains onboard the ship. The oldest, Chaplain Fox, is a Methodist minister who is married with two children; he is also a veteran of World War I. There is Chaplain Goode, who served as a rabbi in a York, Pennsylvania synagogue and is known to be an outstanding scholar and athlete.

Chaplain Poling is the youngest chaplain on board and the seventh generation of Dutch Reform ministers in his family.

Finally, Chaplain Washington is one of nine children born to an Irish immigrant family. He loves music and has a beautiful voice. Chaplain Washington grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and was part of the 12th Street gang before being called to the priesthood.

Everyone on board knows the Chaplains. They spend their time moving throughout the ship, talking, praying, and joking while consoling the troops.

“We are almost there, son, just 150 miles to go.”

February 3rd, 12:55 a.m., a periscope breaks the Atlantic waters. Through the crosshair, an officer aboard German U-Boat 233 spots the Dorchester. The crew on board is ordered to fire a volley of three torpedoes at the American ship.

Out of the darkness, and in the middle of nowhere, comes a massive jolt to the ship as a torpedo strikes the starboard side, amidship, far below the water line. The German aim was decisive and deadly, knocking out power and radio contact with the Dorchester’s escort ships.

The Dorchester’s Captain, Captain Danielson, knows immediately that the ship will founder and gives the order to abandon ship into the deadly water.

There are just twenty minutes before the Dorchester will slip beneath the icy waters of the Atlantic.

Your shipmates reel with panic. There is chaos amidst the fire and death surrounding them. The torpedo blast has killed scores of men, and many more are seriously injured, screaming out in pain and anguish. Those uninjured seem to be walking around in a stupor of shock, groping in the darkness for something to hold on to.

Suddenly, your shipmates from below, who had been sleeping without clothes due to the heat in the engine room, rush topside, where they are blasted with icy arctic air and the knowledge that death awaits them.

In the panic, men jump from the ship into full lifeboats.

All around the ship, lifeboats are capsizing and pouring the panicking men into the frozen sea. The fierceness of the Atlantic takes possession of rafts before men can even board them, the rafts drifting just out of reach.

There is little hope remaining for you or anyone on board.

At 12:55 a.m. on February 3rd, 1943, the bell on the troopship USAT Dorchester rang twice … and never sounded again.

Death seems inevitable, but amidst the pandemonium are the four Army chaplains bringing hope in despair and light in the darkness as they try to calm the frightened soldiers, tend to the wounded, and guide as many as possible toward safety.

It has been said by witnesses to that terrible night that the chaplains could be heard offering prayers for the dying and encouragement for the living. One witness, PVT William Bednar remembers floating in oily water, surrounded by dead bodies and debris.

“I could hear men crying, pleading, and praying,” Bednar recalls. “I could also hear the chaplains, preaching courage.

Their voices were the only thing that kept me going.”

A sailor, Petty Officer John Mahoney, recalls trying to re-enter his cabin before Chaplain Goode stops him. Concerned about the cold Artic air, Mahoney wishes to retrieve his gloves but is told by Chaplain Goode, “Never mind, I have two pairs.” Only later did Mahoney realize the Chaplain never had two pairs.

Instead, he gave Mahoney his only gloves, knowing he would not be leaving the Dorchester.

During the chaos, the chaplains open a storage locker and distribute life jackets. Engineer Grady Clark recalls what follows as an “astonishing sight.”

“When there were no more life jackets to hand out, the chaplains removed their own and gave them to four frightened young men,” Clark shares.

Love was offered freely by these four chaplains regardless of denomination. Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew. Fr. Washington did not call out for a Catholic. Neither did Rev. Fox or Rev. Poling call out for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to those next in line, and in doing so, their only means of survival.

Of the 902 young men on board, 672 made the ultimate sacrifice. This 672 included four men of God: a rabbi, a priest, and two preachers.

They were last seen on the ship’s deck with their arms linked together and their heads bowed in prayer as they went to their watery graves in the North Atlantic off the coast of Greenland.

Only 230 survived. Many survivors owe their lives to the courage, leadership, and selflessness exhibited by these four heroic chaplains, who, by sacrificing their lives, created a unique legacy of brotherhood.

“Valor is a gift,” Carl Sanburg once said. “Those having it never know for sure whether they have it until the test comes.”

In 1944, the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart were awarded posthumously to the chaplains’ next of kin.

In 1961, President Eisenhower awarded a Special Medal of Heroism, a one-of-a-kind award authorized by Congress with the same weight and importance as the Medal of Honor.

It’s been 80 years since these four chaplains from different faiths served together. Their action and selfless service is still fresh and alive in our memory and shared globally.

Do you feel the urge to share this story? Teach the children in your lives about these events and the sacrifices made by the bravest men and women of our nation’s history. Perhaps then they will feel and understand what selfless service on behalf of others truly means, and what it can accomplish.

Don Hinst is the Commander of American Legion Post 108 and Chaplain for American Legion District 15

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VETERAN

By Rich Corson, Veteran Health & Wellness Contributor

Health &

Wellness

I recently started the Warrior Health & Fitness program at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) called Home Base. It is a three-month program free to veterans and their spouses and includes exercise and nutritional support. I decided to participate for my own self-improvement and to understand better what the program entails and offers to the military and veterans so that I can better advise others.

Warrior Health & Fitness aims to empower warriors to take control of their physical well-being by utilizing trainers, registered dieticians, and yoga instructors.

INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM ● CUSTOM FITNESS EVALUATION AND REGIMEN DESIGNS ● NUTRITIONAL CONSULTATIONS AND REGISTERED DIETICIANS ● GROUP EXERCISE CLASSES, INCLUDING SPIN AND YOGA ● 2 PILATES SESSIONS AND ONE 25-MINUTE MASSAGE ● HEALTH EDUCATION, INCLUDING A 3-MONTH FOLLOW-UP PROGRAM ● FREE TRX UPON GRADUATION OR COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAM MY EXPERIENCE The staff are very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful, and they will quickly adjust any exercise should you have an issue doing a particular one. I had some challenges with the bent over-flys because of my back.

It had been a while since I had a steady workout regimen, so I was starting over again. While I wasn’t dying by the end of the first workout, I had that good, tight, slightly achy feeling after a good workout.

I have chosen to take advantage of the two-per-week personal training sessions and workout on my own the other three days using the Home Base app. I can use the app at home or the gym. That is one of the beautiful things about the Home Base program.

I am firming up and slowly losing some weight.

BOTTOM LINE I recommend taking advantage of the TGH Home Base Program!

For more details about this program, visit www.TGH.org.

LTC (R) Richard Corson (Ret.) is President of the Special Forces Association Chapter LX, and Vice President of the Tampa Green Beret Association.

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HOME BASE WARRIOR HEALTH AND FITNESS PROGRAM Courtesy of TGH.ORG TGH and Home Base have teamed up to help heal the invisible wounds of service for Tampa Bay area veterans through physical exercise and healthy habits. Veterans can register today for FREE and start taking advantage of the many programs and benefits.

Tampa General Hospital and Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital program, have formed a partnership to help Tampa Bay area veterans develop healthy ways to build resiliency against post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety through the Home Base Warrior Health & Fitness program.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

The Home Base Warrior Health & Fitness program at Tampa General is open to all veterans, regardless of ability or discharge status. Veterans are required to register in order to participate.

For more information, contact Jamie Fernandez at 305-972-9951 or by email at jfernandez@partners.org

SUPPORT HOME BASE at TGH

If you are interested in learning more about supporting the Home Base Warrior Health & Fitness program at TGH, please contact Evan McCullough at emccullough@tgh.org

ABOUT HOME BASE

Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds for veterans, service members, and their families through world-class clinical care, wellness, education, and research. As a National Center of Excellence headquartered in Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, Home Base operates the largest private-sector clinic in the nation devoted to healing invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, co-occurring substance use disorder, military sexual trauma, and family relationship challenges.

For more information about Home Base, visit www.homebase.org

ABOUT THE TGH FITNESS CENTER

The TGH Fitness Center is located on Tampa General Hospital’s main campus at 1 Davis Blvd. on the third floor. It is outfitted with the latest, internet-accessible exercise equipment, including FreeMotion treadmills, ellipticals, free weights, stationary bikes, and more. TGH Fitness Center locker rooms offer showers, keyless lockers, and towel service.

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S IP

T T

E V

PHISHING

WHAT IS IT & HOW DOES IT WORK?

Phishing is defined as the act of sending an email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization.

The email is usually combined with a threat or request for information: for example, that an account will close, a balance is due, or information is missing from an account. The email will ask the recipient to supply confidential information, such as bank account details, PINs, or passwords. The owners of the website then uses these details to commit fraud.

RULES TO REMEMBER

1. Too Good to be True: Lucrative offers and eye-catching or attention-grabbing statements are

designed to attract people’s attention immediately. For instance, many claim you have won an iPhone, a lottery, or other lavish prize. Never click on any suspicious emails! Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

2. Sense of Urgency: A favorite tactic amongst cybercriminals is to ask you to act fast because the

super deals are only for a limited time. Some will even tell you you have only a few minutes to respond. When you encounter these types of emails, it’s best to ignore them. Sometimes, they will tell you your account will be suspended unless you update your personal details immediately. Most reliable organizations give ample time before terminating an account and never ask patrons to update personal information over the Internet. When in doubt, visit the source directly rather than clicking on a link in an email.

3. Hyperlinks: A link may not be all it appears to be. Hovering over a link shows you the URL you will

be directed to if you click it (usually displayed in the bottom left-hand corner of your browser window).

It could be completely different, or it could be a popular website with a misspelling. For instance, www. bankofarnerica.com – the ‘m’ is actually an ‘r’ and an ‘n’ made to look like an ‘m’. Look carefully!

4. Attachments: If you see an attachment in an email you weren’t expecting or that doesn’t make sense, don’t open it! They often contain payloads like ransomware or other viruses. The only file type that is always safe to click on is a .txt file.

5. Unusual Sender: Whether it looks like it’s from someone you don’t know or someone you do know, if anything seems out of the ordinary, unexpected, out of character, or just suspicious in general, don’t click on it!

HOW DO YOU PREVENT BEING TAKEN IN BY PHISHING EMAILS? Talk to the person who sent the email. Yes, it is that simple. Call them and ask them to verify they did send the email in question. This is particularly important if the email asks for specific information that could potentially damage your organization, or if they are asking for money.

Courtesy of www.MartinSecurityServices.com

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At Stop Soldier Suicide, we believe that no one who has served our country should ever feel alone.

VETERAN FOUNDED. VETERAN LED. VETERAN FOCUSED. U.S. Army veterans Brian Kinsella, Nick Black, and Craig Gridelli co-founded Stop Soldier Suicide in 2010 amid the worst suicide crisis our military has ever seen.

To them, the problem was clear: The systems in place aren’t working. Getting help isn’t as easy as it should be — and trying to navigate a complicated maze of organizations and resources can be overwhelming when you’re in crisis.

Stop Soldier Suicide was built to change that.

Stop Soldier Suicide serves all veterans and service members from every branch.

If you’re a veteran or service member in crisis, please call 844.907.1342

www.stopsoldiersuicide.org