From the treacherous terrains of foreign lands to the intricate pathways of American politics, Colby Jenkins, a former Green Beret, shares his compelling transformation. Our latest guest's story isn't just about changing careers; it's a profound look at how a life dedicated to service can shape one's approach to making a difference on home soil. The candor and insight he brings to our conversation reveal the deep connections between the values honed in the military and those that can redefine political engagement and leadership.
This episode peels back the layers of what effective representation should look like, with Colby championing the cause of the 'little guy.' He stresses the importance of grounding leadership in public service, drawing from his own experiences where teamwork and mutual support were not just nice to have, but critical for survival. Our discussion navigates through the nuances of assembling a capable team in government, just as one would in the military, to address the growing disconnect between elected officials and the American people they serve.
If you enjoy our content, sign up for our Patreon and get access to additional content, bonus episodes, and access each episode before they drop on Spotify or iTunes.
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Produced by Security Halt Media
From the treacherous terrains of foreign lands to the intricate pathways of American politics, Colby Jenkins, a former Green Beret, shares his compelling transformation. Our latest guest's story isn't just about changing careers; it's a profound look at how a life dedicated to service can shape one's approach to making a difference on home soil. The candor and insight he brings to our conversation reveal the deep connections between the values honed in the military and those that can redefine political engagement and leadership.
This episode peels back the layers of what effective representation should look like, with Colby championing the cause of the 'little guy.' He stresses the importance of grounding leadership in public service, drawing from his own experiences where teamwork and mutual support were not just nice to have, but critical for survival. Our discussion navigates through the nuances of assembling a capable team in government, just as one would in the military, to address the growing disconnect between elected officials and the American people they serve.
If you enjoy our content, sign up for our Patreon and get access to additional content, bonus episodes, and access each episode before they drop on Spotify or iTunes.
Patreon: patreon.com/securityhaltpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/securityhalt/
X : https://twitter.com/SecurityHalt
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@security.halt.pod
We greatly appreciate you and your support, so please remember to LIKE, FOLLOW, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE!
Please give Colby Jenkins a follow on all of his social media platforms and if you can donate to his campaign by simply clicking here.
Instagram: colbyforutah
LinkedIn: Colby Jenkins
Website: colbyfotrutah.com
Produced by Security Halt Media
Security help podcast. Let's go.
Speaker 2:I'm sure I'm dealing with an expert in the role of warfare, With a man who's the best With guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore, ignore weather, To live off the land. A job with a disposed enemy personnel To kill period Win by attrition.
Speaker 1:Always like capturing a little bit of the pre-roll. It's good for the Patreon fan base. Get a little bit of the extra stuff. Yeah, colbert Jenkins, welcome, thank you.
Speaker 1:I just got off the phone with a friend of mine talking about the importance of veterans in a political space. I feel that we are the warrior diplomats, especially Green Berets, we have. From the very beginning of our training, we are taught how to speak, how to engage, most importantly, how to listen. Civil discourse is something that we have lost and, colby, I hope that you are the man that can at least help us push back against a noise and divide. So today we're talking about you, my man.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much I really appreciate it and thanks for reaching out and congratulations to you on building this incredible platform that really serves so many of our fellow brothers and sisters. So thank you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Take us from the very beginning. How does a Green Beret find himself throwing his hat in the ring?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, it goes back even before then. I was born and raised in Roosevelt, utah, small town Utah where, through my parents example and just family and friends around me, the importance of service was instilled upon me from an early age. My grandfather, world War II veteran. He was a member of the greatest generation.
Speaker 2:I was surrounded by examples of service to community and to the nation, so I've always known that that's important because I've seen it and lived it now through my own service and through just my military career, both in combat and then later working in Washington DC as a Green Beret liaison, you know I learned that there's a battlefield there too that needs our attention. There are tribal chiefs there, just like the ones I work with in Afghanistan. And so, having that experience and now seeing the state of not only our national security but just leadership in general, and overlaying that with the opportunity that now is present in my district where we really need to repair the current situation, the current member in Congress and I had to throw my hat in the ring, had to challenge. I had to get off the sidelines. I didn't do any good to sit and talk from the sidelines if you're not willing to get in, and so that was the really the tipping point for me to get in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. We tend to always focus on the negative and then we can find ourselves in these echo chambers just championing and spreading lots of negativity and if I was there I would do this and I would do that. But really and truly, when we stop, take a step back and realize like, okay, I've always been a man of action, I've been surrounded by other men and women of action. If I don't like what's happening within my own community, I can change something, I can be of service again and, if you don't mind, take us through that. What was that? What was the last little bit of change where it was like, okay, enough's enough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, great point Like what truly was that tipping point? Well, here in Utah we have what's called a caucus system where people really in their neighborhoods, our neighborhoods can run to be a delegate, and so each precinct or neighborhood produces two state delegates. And so I've been a state delegate for the last few years and tried to just be involved and help with vetting candidates, listen to my neighbor's issues. So I'm filling that responsibility and being involved and then interacting with candidates and seeing how the process produced an unsatisfactory result For me, I knew I couldn't just keep marching in place. My reaction was well, I'll be a good veteran, a good delegate and just help and support people.
Speaker 2:But seeing that we had to truly make a change and there was an opportunity, there is an opportunity to make a change and I knew that if I went to this April's State Convention as a delegate again and was sitting in the audience and viewing the options that we may have, I would have no one to blame but myself. You know I had to and, as you know, we are taught as quiet professionals to let our actions speak louder than our words, and so that's really. I'm trying to practice what I've been taught, what I've had to preach in other nations with Hulse Nation partners. So that was really the tipping point for me. If I stay the course and just kind of participate from the sidelines and we still have an unsatisfactory result, then I can't blame anyone else but myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's absolutely the truth. But going into politics, I have to imagine yeah, it's not kinetic, there's nobody shooting at you. Exactly, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, depending on where you're at.
Speaker 1:But there is a sense of going back to give more of yourself to others and not having the ability to just dedicate yourself to your own life, to your own family. Was that a hard and difficult choice to like sit down and speak with your family, your wife, your kids, and say, hey, I think I can be a better service and it's going to require a little bit less time at home. What was that like for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, it definitely is a family decision and I am fortunately married to a Greenbury wife.
Speaker 2:I'm married up by all means, and so my wife is tremendously supportive and resilient, and we are fortunate in this stage of this season of our lives. Our two daughters are now in college, so they've flown the nest and are building their lives, and so it's the opportunity to now serve and be away from home, if you will, and not be at Saturday swim meets and practices. We have a little bit more flexibility now where we can serve in greater capacity, but without the support of my wife and her constant encouragement, this wouldn't be possible. So I'm blessed to have three strong women in my life that have whether it's when my girls were little, they've been great supports, and now that they're young adults, it's likewise fun to have their support in this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we tend to forget what a big factor family plays in our life. Whether we're still running and gunning in uniform or whatever we do, family plays a huge role. Now more than ever, that seems to be a lost thing. You know, when we're coming out of service we're trying to get back that time and I think culturally we've shifted and there's a lot of messages being funneled towards us. I'm like, yeah, don't worry about it, family's not that important, it's more about you. It's more about you.
Speaker 1:And I feel a lot of us in the veteran space and the active duty, in the first responder space, we're the first ones to kind of combat that where it's like no family is important, being a father is important. How do we champion that again? How do we shift that and promote those ideas? Because we're turning into a culture that really truly only values the self, yourself, your achievements, what you can go off and do, and I think that as leaders we have to understand that Like no, we have to be able to champion family. We have to be able to champion putting the importance and being a good man at home and at work.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it begins with example. You have to practice what you preach. If I'm not living those values and trying to learn from my mistakes, I'll be the first to say I'm not a perfect husband or perfect father or brother. I come with my own bumps and bruises, but I've quickly learned that it's more important to say I'm sorry than to say listen to me. So I think it begins with making sure it has to be deliberate too. You can't just casually think that, oh, my relationship with my wife or my kids is great. They know that I love them. Well, do they? Are you deliberately spending having a date night with your wife? Are you deliberately making sure that those important connections exist instead of just assuming that they know or hoping that it happens? So I think we have to be deliberate in building and maintaining those family relationships and certainly, as a member of Congress, recognizing that I'm first accountable to my family before anyone else and that my actions and my votes should be true to that, will go a long ways also.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now, I've never been to Utah. It's on my bucket list. I did live for a long time in Colorado, so it's like cousin state to us. Yeah, yeah. What are some unique issues that you see that Utah's facing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, great, great question. Utah is certainly it used to be America's best kept secret, but we are now fast growing. I think when COVID hit and people said, well, let's go travel and see the country, that's when Utah got exposed, with our beautiful national parks and just great country. People came and visited and realized, well, we want to stay, and so we are. Our county, where I live specifically in Southern Utah, is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation and so people are truly coming here because of our conservative values, the safety and security that they feel, just the natural resources that are around us.
Speaker 2:So issues that me as a federal member have to worry about is making sure that I protect those protects what makes us America's best kept secret, and a lot of issues here to us are our land issues.
Speaker 2:We have a lot of federal land that the federal government pulls tight and carves away from public use or they restrict rancher rights or farmers or our agriculture or just tourism as well. So for me, I have to truly be that firewall between the federal government and local government and making sure that that federal overreach doesn't take away from our land rights and, more importantly, our water rights. Here we do, after all, live in a desert here in Southern Utah and we're vastly growing, and so we have to the water plans and systems that our leaders are putting into place. We have to make sure that, for example, california isn't sucking more of its share from the Colorado River basin than they should, because that affects all of us that really live off of the Colorado River basin. So I have to be myself and my team will be highly attuned to making sure we protect our district from that federal overreach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's crazy to me that agriculture is one of the most important aspects of any state and when you look at higher education and some of the things that we promote and talk about is really demonizing the cattle and just demonizing agriculture as the industry that takes the water, the industry that creates the most waste. But I'm like, hey guys, less than 1% of our population feeds the rest, and that, to me, is insane, and we've lost sight of what it means to be a provider, what it means to go out to work and produce the food that the rest of us depend on, and that is something that is vital. And they need protection. They need people that are willing to stand up for them, because when you go to these for example, if you go to a bio class right now at Arizona State, you will learn all the horrible things that agriculture does, but they'll quickly promote the growth of soy and a vegan lifestyle. But the reality is, the most important thing in your diet is protein, and I know Colorado, lots of ranchers, and I would imagine the same thing for Utah and these are people who need protection. These are people that need some top cover.
Speaker 1:How do you go into the federal government and look out for the little guy. I think that there's parallels there, because when we deployed Afghanistan and Iraq as Green Berets, we're all about understanding the cultural implications of big, broad approaches, of big operations. We have to be the ones that go in their massage and talk to the leaders on the ground. I feel like there's some parallels there. In Washington.
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure. Thanks for mentioning how we have to protect it. It's almost like the military In our agricultural industry we may take them for granted until we truly need them. We realize the value that they provide. And you can't spin it up overnight. You can't our soft fundamentals, you can't create a special operations soldier overnight. Mass produce, it takes time, Absolutely, it takes attention. So how to protect that? And back to our unconventional warfare experience. It requires those personal relationships, those personal connections.
Speaker 2:I, as a representative, have to remember who hired me. I am not trying or seeking to be a politician, I'm seeking to be a public servant. I'm an employee of the people that hire me. So I serve at their pleasure. So if I lose that connection to the farmers and ranchers in my district, if I lose keeping their issues top of mind, then I shouldn't be their employee. They should hire me.
Speaker 2:And so for me it's making sure, truly recognizing I'm only one person. So that means I have to build that A team. And I had someone ask me you know what's your? That's going to be your first priority when you get to DC. And you know I might start it swirling. But then I've really settled on why I can't do anything until I build my A team. I have to build a competent staff that's empowered by me, that are fighters, that will always be on the rescue for those that hired us, and so that's how we will look out for, you know, the little people, if you will, because to me there's no one little or bigger than the other. They're all equal employers that have hired me, and I need to treat them the same.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I'm so glad you said that. Public servant, public service you are there to support and promote what your constituents sent you there to do yeah, what the people need you to do on their behalf. But we've forgotten that we. We've forgotten that when, when we look at our a lot, not all of them but when we look at some of the individuals we've elected to office, it feels like we have tyrants. It feels like we have people that have been empowered for eons and they're only promoting and advancing things that are beneficial to their end state and that, and that's the. And then you know the old saying perception is reality. Maybe it's not that way, but it certainly feels that way. And how do we change that? How do we get back to the understanding that when we look at a politician, we can see them as a public servant?
Speaker 2:How do we change that view? Yeah, great question Cause I am. As I've been getting into this process, I am certainly learning the good and the bad, from fundraising to trying to get national level support, to bumping up against the establishment who wants to just keep encircling. You know, they don't want to let the, they don't want to bring added sunshine or or magnification of the current process. So how do we change it? Well, we can't change it from the outside, we have to get in, and and so, for me, I'm fighting my way into the G base right now the gorilla base Like like we learned in the early days of of our special forces career, we we can't affect change unless we first get in the base and then build those relationships of trust.
Speaker 2:And I had someone tell me a family member actually say well, yeah, you're just going to be one voice. You know there are 435 congressmen, you're just going to be one voice. And my response to that is you're damn right, I'll be one voice, and then there will be two and three, and maybe I'll be a freshman member initially. But but I can still be a voice and and with today's social media and the access that we have to the world, I will, I will magnify that voice so that my constituents that I'm directly responsible for can can hold me accountable and and and also separately. You know my, my phone doesn't pull. Probably every day I get messages from old soldiers, old friends, who say I want to be your driver or I want to be I'm in your foxhole with you because I'm going to keep you grounded. You know, I want to make sure you remember the service than who you are. So I have no shortage of accountability partners to help me in that regard. But yeah, we can't change it unless we get in get in the arena, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, that's a beauty of this. I'm starting to see more, and especially within our community, guys are throwing their hat in the ring and that is a good thing, because what I feel and this is just my opinion it takes a Real leader to make change. Now I can canvas, I can go to college, I can rally support that's popular and I can sell people on ideas, but Then I get into elected office, then I'm just a shell of a person. They just got there because of popularity contest. I don't have the years of real leadership, and that doesn't mean that normal everyday civilians can't be leaders within their government.
Speaker 1:What I am saying is Somebody with 10, 15, 20 years of service, that has seen combat, that has had to really lead and come from a place of humble leadership and be of servant leadership, has a lot to provide to the rest of our nation and we we need to promote that. We need more individuals. So how do we incentivize or how do we talk? Are we engage and Really bring more veterans into government? Yeah, how do we empower them? Because that's something that it's a beautiful thing that when you can see somebody of your Background, somebody did the same things you did and they achieve the impossible they take on Tests are larger than life. That empowers them. Just seeing you being willing to do that, that gives us hope and gives us the inspiration to say you know what, if he can do it, if cool with Jenkins can do it, maybe I can do it. Oh, how do we promote that?
Speaker 2:everywhere else? Yeah, no, thank you. Well, but it begins with with people like you, exactly by taking these messages, providing these glimmers of of hope or planning ideas that people can, whether it's running for Congress or hey, I'm just gonna get involved in my PTA, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go to a city council meeting and be involved and and understand what issues are at play At the national level. What, what really? Back to your one of your early questions what was the catalyst for me? One of my, my mentors and friends, scott Mann, who I got to know in special forces.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was on Fox News over Veterans Day and one of his messages was hey, no one else is coming like when we look at the world burning, when we look at the state of our country, as veterans, we can't just sit back and what and hope that things will get better, because no one else is coming like. There's enough a knight in shining armor riding over on a white horse To save the day. And so us, as veterans, have to truly recognize that hey, no one else is coming to fix this. And and our experience is needed now more than ever. And and unfortunately Sometimes, as veterans, I think we, we, we have no problem living for our country, but harder time living for ourselves and our family, like we can step in and fight and serve, but but when, when we take off that uniform, it's a little bit more trickier for us to figure out how can we serve Because we've lost that brotherhood or that connection, and so for me it's recognizing that you know, no one else is coming. We have to step in.
Speaker 2:And I learned something Back in the late 70s, early 80s, the level of veteran experience in Congress was upwards, approaching 70% of all members of Congress had some Form of you know, coming out of Vietnam, and then certainly older veterans from the Korean War. There was some measure of a military experience and the that correlated almost directly to the approval rating of Congress From the public, and it's interesting that nowadays we have Almost in the 10% range of veteran experience in Congress. And look at the approval rating of Congress. It doesn't mean that more veterans the happier and the better Congress will be, but that that that different experience and the and the Different lenses that come to look at national security decisions Take on a greater impact from people who've actually lived it and had to execute.
Speaker 1:Exactly the idea. There's a misconception. People and I combat it all the time people tend to think that because we were soft professionals, because we're in a military, we're the first ones that want to champion and promote going going into a war and that is Going to be further from the truth yeah it's the opposite.
Speaker 1:We understand what it takes to be a warrior, what it takes to dedicate yourself to a life of Violence measured violence and being a diplomat in a foreign country. We understand the importance of it. We understand that we don't live in a world where it's just happiness and great abundance. There are some horrible, evil things out there, but the beauty of our lived experiences. We understand that Sometimes it is better for diplomacy to take lead and we're seeing it right now.
Speaker 1:Like you said, there's not a lot of military experience in those offices. It is really easy to see the emotion. You can dial it in on Fox or MSNBC, both sides. Yes, it's emotion, it's Calling for action, but in the worst way there's not enough of common sense and critical thinking in these and and in these offices and people don't understand it. The best individuals serve that could be of service to us on our veterans and I know I was guilty of it. You get out and you see the negativity. You're like I don't want anything to do with that world, I don't want to champion or voice anything, I just want to leave it alone. But just like you said and Scott Mann said, if we pick up the phone to call 911 for the state of our country. The phone that rings is going to be the phone of your friends, the other soft professionals, because it's us.
Speaker 1:If we want our nation to be better, it's veterans that have to take action. Same with the veteran suicide crisis, same with the veteran unemployment crisis. We are the ones that can think and solve these issues. We just have to be proactive. We have to be willing to engage and be willing to put our hat in the ring, be willing to say, hey, you know what, I have an idea. I, I have. I have an idea, the beginning of a concept. Let's get some funding, let's develop something, and we need to have more in that. Within your own group, colby, do you have a group at your, your core group of individuals that you talked to, and what are those conversations when that occur, when you're like, hey, you know what, I have an idea, I have something that I want to do. What do you lean on? Because I have a feeling that nobody gets to where they're going in government unless you have a supportive group of friends.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, thank you.
Speaker 2:It all begins at home, sitting across the dinner table with my wife and talking about I had had some travel over the past few days.
Speaker 2:And getting home last night and just sitting and catching up with my wife and Sharing what I've, what I've learned over the last few days, asking her what she's done, and so it begins there.
Speaker 2:Having that, that trust at the home, on the home front, yeah, and then now, in terms of my campaign efforts, I have a full-time staff that's helping manage my schedule and my engagements and they Know they this isn't their first campaign rodeo, so I'm I'm able to able to lean on them and I'm able to just speak kind of raw, the passion that I feel and what I want To do, and then they can help me, help me sharpen it, help me be concise and crisp and clear and Help channel that passion in a way that can resonate with, with people who who were trying to connect with and certainly I, just over my military career I've both senior senior officers and and and sergeants that I worked with to this day remain trusted mentors and friends.
Speaker 2:So I can I keep them abreast of what we're doing and where I'm going, and then I get their feedback, a candid feedback, and so those are, and then and then, ultimately, it's my faith. You know, I've born and raised in as a, as a Christian, and and recognize that it all Begins and ends there and that I have to and that's the beauty of being Having faith, as you can learn and make mistakes and grow, but also have compassion and empathy For people who may see the world just a little bit differently than you. That doesn't make them bad. It just means we have to. We have to work to understand their perspective, but not compromise on our own principles as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, thank you for saying that because, like, I talk about a lot After a career in soft, so I likelihood that you're gonna come out of it worse than when you entered it. And in my own experience, it's the mind, body and spirit that have to be healed, that you have to work on. And Once you develop those tools, once you develop your path of what keeps you together, you keep it going and you talk about it and you promote it. But the one that's really hard to talk about, now more than ever spirit, is faith. Being able to say I'm Christian, I'm Catholic. It plays a huge factor in our lives, both in uniform and out of uniform, and once we're able to embrace it and talk about it openly, it becomes empowering as a man of faith. How has that helped you in this grand task that you're trying to achieve?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's my foundation, upon which I've built my family, my personal relationships and my profession, because it all traces back to there. One example comes to top of mind where I've learned the importance of that. I remember on a particular deployment some things were happening. I don't drink or smoke or really try to live a cleaner life the best I can. I certainly have made mistakes, but not perfect. But I remember my good old team sergeant pulled me aside one time and said you know, sir, we're glad that you're our team leader and not our team mascot. We need you to be our team leader, don't worry about missing out on that other stuff, because we're glad that you're our team leader and not just one of the guys you know, just our mascot. So that always resonated with me and made me think back. Oh man, I wish I'd have been a little bit straighter on different decisions, but it's helped me stay grounded that my example matters. I don't know what I do matters good and bad. Am I being a team leader or am I being a mascot?
Speaker 1:That is such a powerful, powerful story. It can be very hard for young officers to find their footing in special forces because it is attractive to try to be the guy that's at the bars, at the parties, but at the end of the day and that's for every teammate, everybody you don't have to sacrifice what your values are to be part of a team. I know that now, having lived it and I realized the teammates that were strong in their faith, the teammates that were strong in their family values. They never waver. They never had as tough a time as we did on the way back, dealing with moral injury or PTSD and things like that. And I now understand it.
Speaker 1:Haven't come back, haven't done my own journey and realized like, oh man, there's a powerful pillar we could have all been leaning on, holy cow, yeah, and it's just a beautiful thing to promote and understand Like, hey, we're not perfect, not perfect at all. But now that you know how helpful something can be, there's nothing wrong with championing it For sure. And I feel that we've gotten really scared and that's why I've talked about it a lot more openly and say it's okay to talk about faith, it's okay to champion what helps you in your path. It's not for everybody, but hey, if it helps me, I want to promote it and I'm glad you brought it up, I'm glad you're willing to share that, because I think that it's something that a lot of people don't like to embrace because it's like, oh well, then I'm going to be put off from this side. It's like no, yeah, no, we are men of action, we are amazing individuals and faith is a huge component of that. I agree.
Speaker 2:And for me it serves as a rally point. And my teammates, certainly I've seen my faults and seen my mistakes, and I'll be the first to say I'm not perfect but having my faith serves as a rally point to where, when I do get off course or I do make mistakes, I know where I need to. Just like in our combat operations, we have rally points that we can rally to. If something goes haywire, at least we have rally points identified to that we can literally rally at that point and regroup and then fight on for another day, fight on to the next day, and so, as I've made mistakes, as I've learned, I've been able to have that anchor, that rally point to get me back on course and then make new mistakes. Just not the same ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, we're not perfect individuals. We're going to make mistakes. When I look at our current state and in the way we are as a nation, I see us so divided. I see people that aren't willing to engage, aren't willing to talk. What are some things that you feel we can do as leaders as you move forward and hopefully get elected? What are some things that we can do to start reaching across the aisle, to start talking to each other again?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hearken back to those experiences sitting in dry riverbeds in Afghanistan and looking across to grizzly, chiseled old moulas who've had no reason to trust me or want to work with me other than maybe get food and water. But I had to earn their trust by being present. I had to earn their trust by listening to what was important to them, sifting through the bogus requests or problems, but listening so that when we needed their support or we needed intelligence, we could trust them. That would never happen by just snapping our fingers. I had to go to those mud huts and drink that awful green tea and eat whatever they were putting in front of me. I had to go on their ground on their turf, I think in similar in Columbia, working with really grumpy, distrustful Colombian colonels who they didn't want a young, spick green beret breathing down their neck. They had to. You know what are you going to bring to me? I had to demonstrate my value. I had to earn their trust and eventually that happened and we had successful operations.
Speaker 2:For me, those soldier experiences are directly relative to Capitol Hill because there are tribal leaders there. I have to go to where they're at to understand their perspective, but not compromise on my mission and find ways that we can both win. It doesn't have to be by when you lose. There has to be a way that we can both win and move the country forward together, not leaving. It's not a zero sum game, if you will. There are times where, as for me, my approach is when I think of how I'm going to vote. I either vote out of fear or on principle. I'm going to vote on principle, and sometimes that may mean that my perspective, our side of the aisle, just as principle. We have to vote that way, and it may mean that we burn some temporary bridges. More often than not, we've got to build those bridges and find ways that we can both win to move things forward. Right now, that doesn't seem to be the case as much.
Speaker 1:No, you said it right. No matter what news station you turn into, no matter who you're listening or watching, it's a back and forth of hate and discontent and just constantly putting each other down. If you're left leaning, you're an idiot. If you're right leaning, you're a hateful idiot. It is so polarized A lot of us have decided to just walk away and decided to just not tune in, not listen to it, but then it takes us out of the game. If we're not willing to vote, if we're not willing to engage in politics, then there's certainly no hope of going forward to a better United States of America. There's certainly no hope for getting back to a place where we feel that we're united, going forward. How do you make those daily changes at work? How do you promote unity and connection rather than just constantly just letting the problems walk by? What are some things that you can do at your level?
Speaker 2:It would begin with that A team that I'm going to build, making sure that we have a culture of compassion and empathy and principle, that every one of their interactions, anyone that walks into our office, needs to feel welcome, needs to be heard, needs to be valued, that we remember our place, if you will, that everyone that walks in as a constituent is an employer.
Speaker 2:They've hired us. And so I think, just making sure my team, those that I'm responsible for, maintain that attitude of public service, will ensure that we listen, that we learn, that we stand on principle and not the other way around. That we are there to be served, that the people are coming to see us no, they're coming because they're checking on us, we work for them. And so, I think, just being mindful of our place in this process and then, at the end of the day, no matter what side or the spectrum you sit on, recognizing that we are all Americans, this is our country, and if we tear each other down, we're only hurting ourselves. Nobody's going to win if we all end up in the burn barrel.
Speaker 2:We just weaken ourselves because, as you noted earlier, there is true evil in the world, and they want nothing more than to see us eat each other alive. They'll be happy to sit back and watch us do that, and then they'll swoop in as we're compromised and accomplish their goals. So you and I have seen that evil, and unfortunately, too many Americans just kind of appreciate that People have nothing. Those that wish us harm have nothing but time, and they will weigh us out, and so we have to be strong together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to hit on something you just said that I talk about a lot. A lot of people see a Green Beret, ranger, navy Seal, any soft professional, and they immediately want somebody that's going to talk about violence, of action, forceful movements. The reality is, as you age and you progress in your career, you understand the value of emotional intelligence, being kind, being compassionate, being somebody that's not quick to react but respond, and that is something that's missing. How do we coach our non-military government officials? How do we bring that into the political spectrum? How do we promote the importance of compassion? Because it's really hard to be compassionate when somebody is just spewing hateful things to you and being really, really hurtful and we see that in the attacks, we see that in the political ads. It's something that is the most unbelievably just horrible thing to see every election cycle, the propaganda that gets spewed back and forth. And how do you prepare yourself for these assaults on your own character?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well to the first part, how we can help us be kind of that more compassionate environment or culture. It goes back to our soft truths, the soft perspective that we work by, with and through our host nation partners. So we're working by them, with them and then through them, not in a way that we're using them, but through them because we're now at the hip. We're doing it together. We build capacity together. We're not unilateral in our efforts, especially as Green Berets. That's why we're just 12 man teams that can drop in, drop into Columbia and plug in with a battalion and now amplify and build capacity. As just 12 guys, we make that battalion even more lethal, more ready, more, and then they can do it. We work ourselves out of a job.
Speaker 2:Essentially, we don't want to keep coming back and fighting the same fight over and over again, so as if having attacking issues with that kind of mindset and then back to what our formal model is. We are the quiet professionals. There's a reason that our insignia is the crossed arrows. They're not crossed flamethrowers or bazookas. You know an arrow hits its target and we don't even know where it came from. It just target up, target down. There doesn't need to be fanfare or a big boom. We just want to make sure that the mission's accomplished the best way possible, and whoever gets a credit gets a credit. We just want to accomplish the mission.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah, now we have a mindful of our time. I don't want to take too much of your time, but before I let you go, I just want to hear what are some of your role models when it comes to taking on this task? What are some of the people or some of the great authors that you lean on for guidance? I know that for myself like being able to look back and realize that a lot of the same issues we're dealing with are issues that some of the great thinkers dealt with themselves. So being able to read that knowledge and be able to say, hey, you know what I'm not doing too bad. Who are some teachers and some authors that you lean on?
Speaker 2:Great question. Yeah, because history always repeats itself. It seems like Back in the days of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. They were going at it in the press and tearing each other down but then ended up being lifelong friends. And here we are doing the same.
Speaker 2:For me, as I know people who come to mind outside of my family, of course, in my faith I think back to Abraham Lincoln, and there's a book called Team of Rivals written about how he won, and then he built his cabinet around people he ran against, like his secretary of state was his arch rival.
Speaker 2:Essentially, he built a team of rivals because they were the experts in their fields and he knew that in order for him to be the best leader possible, he had to bring people in who had expertise that he did not have, because he recognized I have blind spots, but I don't need to be afraid of my rivals, let's work together, and so I've taken great learning from just Lincoln's example in that regard and then how he stood strong when our nation was tearing itself apart and was able to keep us together. I also looked to Ronald Reagan. I was just actually listening to his first inaugural press conference a couple days ago, because there was such a strident moment. When he started his presidency, we had Americans who were hostage in Iran. The Iranians had seized our embassy and under Jimmy Carter, the Iranians basically said yeah, whatever. But when the day that Reagan stepped into office, magically our hostages were released and Iran said oh never mind, we're good no harm no foul.
Speaker 2:And so that change in leadership, that example that leadership matters, that your word matters.
Speaker 2:It's not because Reagan came in saying I'm going to bomb the world, but the world knew that if they were going to mess with Americans, there was going to be a price to pay, because we are a deterrent, and so having leaders that can truly manifest leadership and build coalitions of trust have been important to me.
Speaker 2:Closer to home, for many years, general Doug Brown used to be the commander of SOCOM in my early days. He's been a great role model and mentor to me, not only just professionally but personally. There really hasn't been a time where I engage with him where he hasn't asked about my wife or my daughters. He cares about me as a person before a soldier, and so I've tried to emulate that as well. People who take the time to get to know those that they work with and lead as people first, before a title or a label those are characteristics that I appreciate in leaders as well, yeah, that's one of the greatest things, and you'll always remember that there isn't one commander, whether it was at the battalion level, group level or team level, that I will ever forget.
Speaker 1:Once they made that personal connection and they continued, and it could be years before you saw him again and I experienced that myself. Shout out to Blake wherever you are, I haven't seen that guy in decades, see him again, and it wasn't like we had never stopped talking and had that immediate connection. I'm like, and you walk away understanding that some people are born and molded to be great leaders and that is their true calling. Before I, let you go a few seconds to talk to the people of Utah and give them your sales pitch, let them know what you're there to do for them. Well, thank, you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so for me, for nearly more than 30 years now. 30 years ago, I first raised my hand to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and those 30 years have carried me through combat. I've been active duty, I've now been in the Guard and Reserve and had the opportunity to serve in Washington DC and in the corporate world, so that 30 years of experience have now enabled me to be a better servant for those in our district, and so I hope to take that rounded experience in leadership, judgment and accountability for the good of those that I seek to represent here in our district of Utah. No, I'm a Utah native. I'm born and raised here. I own a home in our district.
Speaker 2:I am truly vested in the interests of my neighbors because I'm one of them and I've been blessed to have some unique experiences that I hope will now be able to best serve my friends and neighbors here in our district, and I invite everyone to that's hearing this to join us, to take a look at us, to join our A-Team. My website is Colby4Utah F-O-R. Utah, and we'd welcome you to the A-Team any day, because we are fighting the establishment, we're fighting Washington DC money and it's going to take all of us to overcome that. So I appreciate your vote and your time. So thank you, danny, for this opportunity and keep up the good work those people like you that keep moving that needle in the positive direction. So thank you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Like I always like to say is we get through this together. We didn't make it through Iraq or Afghanistan or any of those down south deployments by ourselves, contrary to what you see in Rambo and in Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. It's the team that makes it through there. It's the platoon, it's the squad, it's the company, it's the squadron. We get through this together.
Speaker 1:So, when we want to hide and just tweet and post in our negative echo chamber, persist that urge. Be willing to throw your hat in the ring, be willing to take on the impossible challenge of changing things in your country, because guess what? Men and women have done it before and we can do it again. We just have to believe in ourselves, believe in the American experiment and understand it for what it is. The real America is not an institution made of buildings and states. It's the people, it's the people, and together we can get through this.
Speaker 1:Thanks again for coming on, colby. It's an absolute pleasure. I will be rooting for you and cheering you on and if you ever need anything, please reach out. And to all of you that are listening, thank you and we'll see you next time, take care. Thank you, if you like what we're doing and you enjoying the show, don't forget to share us. Like us, subscribe and head on over to our Patreon, where you can be part of our community and get access to all of our episodes as soon as they drop. And remember we get through this together, take care.