Episode 173: Team Room Confidential with Green Beret LTC (R) Perry Blackburn

 On this episode of our "Team Room Confidential" segment we bring out the big guns! Retired Green Beret LTC Perry Blackburn! His  life story embodies resilience and the power of transformation. From the intensity of combat to the thrills of semi pro football, Perry unveils the unvarnished challenges of donning the civilian hat after years of military service. His narrative is a rich tapestry of camaraderie, character, and the relentless pursuit of a purposeful existence. Discover how Perry's indomitable spirit is testament to the ethos of our nation's finest warriors, and how the lessons learned in the theater of war can redefine success in peace.
 
 In this candid conversation, Perry tackles the weighty themes of character and networking, unraveling the importance of reputation and the struggle to maintain core values amidst societal shifts. He sheds light on the veteran's quest for meaningful employment and the critical need to ask for help and build connections. Listen in as Perry articulates the significance of leadership and integrity in shaping a more ethical world. His poignant insights offer a guiding light for those navigating the often-turbulent waters of career transition, reinforcing that the essence of who we are is reflected in how we lead and serve others.

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Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:01

security hot podcast let's go 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.

Speaker 1: 0:19

Job was disposed of enemy personnel to kill period with my attrition, always have an 18 echo with you always that in the delta.

Speaker 2: 0:32

Worthless as team sergeants, but, man, when you need them, they're there you said it, holy shit.

Speaker 1: 0:42

oh, I couldn't think of a better way to start this episode. Right there, the truth. Perry Blackburn. Welcome to the show man.

Speaker 1: 0:51

You are quite the prolific Green Beret. I mean going back all the way to your time on the Legion, being there when our nation needed us the most. You were part of the contingent of Green Berets that responded and then you didn't let life slow you down. You've done amazing things Semi-professional ball, yeah. You founded companies, been an entrepreneur and now you're running afgfreeorg. One of the great things about this project is being able to reach out to our soft veterans and ask them for their information, for their guidance of how they made that transition from Green Beret to successful entrepreneur, successful business owner, to being successful on the other side. Because, just like our creed says, live to succeed again. Our mission isn't over once we retire. It starts right back up. You're always earning that Green Beret. So, perry, today I just want to go back through your life and talk us through how you found yourself not only in the regiment but being able to be successful again on the outside.

Speaker 2: 1:54

So I would say, first off, we all have our challenges with that, especially when we transition out. Challenges with that, especially when we transition out. I mean, I don't know anybody yet that has done it easily.

Speaker 2: 2:11

Like you know, everything worked out for them. You know, yeah, maybe it worked out professionally, but personally there might have been some issues. Yeah, and I think for me and many of us it stems from the fact that, I mean, let's be honest, you're around some of the best people in the world for a large part of your life and then they're gone, and it doesn't really matter if you're an officer or enlisted. It's how you buy into the regiment, what you buy into the brotherhood, what is your stock in that. And for me it was all in. You know, like Texas Hold'em brother, I'm all in on this whole Green Beret thing, and that means that you have to develop those personal relationships. And so when that was gone for me, uh, I struggled with that. I was like I was trying to find that like-minded association of folks so we could, we could do shit together and we could, you know, make some powerful impact. And that didn't happen right away. It was like, no, that did not happen for me.

Speaker 2: 3:25

So but over time I, you know, I found that soft spot where I was able to still maintain my contacts, still have a professional life, try to figure out my personal life and kind of put them all together. But that transition takes a little bit I mean it does. And I talk to folks all the time, especially guys that reach out to me on LinkedIn or social media and they like what I'm doing and so they want to know how did that happen? And I tell them, you know, straight up, there may be a period of time that you're struggling with that, but just like on a team, you know team struggle you've got to move through that and try to find that end state that you're really looking for and bring those like-minded people along with you. And one thing I found in the civilian sector, which I don't think I really saw much in the army or as a green beret, is there's people out there that really don't want you to succeed.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:30

Yep, I mean, it's strange to think of that, but it's, it's a true statement and they'll do. You know they'll be very negative and you know. So you have to. You have to be careful with that. You know, get shed it, shed the negativism and, and you know, move forward to do the positive things that you want to do. That, um, like playing football. Like who the hell knew that I was gonna play football at 52 years of age? You know, it's like everybody's like, are you nuts? Like yeah, yeah, I'm a Green Beret, I'm a little nuts, holy shit. Fifty two, yeah, man, I strapped those pads on. I was like, let's get it on, brother.

Speaker 1: 5:12

Well, I mean, when you look at it, when you put it in the grand scheme of things, like it, that's, that's nothing. That's nothing compared to putting on a rock and going out to the wilds of Afghanistan and moving for hours and miles and miles after miles.

Speaker 2: 5:27

I totally agree. And it's, you know, something I've always loved doing. I've always loved playing football, and it goes right back to the camaraderie of being around like minded folks. You know, you're on a football team, you're on a team again, and so that whole team thing for me is very important. I had a guy actually, it was actually a general officer. We were talking and he asked me he goes well, why did you become a Green Beret? And I said you know, I never really thought about it until I wasn't a Green Beret anymore. And then the things that I'm doing now, I believe, is why I became a Green Beret, Because those attributes and characteristics of being in the regiment and being part of the community is what's helped me to have any modicum of success that I have. Absolutely, Absolutely. That's what has allowed me to have some success.

Speaker 1: 6:30

It's so true, we have to understand that the uniform comes off, but the values, the hard learned lessons, we don't shed those. We don't shed that part of the identity. You're not going back in the team room once you ETS, like that's understandable. But everything that made you successful as a Green Beret, as a soft professional, that's coming with you, that's coming in the ditty move brother. That's coming with you wherever you go if you choose to take it. Yeah, and that's a reality of it. It's understanding that, hey, some things I got to let go and I'm not going to be bitter about it, I'm not going to be sad about it. I'm going to be able to move forward and take all those attributes. What made you successful through selection, the Q course and deployment after deployment, is still ingrained in you. It's still part of you.

Speaker 2: 7:19

Yeah, I couldn't, couldn't agree more. And I think some folks lose that and I I mean I'll be honest, let's, let's look at some of our you know geos and other people that make it to you know esteemed levels of our bureaucracy, um, and they forget the character that was woven into them when they were in the regiment or they were in the military and they they lose sight of what built your character, what helped built your character or exploit your character, however you want to look at it was that hard, tough regiment of what it was like to be with again, you know great amer Americans doing great things and pushing each other, and so that to me I found even more so on the outside. That's why we're having this conversation. I mean, you wouldn't call me up and say, hey, let's have a conversation if I was a dirt bag, right?

Speaker 1: 8:23

I mean, I could have as much success in the world.

Speaker 2: 8:27

But if I didn't have good character or if I didn't have a good reputation, if I didn't maintain what I learned, just like you spoke to, then why have a conversation with me? Because who really, at the end of the day, gives a shit about a person like that? Yeah, so that's important to me too. I mean, and that should be important to all of us as we move forward in our lives and you know, we're gonna make mistakes, we're gonna get scuffed up. It's life, life will scuff you up, but that's exactly where your character is exposed so that you then can do yourself a better persona, a better character, and do better things in life. And I see it all the time that people forget that.

Speaker 1: 9:13

Yeah, it's one of the things where we get out and we're almost conditioned, reconditioned, by a culture and a society that doesn't mirror what we were around every single day. And it's like, hey, man, like, just because the culture's shifting, just because now you're surrounding by a lot different characters, are a little less, you know, reputable, doesn't mean you have to take on those characteristics. You're still a person, a man of quality, a man of like mission, essential, like purpose. Retain that, be willing to hold on to that and don't get dissuaded. It's easy to get dissuaded by what we see in today's world and it's just going back to that hard work, even when no one's looking, maintaining those values. Yeah, it's not admirable to some people, but the people that really matter are going to look to you for guidance and for that exemplary leadership. It's still important, it's just right now. It's a counterculture.

Speaker 2: 10:13

It is man and you know we all say it all the time it's like what kind of world am I living in? But it's the world that I believe needs us even more to stand firm on our characteristics, our character, our beliefs, our values, our morals. And so it kind of guides other folks in that direction because, you know, we hear guys contact me all the time and they're struggling. I always take time, man. I always take time to talk to whomever is out there and just kind of help them work through some of these challenges that they have, and a lot of it is. You know society today. I mean, look at hiring, for example. Most companies are looking for the right fit. And what does that fit mean to that company? Well, we saw what it meant to Bud Light, for example.

Speaker 2: 11:09

Just an example, that shit went south quick. Well, you have people that are on the other side of that spectrum, that would like a job working in that environment, but they're no longer appropriated. They don't want that type of person. But I think we're starting to see now a shift in corporate America where they are seeing that the bottom line is you got to make money in your company I mean, you got to make money to feed people, to hire people, to have the business that you want and you got to have the right. You have to have those people. Even they may not be a right fit socially that you want, but it's the right fit to help your organization get better. Yeah, and I think we're seeing a shift to that. And we kind of do that all the time. The military doesn't too right. We swing way over one way and then we try to get back to where it works for the military yeah, there's.

Speaker 1: 12:10

You know, I've seen it and actively talked to a lot of individuals going through that process, whether it's getting hired for a job or even for schools. Even in schools, the, the framework doesn't exist anymore. It's like, hey, I'm a veteran, I'm a soft veteran, like I should be able to walk in here. It's like, well, no, there's no framework for you. Well, shit, I'm a, I'm a, I volunteered when my nation asked me, I went and then I picked and chose the toughest thing to do and deploy time and time again, and now there isn't a framework to allow me to go to your school. That's a hard thing to do, but don't lose hope. The same thing with hiring.

Speaker 1: 12:54

Guys are getting really frustrated because the job market isn't there for them. The reality is work your ass off, network, connect with your brothers on the outside, get that face-to-face and then they'll see the difference. Just hearing your experience, hearing what you've gone through, the choice will be clear. And I know it's a lot of hope and a lot of optimism. But that's a lot better than pessimism. That's a lot better of facing down these impossible odds and just being negative. It's never helped us on a mission planning. No, it won't help you on the outside helped us on the mission planning? No, and it won't help you on the outside.

Speaker 2: 13:26

No, I think that's a great point, brother, because I was talking to the Rotary group the other day and I was telling them one of my biggest challenges is asking for help. Like I can't do it, like, you know, it's like the hardest thing and I think we're all kind of like that, right. So we don't want that networking that you're speaking to, right, we want to contact each other, but we are very reluctant to ask for that help Like, hey man, I need a job. Yep, you know, what do you got out there? Hey man, I need a job. Yep, you know, let, what do you got?

Speaker 2: 14:10

out there we would much rather struggle, you know, because we're used to struggling man, we're used to that ruck and putting one foot in front of another and you're like how much further we got. You just started, bro. You got 30 more miles. It's like shit, but it's the same. It like, I think it's the same kind of mentality. But you know, and I think that's when you, when you speak about networking and I and I said this, cause it just dawned on me when I was talking to him I was like it's not, not only do we have to network better, but we got to ask for help. Yes, and you just can't ask. You know that one person and then if that person doesn't have anything, then you're demoralized, oh shit. I asked no, look for that network, Find those folks and ask for that help you need, whether it be job, your personal life, whatever. And there are people who want to help. That's the other thing I've done, especially in this nonprofit world, Holy mackerel. There are so many people that want to help. I can't figure out what tasks to give them. You know, it's just, it's overwhelming the amount of help.

Speaker 2: 15:16

I've got a bunch of groups and one of the groups that I have is Sanctuary and we do nothing but help the people that we left behind in Afghanistan. Our translators, our American citizens I know y'all are, y'all are like American citizens or yeah, they're still there, People that you know worked with us, we're on the battlefield with us that we left behind. We're still trying to get them into a safe spot, whether it be the US or a third country. And those folks in Sanctuary and that's the name of the group, it's on Signal. We do a lot of stuff on Signal. They are just all in all the time.

Speaker 2: 15:58

Three years later, bro, three years later, and we're still collaborating, still networking, still finding out, you know, those little niches of information that that we can get to help people out and that's that's the beauty of networking. And then, if it's outside of that group, we jump quickly for that, that help or that information in the nonprofit world. And I think we need to kind of take on that a little bit as transitioning guys Green Berets, you know, take on that kind of attitude where it's okay to ask for help, yeah, and it's okay to you know and network the best you can. Don't be afraid to network with anybody. Because here's another crazy thing I learned who gives a shit anymore what you did in the military.

Speaker 1: 16:51

Yes absolutely.

Speaker 2: 16:53

You know what I mean. I mean I hate to say it I mean rate-wise Love what you did, love everything about your effort, want to hear your stories, but when I'm out networking, if you're a general officer, what can we do for each other? How can we leverage each other? Don't be afraid to talk to people, and we've got to get rid of the I don't know for lack of a better word the rank structure. When we leave the military, get into the ideal of we're all working in this together.

Speaker 2: 17:29

Because when Afghanistan hit it really that's when it dawned on me. When we left, when we went through or retreated from Afghanistan, I had senators and congresspeople and general officers calling me, asking me to help them get their people into H-KIA and on a plane and out, and I thought, well, they don't seem to have a problem contacting me. Why should I have a problem contacting them if I need something? And we should all kind of look at it that way. Once we get out, we should look at it like you know, regardless of what rank you held. What matters is, like we talked about earlier character and who you are and what you've done. You can now take that and network with anyone and not be afraid to do it.

Speaker 1: 18:20

Yeah, we seem to forget some of the basic fundamentals that we develop throughout our career, and being a communicator, being able to have a conversation with somebody and establish a network, is vital to a lot of the operations that we trained or actually executed on the ground. And then, when we get on the outside, we're like I don't know how to talk to anybody and put a phone number on my phone and sit down for a cup of coffee and it's like. The reality is, it's a lot easier than you think. You just reach out to people and ask them A information about a job, information about an industry, and nine times out of 10, they'll sit down, they'll meet with you and they'll be willing to give you as much insight as you're willing to take in.

Speaker 1: 19:02

And that could be the nexus for finding that next job, for finding that next person to talk to, and, before you know it, you don't even have to sit down in front of the formal interview. You go straight to the hiring process and it's not that crazy. It's really not that crazy, guys, being able to sit down and connect with people. You served with people that are two degrees removed from them in the career field that you want to go into. It starts as simple as just reaching out on LinkedIn, having that cup of coffee conversation. It's a lot easier than you think, but you have to shed that fear and be vulnerable enough to sit down in front of somebody and say, hey, this is me, I'd like to help in a, you know, getting information on this job or this industry. It's that simple and we just forget.

Speaker 2: 19:50

Yeah, it really is, and you got to get over the whole fear of social media too, or you know the applications and all that other stuff. I mean you just got to dive right in and and I mean that's how I ended up playing as I call it. You know professional football. Everybody else wants to call it semi-pro whatever it's professional enough, damn it. Damn it, man, but it was over social media, you know.

Speaker 2: 20:24

I mean, there was an opportunity you know, and I was like, oh okay, well, let's go to the UAE and try out for some football. And you know, I walked out there and they're like, oh man, what the hell is going on here, you know. And so I talked with the coach and you could see the skepticism. I mean, he was just very skeptical about the whole thing. But, um, I was like, no, we're working. So I, you know, I had that the one half of practice and I was throwing the ball around and they're like, man, this guy can throw a football. And so then this guy comes up and he goes, hey, here's my helmet, try my helmet on. I'm like, yeah, helmet fits good. And coach goes well, you want to try to run a play. And I'm like, sure, you know, so I go in the huddle. But I had been watching, observing, like we're trained to do, you know, and I knew that the receiver, like that cat, was good and he had something going on for him. Come to find out, he played for Seattle at one time, and Corey Williams, great, great guy. And so I, you know, I called the play in the huddle. It was a run.

Speaker 2: 21:34

But I said, hey, if I I'm going to audible, if I see the safeties pull up and, corey, if I nod to you, I just want you to do a fly. And everybody's like what? What's going on? I was like, yeah, if you hear me say black, black, black, it's we're throwing the football. So I got up, you know, and I was under center and I said a few things, I looked around and, sure enough, the safeties came up but I pulled off and you know, and I told him shotgun, shotgun, shotgun. And everybody looking around the coach was like what the hell is he doing? And I'm like black, black, black. And I nodded to Corey and Corey knew right away, I mean, that brother was locked on, snapped the ball, pumped fake to the right, looked back to the left, corey's wide open, threw a bomb, caught it, touchdown that other quarterback never played another down job's mine but you know it's, it's what we're willing to do and the risk that we're willing to take, and it all started off of social media.

Speaker 2: 22:40

I mean, I found out about the opportunity on social media. If I closed myself off, yeah, I would have never had that experience.

Speaker 1: 22:50

And I'll take it one step further. If you weren't open to the impossible, like so many of us get out and we immediately go towards the mundane we go through, I'm going to go for the sure thing, and I get it. I understand that no one wants to deal with that fear and that anxiety of putting a paycheck or not having a paycheck, not having groceries on the table, not being able to provide for your family. But you've been in dangerous situations, you've been in emergency situations, you've been faced with the impossible. And what got you through those situations, what got you to that win, what got you to being there, being successful, wasn't going for the sure bet, it was going for the impossible, being willing to say you know what. I'm going to bet on myself, I have this idea, I have a runway, I have a certain amount of money and I have conditions and standards. I'm going to fucking try for the impossible.

Speaker 1: 23:43

Because why not, after 20 years of combat, after all of that time, after all that effort, after all those courses and going back to school to get a degree, becoming a lawyer, becoming a doctor, being somebody that is willing to go after the impossible? I don't think that there's. Maybe there's a different, different timeline. And Perry didn't go through social media, didn't see that, or maybe he did and he says I'm too old. Fuck that. Like you, only get one shot at life. Only get one shot at life. Be willing to go for the impossible, and that's what you did it being able to have those memories, being able to have that experience behind you. That's at the end of the day, that's what matters being able to look at it is, it is, it is.

Speaker 2: 24:46

I mean well put brother, well put it. It is what matters. And, like you said, if you want the secure route, I applaud you for that too, because that itself takes the level of discipline that I no longer had when I retired Right, and I was blessed to be retired to make it to retirement Certainly I mean, I think, all of us, when we we look back and we're, we're retired, we were certainly blessed to make it that far, especially with some of the shenanigans we pulled. Some of the guys are like, man, you actually made it that far. I'm like, yeah, man, believe it or not? So, but you know, it's just, it's just like that and we, we need to, but you know it's just like that and we need to take those skills, like you said, and not be afraid to use them.

Speaker 2: 25:39

And I just want to give you a quick story, a challenge of mine with my AFG Free, and I actually have a coffee company now called 18 Series Coffee Company actually, but they're both nonprofits. This guy, sf guy, worked for me in Ukraine and we were working together getting food and medical supplies into Russian occupied areas of Ukraine and we did what we do by with, with and through the locals there, and that was the best way and I still do that today to help people. Well, nick Mamor and you can look it up he was killed actually, and it's an unfortunate part of our life that we have lost some really good people and some really good friends. Uh, and again it goes back to how, how much do you want to invest in each other for that relationship that we talked about at the beginning of this? And, uh, you know being all in and Nick was killed, uh, uh, in bakhmut and got his body and bergosian wanted to. So you're gaining bergosian, the from the mozart group wanted to, uh, or the wagner group, I'm sorry, um, the wagner group wanted to leverage that for other stuff, supplies and whatever else and I'm like, ok, all right, this isn't going to work. I got to figure something out here.

Speaker 2: 27:23

So I got onto my networks and I said, hey, does anybody have any contacts in the Wagner Group? And sure enough, somebody did. And I was like, hey, I need to talk to Bogosian, I need to talk to Yegeni Bogosian. And I put a video out and I put it on Telegram and I let that fester a little bit and then I got a message back that says hey, call this number and then leave a message and hang up and they'll call you back within five minutes and do it at this particular time. So you and I both know which what direction this is going. So I did Hung up, got a call back and the guy on the other phone the russian accent was like yes, we know who you are, perry blackburn.

Speaker 2: 28:15

What is it that you fucking want? You know kind of thing. And I'm like I want, I want nick's body back, I want my brother's body back. You got the wrong guy, you got a green beret and we want him back or all hell will break loose. And the guy said just a minute. And so he puts on another guy and the other guy's like I am yagini, so it's progosion. So I'm just basically like hey, one professional soldier to another. This is not what we do. We don't leverage soldiers for our own outcomes. So I was like let's do the right thing, give us back Nick Mamor, because he knew who it was, because they had his name and everything all over Telegram, all over social media. And so he kind of chuckled and was like we will, I, I will be a man of my word and then kind of hung up. Well, a couple weeks later they did give nick back to the ukrainians and we were able to repatriate him back to the states.

Speaker 2: 29:29

Now, that is an extreme use of social media, right, but for me, I, what kept pushing me is, I kept thinking how far am I really willing to go for the brotherhood?

Speaker 2: 29:49

Yeah, and it just kept over and over in my mind what am I willing to risk? And my next step after that was going back to Ukraine and getting on foot. I mean, that's, I think, the power of who we are as a regiment. You know, how far would we be willing to go for each other? And it shows I, and I'm not alone in this, I mean, I don't use this, as you know. Oh, my god, this is one extreme example of the brotherhood. No, we're either. We see it all the time, with folks, you know, helping each other out and and I think that's where our real power as a community comes from, as a veteran community, and then we are very receptive to allowing others into that Right. So you know that that, as we, you know, we talk about this whole networking and how to use it and what we want to do with. It is the big question what do you want to do?

Speaker 1: 30:58

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 30:59

Right, and it's hard to find that answer, but as long as you're moving forward to something you know and you're not doing the alcohol, you're not doing the drugs, you're not doing all that crazy shit that is easy to get into, which I think, for my, the Green Berets are less apt to have that than other veterans that I talked to. Probably sure, there's a lot of reasons why, but, um, that that's important too is you. You strive forward to to a clean, healthy life and and working toward you, know your goals and how you want to set yourself up, you or your family up, for the rest of your life.

Speaker 1: 31:42

Yeah, that's um, that's something that I found to be a lot more rewarding is the complete sobriety, um and it. It wasn't like I took this grand statement that I'm I'm never going to drink again. It was like no, it just kind of evolved. It evolved itself from simply just saying, hey, you know what, like I'm going through treatment, I'm going through getting help, I'm not going to drink while I'm doing this. And then, as I got better, just didn't continue. And then, as I got better, just didn't continue. And then then it was just kind of like a date nights I'll do this.

Speaker 1: 32:13

But then I realized the vast majority of the people that I help and talk to you know there's a lot that are dealing with alcohol dependency. So you know what, like I'm going to, I'm going to study this, and I realized like shit, I don't need it, it's, it's actually there's no benefit to it. So I don't need it, it's, it's actually there's no benefit to it. So it's like, all right, I can just cut this thing out. And then a little bit of discipline factor of okay, like I'm going to use this, I'm going to use this as like something to anchor myself with and have that discipline of like I'm not going to drink. It doesn't do it and it's different for everybody. But if it's one more thing that I can cancel out of my life that could potentially lead me down the wrong path, then hey, that's good for me. That was my answer.

Speaker 2: 32:56

That's a great point, man, and it's the same way with people. I mean, you got to let some people go. Some people will, will, will, will, drag you down, um, attach themselves to you and they're very again, like we talked about early, or very negative, or you know that that leads you astray. Yes, and you gotta be careful with that, because it happens really kind of creeps up on you and you realize you're like Holy mackerel, this is, this, is not. This is not the environment I want to be in.

Speaker 1: 33:27

Yeah, yeah, no, it's we. We we've been conditioned to focus on the negative and I say that for our civilian culture is I found a lot more positivity, even in. I mean, you think back to the worst of times and somebody in your foxhole is making a joke, somebody in the gun truck is making a joke in the most inappropriate time to pull you back in. It doesn't matter what the odds are. I've seen guys in situations where you might have lost a friend and things are looking dire, and there's somebody always willing to engage in humor to pull you back in, to keep you back in the fight.

Speaker 1: 34:07

But our civilian brothers and sisters, there's a big culture of pessimism, of being negative, of not being satisfied with what you have. That next option I'm not living the life I want because I don't have this high paying job, I don't make this much of my salary, I don't have the latest car, I don't have the new cyber truck, and the list goes on and on. But at some point you got to say, hey, what I have in my life is good enough. I am working towards a greater good, I am doing good and of service to others, I'm doing good, I am happy. What I got Like head chasing after the next big thing, chasing after the next material good, and being constantly angry that you don't have something that somebody else has leads to disaster. It doesn't, it's not fruitful, it doesn't give you any benefit of understanding that what you have right now in your life is amazing you're breathing, you're putting food on the table and you've got great friends and and that's not a bad thing.

Speaker 2: 35:11

Yeah, you know, don't ruin that.

Speaker 2: 35:15

And you know it's funny because, like over 2000 years ago, there was this guy that actually taught us that and, for some reason, you know, we, we it's an easy thing to kind of replicate in our life and it will help us out. An easy thing to kind of replicate in our life and it will help us out. But we no longer, in this part of where we're at, in our culture, um, feel like that's relevant to our lives and I think it's more relevant today than it was even, you know, 2000 years ago, because it's's, it's a message that has lasted the test of time. And if you just take those principles, you know, treat others like you want to be treated. You know, um, don't want what others have. Yeah, I mean even more so now than ever before. Right, you know, oh, dude's got a cyber truck. I need to go get to. No, you just need to enjoy what you have and enjoy, enjoy what you have. And I think that, um, we, we and part of it is social media, part of it is we know more about other people's lives. And we're human beings, we need companionship and you get those things you're doing pretty good. You're doing pretty good. You can survive off of that and you can enjoy, thoroughly enjoy what you have, which is another thing.

Speaker 2: 37:00

I was thinking I got grandkids. Now I know y'all are like what? Really Surprise? Yeah, I'm 42, I got. No, I'm just kidding on that. It's a shame I'm not.

Speaker 2: 37:13

But, um, I was like watching them the other day and they're so happy about everything. They're like happy and I'm thinking when did we lose that point of being happy? Yeah, yeah, like like you can see people, you know you get a, you get a new job. You should be happy, you should be like man, this is awesome. And instead we kind of take it yeah, I got a new job, you know, and you can hear people in their voice already, but I don't know, you know, if it's going to work out like bro, that is not the attitude to come in and do a job with. You need to come in happy, ready to knock it out of the park. You know, let's get it on kind of thing.

Speaker 2: 37:51

Like when we got, you know, when we were on a team together and we we got a mission to go do something. I mean we were like all in, like all in. You know I can't say we were always happy about it, but we were all in. I mean, I will say, though, in 2001,. I don't care what anybody says, anybody that rolled in after 9-11 to Afghanistan was happy, happy about it. I mean, I wanted retribution, I wanted this for America. I was, we were all in. There was zero complaints on anything. You know the usual complaints that you hear when you do exercises or you're going over for an MTT or something. Those were all gone, it was all in. Everybody, let's get some and it and it worked out that way and it was the most professionally rewarding part of my life to be with. You know, great Americans, great Green Berets, you know, going into Afghanistan and linking up with a warlord and just creating havoc.

Speaker 1: 39:02

Yeah, yeah it's. It's funny that you bring up happiness. That's something that I, I've, I've focused on, I'm studying it for school and the science behind happiness is insane. We've right now, if we just took a general consensus of a lot of people, they would tell you I don't make enough money, I don't have x amount of time at home, I'm not enjoying X, y and Z. But if we look at Americans in 1950s until now, like we've steadily started making more money, we've had access to more resources, we have access to endless amounts of tech and tangible goods. Yet the American of today is infinitely less happier than those of previous generations and they're more susceptible to anxiety and depression all sorts of mental health issues, before they're even hitting 30, when that wasn't even a reality in the 1950s. And when you look at happiness and you realize that it's no longer. It's not about the monetary, it's not about the amount of money. There is an actual number of dollars.

Speaker 1: 40:12

Once you meet your needs and you can put food on the table and you can provide for your family as a place to live and you can be comfortable, start looking at the connections you have in your life to really put faith and like, ground yourself in.

Speaker 1: 40:27

That's what matters. Like I I know I'm speaking to the choir I mean, we all deal with it. We want the next iphone, we want the next shiny thing. The reality is, none of that's going to make us happy. This authentic communication, engaging with somebody from your community, from your brotherhood this brings more joy and more reward than anything that you'll go out and do for the rest of your day, and that's the truth. If you're engaging with the people from your community that you value and you look towards, in a sense of being able to pour back into yourself, that's going to be more rewarding than sitting down and playing a video game, sitting down and just numbing yourself out on Netflix. Look for the human connection. Look for that in your daily life and you'll be infinitely happier than sitting at home scrolling through Amazon buying that next gadget that you know you don't fucking need.

Speaker 2: 41:22

Well, and it goes back to, you know, our basic. You know we were younger. You know, like you say, going through selection or being on a team, and you know a rough PT session or you know a rough deployment Um, we were actively doing something every day, right? Um, doing something every day, yeah, right, yeah. It was one of my challenges as as a team leader and commander in life was you know, don't give the guys too much downtime. Give them enough. They can, you know, catch your breath, but then get them going again. You know, let's all get going moving, because we're we were much happier moving forward into something than we are, you know stage static.

Speaker 2: 42:08

GBNT, baby GBNT Again, Didn't we have a nap?

Speaker 1: 42:14

time yesterday. Yeah, we always talk about that. Why was it? And it's something we have to deprogram once we leave, because once you get out you're not going on those TDYs, so you have to understand how to be happy at home. But once you're in the job, once you're in the team, it's like the happiest times, or when you're doing something, when you're all involved. It's that settling down period and you can take that for your real life too. If you're stagnant, you're not going to be happy. Find that new thing, like something that I've found to be rewarding, and people say it, people echo it, people talk about it. You can find a research when you volunteer time. When you volunteer time, find ways to give back to others. That pours into you like nothing else. And it's not a deployment, I get it. It's not a J-step, but it is just as exciting to be able to say oh man, this is my weekly time that I'm going to do my, my charity run or I'm going to do my, my volunteer work with veterans. This is going to be awesome.

Speaker 2: 43:13

No, absolutely. I think that cause I'll be honest with you I never thought in my life I would do nonprofit work and more or less start my own nonprofit. I mean, and here I have two nonprofit organizations to help two separate parts of the world that I feel I can help with. You know my small amount of input Because when you think about it, I mean there's so much going on in the world. But I think that also becomes overwhelming because there's so much going on, how do you help? But, like you said, there are so many opportunities to just jump in and take that time to help out and you do feel different about it, wouldn't like? There are?

Speaker 2: 44:04

There are neighbors during covid that I would just go to their house and I would just fix shit that was broke. You know they couldn't do it, they didn't know how. Maybe they were older, maybe they were foreign, who you know? There's a lot of different reasons why they just couldn't figure out how to fix something in their house and I wouldn't charge them and I was like, wow, this is, this is pretty cool, you know, to be able to have that knowledge, to be able to help folks. And that's where I think is key, right.

Speaker 2: 44:34

We all have something that we can give that is really helpful to people, whether it be, you know, networking or getting on the ground and making shit happen, or whether it be going to the VA hospital and volunteering there, you know, with the brothers that are there. There's just a lot of opportunity and it's great fulfillment. And I have a my mother-in-law, every Sunday and she's in her eighties, you know, she goes out and feeds the poor and that's her fulfillment. I mean, she does it through the church, and so there's all these things that we can do, but sometimes we choose not to. Like you said, it's easy to sit up in bed and watch netflix or you know whatever, but, as we know, you know, when it's you, you look at that rock and you're like shit man.

Speaker 1: 45:33

I gotta put that thing on again but, as soon as you get it on.

Speaker 2: 45:38

You know, you're like back in the south, you're like okay all right, this is me.

Speaker 1: 45:44

that's exactly that. I couldn't think of a better frigging analogy when you're taking that break the hardest thing you can do is put it back on.

Speaker 1: 45:54

But as soon as you get up and have somebody to help you up and you finally fight and you start moving, it feels amazing. You're like I don't want to stop. Sometimes it's better to just keep moving and that's a perfect analogy for getting back and doing the hard but good things. It's nothing different than just discipline, cultivating discipline in your life. Going to church takes discipline. Look, I'm Catholic.

Speaker 1: 46:22

Going to mass it's not the easiest thing, especially evening mass, but you know what. You leave there feeling better. You leave there with a sense of community, a sense of belonging and, yeah, I have something that I share within my family that is freaking amazing and good for me. You don't have to practice or worship the same thing, but find what works for you.

Speaker 1: 46:43

And faith has been a huge thing for me and for a lot of other Green Berets and a lot of other military individuals, because maybe we didn't get a chance to practice it as much as we should have while we were in, but it can be a powerful catalyst now on the outside to be able to get integrated with your community, to give back, to be able to volunteer. Find those things that require discipline, that requires a little bit of work and ultimately actually makes you feel better and it makes you actually experience happiness. I want to ask you about nonprofit work, because one of the things that I have seen with a lot of service members as they're getting out, especially our Green Berets there's a lot of guys that want to go into nonprofit work. What are some things that you, or some guidance you, would give to them how they can make this move, some avenues of approach, how to, how to break this problem down as how to get started? So there's.

Speaker 2: 47:38

There's a couple of things. One and it goes with transitioning. You got either chasing the money or you're you're chasing your passion, and sometimes you're lucky and you can with transitioning. You're either chasing the money or you're chasing your passion, and sometimes you're lucky and you can chase both. The nonprofit world has opportunity for people to get paid. So not all nonprofits are strictly everything goes to helping people because you have to have people AFG Free. My first nonprofit nobody gets paid, so that's my brand, that's how I designed it.

Speaker 2: 48:16

But there's a lot of other nonprofits. No One Left Behind is one of them. I think David Petraeus is part of that organization. They look for people with our skill set to hire to help out with the folks that we left behind. So there's those. Look through those opportunities and see who's hiring. Also, there's a lot of military type nonprofits that you can get paid for or help for free and they're looking for you to do that. For example, these fishing trips, these fly fishing trips and stuff. You know there's those organizations bring veterans in. You can help with that, get involved in that, and it's really easy. You just you get online, you get, you find them and you just email them directly and say this is who I am, cause I get emails all the time from folks that want to help out. Um and so we, we just put, plug them into our network and kind of guide them through some of their skill sets. They'd be able to help out, whether it be researching or physically helping with people, talking with people, all that matters. So that's kind of, I think, the two different directions to go.

Speaker 2: 49:39

And the government, of course, ngos, non-government organizations they hire also, which kind of fits really into the Green Beret skill set, because they go into austere environments. The difference with them and us is nonprofits take much more risk at getting things done than an NGO will. The NGO is constrained by the government. I mean, you look in what's going on right now in Israel and Palestine. You know they want all these conditions set before they'll drop a piece of food in there. Well, we're not like that, we're totally nonprofits. We'll go in there, I'll go into Russian occupied areas of Ukraine and take care of business. Right now NGOs will not do that. So you just kind of understand that. So there's that on tuning.

Speaker 2: 50:28

The other thing is Homeland Security. I think is an interesting kind of organization because they have a lot of different branches and one of them is kind of a non-profit-like part of the organization. So they'll go where disaster hits and they'll set up and you can be part of that effort to help people and you're also maintaining a level of awareness and security, because a lot has to be done to, as you know, you're living in a hurricane, in a hurricane, tornado, rich environment. You know those those areas that they need when, when something happens catastrophically, security is is paramount. So that kind of puts both of those characteristics together that we have. That that makes it fulfilling. So I would definitely say, look at that, look at the civilian nonprofits and look at the NGOs. And really, though, the NGOs, you know, if you get a job, get paid from the NGOs you are really your skill set as a veteran is much needed, much needed in those jobs, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 51:50

I think we need to stop self-assessing when it comes to what we're able to do as veterans. You've done remarkable things in your service. Be willing to dream, be willing to dig into these industries and look at all the things that meet and that you already have skill sets that they're looking for. It's not about just going into a job that you think will make you happy. You have to look for a job and a profession, a calling, something that you're passionate about and you find a purpose and mission behind it. Look for all those things.

Speaker 1: 52:30

It's easy to get a paycheck At the end of the day. You want to go into work knowing that you're passionate about what you're doing, that there's a purpose and a greater calling and a mission that resonates within you. Otherwise, you're not going to be happy. No one should be willing to get out and just find a good enough option of a job that just meets the bare minimum paycheck. Look for something that you can get behind of. I mean that's a reason why you're successful in software or your career field in the military, because you were passionate about it. Very few people get out and look back on their time and say like, oh man, I hated everything about it. There are some that do that, but a vast majority at least loved an aspect of that job. So look for that in your next endeavor. Look for that passion for that mission and ultimately, that's what's going to keep you waking up each and every day, feeling engaged, going towards that mission, and don't get disillusioned.

Speaker 2: 53:25

Yeah, right. So so, which is another big thing, is like you go into a job and you become disillusioned because everybody else no, you'll be that change, yes, you'll be the one that makes that positive change in in this environment. Don't, don't follow them and and they, that's what they want, that's what they're looking for from veterans. I think we forget that sometimes and we kind of all of a sudden, you know we're trying to be like them, as opposed to take who you are and you be the change. I mean I can't say it enough the, the I work with, with AFT Free and our network in Sanctuary. They're not all veterans, they're civilians too, and they will push and push, and push and that's a good thing things that we may not have done because we're kind of settled in what we're looking at and that's what I mean by the veterans going into an environment like an NGO or something.

Speaker 2: 54:35

You know you be the one that makes that change, you be the change. You push, push, push, because you know you got the skill set, you know what right looks like. Bring people with you, be that leader and don't be afraid to do it. Uh, because it's needed. It's obviously needed in our government. Holy, oh shit, like damn, yeah, what the hell happened to you guys. Um, so the this is what I think when we gravitate toward something, that a passion that we might not have necessarily known that we had in a particular endeavor, that that's going to make the difference as a veteran moving forward in that space, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 55:26

No, no. Perry, thank you so much for being here with us today. I can't thank you enough for just sharing your insight and lend us again understand the importance of going for the impossible. Man, your lived experience and your continued endeavors is what gives us the understanding that it's not over once we get out. If you can continue chasing your dreams, if you can continue doing things that other people say, oh, it can't be done, it's like well, perry did it, so why not me?

Speaker 2: 55:56

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 55:56

That's the most important thing that we can do. Your success is not yours alone when you achieve something impossible that gives the next individual in line something to shoot for. So, if you're listening to this and you have that application to that school or you have that, you know that idea that that dream of becoming a doctor, becoming a lawyer, becoming a teacher, whatever that impossible dream is for you, pull it off the back burner and put it in the front and start working towards it. We all need you to be successful. We're counting on you. So, yeah, until next time, take care and we'll see you all next time. Thanks, brother. 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 you.