Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
Join us as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, proving that even after the mission changes, the call to serve and thrive never ends.
Security Halt!
Veterans on a Mission: Mental Health, Leadership, and Advocacy
In this inspiring episode of Security Halt!, host Deny Caballero is joined by an exceptional panel of veterans and leaders dedicated to supporting their community. Dean Goble, a Green Beret and CEO of the Special Forces Foundation, Lowell Koppert, a veteran advocate and entrepreneur behind 56 Brave Patriot Apparel, and Kagan Dunlap, an active-duty Marine Corps officer and influential social media figure, come together to share their insights and experiences.
The discussion dives into the vital importance of community support for veterans, the role of influencers in advocating for mental health and positive change, and the challenges veterans face transitioning to civilian life. Through personal stories and innovative initiatives, these leaders address the need to break free from the victim mentality, foster resilience, and embrace accountability and leadership.
Listeners will gain valuable insights on fostering gratitude, overcoming challenges, and building connections that empower veterans to thrive. Tune in to hear how these leaders are driving positive change in the military and veteran community. Follow, share, like, and subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts to join the conversation and support our mission.
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Guests and Their Backgrounds
04:02 Community Engagement and Veteran Support Initiatives
10:48 Mental Health and the Veteran Community
18:16 The Role of Influencers in Veteran Advocacy
23:47 The Importance of Connection and Transitioning Out
24:15 Community Support and Awareness
25:42 The Double-Edged Sword of Veteran Advocacy
26:55 The Challenge of Positivity
27:51 Mental Health and Physical Fitness
28:50 The Security Halt Semi-Hard Challenge
30:14 Local Veteran Initiatives
31:40 The Hometown Heroes Program
34:03 Impactful Philanthropy Stories
37:21 The Importance of Recognition
39:39 Breaking the Victim Mentality
42:23 Navigating Public Perception
48:43 Impact of Global Events on Military Operations
49:39 Raising Awareness on Policy Changes and Health Issues
50:38 Mental Health Challenges in the Military Community
51:51 The Importance of Open Communication and Vulnerability
52:58 Celebrating Positivity and Accountability
54:31 Personal Growth and Change After Military Service
56:57 Finding Your Tribe After Service
01:00:27 The Dangers of Comparison in the Military
01:02:53 Embracing Life's Challenges and Positivity
01:05:56 Constructive Criticism and Leadership
01:09:46 Encouragement for a Positive Mindset
Instagram: @securityhalt
Tik Tok: @security.halt.pod
LinkedIn: Deny Caballero
Follow Dean, Lowell, and Kagan on social media and check out The Special Forces Foundation today!
Produced by Security Halt Media
Security Odd Podcast. Let's go. The only podcast that's purpose-built from the ground up to support you Not just you, but the wider audience, everybody. Authentic, impactful and insightful conversations that serve a purpose to help you. And the quality has gone up. It's decent, it's hosted by me, Danny Caballero. Fine Kagan, you don't know me, but you'll get to know me a little bit after this, and I'm telling you you will not have, you may not like what I choose, but it will be entertaining. Welcome to Security Lab Podcast. I'm your host, Denny Caballero. Season fucking seven. We are back in the studio. Today are some amazing individuals and I will let them introduce themselves. Gentlemen, please go ahead.
Speaker 2:So my name is Lowell Coppert. I'm the CEO of 56 Brave Patriot Apparel, a former SF dude. I've done some OGA contracts in the past. I live in South Carolina and am uh newly minted programs East um for the special forces foundation. I also run a nonprofit here in the state of South Carolina called the Aiken County veterans council Um, which basically is kind of like a fusion cell for all the uh veteran service organizations within our county. We've got about 20,000 veterans that live here in the area that I represent. So yeah, man, just stoked to be here with you guys and happy to spend some time with some guys that are out there crushing it from the community. Man, it's always nice to get back and rub elbows with the boys.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, man, Glad to have you today.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it, man.
Speaker 4:Egan, you're up on the road okay, yeah, I'm, uh, I'm not sf but I'm part of the, the regular forces, like the extremely regular forces. But uh, yeah, no, I mean you know kagan's my name uh, still active marine corps. You was in the infantry for five years. I was an anti-tank missile man and now I'm in supply chain management and logistics, so a little bit more support side, getting to know, you know, some different areas of the military and how that stuff works, which is kind of cool Because you know, at least coming up in the conventional infantry side, you don't really learn anything about that, so you don't understand how things happen or how things get put together. So, um, that's been a good benefit for my perspective on on how things work.
Speaker 4:Um, and I mean, you know Dean and I are buddies, you know we've kind of in, you know, running some of the same circles and, um, ideally, like a lot of the stuff I do is like current affairs, current events, um, you know military, uh, what's it called? Technology, just history and any of that stuff, because that's all stuff I'm interested in. I think that other people find it interesting as well and that's that's kind of why I do that kind of stuff on the internet, you know oh yeah, we're gonna get back to that kagan.
Speaker 1:We're, we're gonna get back, especially since you don't have video.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah that sounds good. That's fair. Hey, good stuff, man. So dean goble? Uh, so I'm over director of philanthropy for black rifle coffee company. On top of it I uh run the special forces foundation and then I work with nonprofits, military influencers, anybody who wants to do good shit to help out the community. I stay pretty busy just trying to, you know, get out there, do some good in this world, and I'm hoping that's kind of what we chat about today is a little bit of that. I think everybody's pretty familiar with the military influencers and everything that's going on. We started off 2025. It seems maybe a little rough, so I'm hoping we you know I'm Mr Optimistic, which will drive some people crazy, but that's how I roll, so I'm trying to, you know, kind of shed some good light on some darkness right now.
Speaker 1:Dude it's been it already is what a year Dude, it's been it already is what a year man Jeff's kissing. What I want to focus on today is how we, as service members and former service members, can do a better job of helping bring and inspire the next generation of great Americans Now and also, at the same time, how we can help each other, how we can help our veteran community. Lowell, you just did something that was remarkable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so a couple of years ago, I just, I mean essentially, I mean it's kind of very simple in the thought process of how it came about. But you know, one day I just was like man, I've had enough of this, you know, and, and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do and, um, you know, I decided I was like you know the the one nice thing. And Kagan will kind of downplay himself and it's one of the, it's one of the things I understand, like when people are around each other. You know he's like yeah, man, I'm just a regular Marine, but you know, um, to to an extent, like not knocking. You know what Kagan's thoughts are, but I hear it a lot. Um, guys are like oh, you know, I wasn't an SF dude or whatever, but it's like it doesn't matter. You know, um, the one nice thing for us is you hear the word green beret or Navy seal. It draws attention. It draws attention. People are like, huh, absolutely. And so I realized that I could be the shiny object. Um, most of us are extremely physically fit, um, and so, you know, we can use some of that. You know what, whether it's you running a podcast and you're really good at doing the, you know, getting people on and interviewing folks and that kind of thing, and that becomes your niche and you use that as a positive light. Um, you know, I just looked at it from the fact of like, yeah man, we we all have put a rock on our back and walked long distances, much longer than we probably ever thought that we could at times. Um, and we were always able to accomplish it.
Speaker 2:Um, but it started about four years ago. Maybe five years ago we had a Vietnam memorial here in Aiken that the Vietnam veterans wanted moved to a better location and, unfortunately, politics at play, there's a lot of monuments in the southeast of the United States that a lot of people aren't really happy about in today's day and age, neither here nor there. But they've been trying to take some of those monuments down. There's a lot of people fighting to keep them up, um, back and forth, and our monument kind of got caught in the crossfire of that debate where they weren't going to move it because one, one group feared that if they moved, it opened the door for the other side to move more monuments or take them down, and so I just said, man, I've had enough of it and I decided to walk from the town I live in to the state house with a buddy of mine you probably have heard of him, ray Care Cash.
Speaker 2:We worked together on some contract stuff, and so him and I walked to the state house. We walked 53 miles in a day and a half and we did it to petition the state to allow us to move that monument. With eight months, eight months later, they'd been trying to get it done for a decade. Eight months later, after we did it, we made national news Navy SEAL Green Beret walking across the state. People want to, they want to know why. And so at that point I realized, eight months later, they moved that monument.
Speaker 2:I realized like, yeah, man, like people want to know what we're doing. And so last year, uh, myself, a member of the Marine Corps, uh, who's an absolute stud to a three-star general, a two-star general, uh, three SF guys and two Navy SEALs walked from North Carolina to Georgia and we did it in a weekend. Um, and it became the enough campaign. You know I told people I was like you know, enough is enough. Like why? Why are we still dealing with this issue in 2024? Like I would always joke. You know we're. You know I'm in rural South Carolina and my phone's not working, but the same phone works in like nowhere Syria, you know kind of thing.
Speaker 3:I'm like, I'm like come on man 2024.
Speaker 2:Like we could, surely we can figure this out. And so that's, you know, the whole moniker was enough, we've had enough. We know enough is enough, we need to fix this kind of thing. And so I just got some boys together and said, hey, man, and I've got a great network here of people that support me, uh, from a logistics side, as Kagan was saying, when we, you know, kick this thing off, um, you know, you gotta have, you gotta have that support apparatus to, to, to basically support the combat side of operations, like it doesn't work without it. And so I've got a great network here that does a lot of the behind the scenes stuff for me, um, logistics, wise, administrative stuff that allows me to go out and do that, walk and recruit the boys to come do it with me. And um, yeah, so we had a, we had a great group of of fellas. We started in uh, on the border of North Carolina early in the morning and walk our way back to Georgia.
Speaker 2:We did it just again, this uh, we did the first year for mental uh like to to basically drive home suicide awareness, yep, and we did it with, you know, for mental health, through a organization called Brothers Keeper Veteran Foundation, which was founded by another SF guy, chris Cathers great guy currently dealing with stage four cancer, and then this year did it along with Chris's organization, but did it over Thanksgiving weekend to bring awareness to the homeless situation that we're currently experiencing with the veteran community. We think that statistics show that there's about 35,000 veterans across the country that are currently unhoused, which is astonishing to me. I mean, we could get, you know, dive into the political stuff of where your tax dollars go and where they don't go and that kind of thing. But, um, you know, it's just, it's, it's one of those situations. There's obviously a lot of mental health that works into that homeless situation as well.
Speaker 2:And, um, you know, the I think the big issue with the veteran community it's what I deal with here in Aiken is veterans are the last people to raise their hand to say, hey, I need help. And so we, as the guys on this podcast right now, we have to be very creative and I tell people, you know, like I'll brag about Dean or I'll brag about other people with the foundation or my guys, and I explained to them. I said the one thing that you don't realize is how good Dean really has to be at his job because he's not dealing with people that are walking up to him and saying I need help because in two weeks I can't, I won't be able to pay my electric bill. I get the phone call hey, there's a guy in my backyard turning my power off, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so we have to be that good, like we have to understand the speed of need, and I think it's one thing that sets us as operators and current and former operators or organizations apart from everybody else, because we truly understand that, like, we don't have days, weeks, months at times to fix a problem. We got to fix it now and we got to do the best we can right now, and it may be a 60% solution or it may be. I don't know if this is going to work, but you know what? We're going to give it a shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so true. It is absolutely so true. One of the first, very first peers, peer support groups we ran we had I'm not going to say the individual's name, he's still active duty, but he was suffering from a very aggressive form of cancer that was brought on by doing something that you shouldn't be doing on a daily basis. And when he dropped that bomb on us, we're like, holy shit, these, these are our guys. They're gonna wait to the last freaking moment to raise their hand for help. And, uh, luckily he had great team, great freaking resources that he finally reached out to, fought through that like any other hard-charging, red-blooded American would. At first it was weeks, months, and now he's back in the fight doing great.
Speaker 1:But it's something that all of us, a lot of our veterans, aren't willing to raise their hand and ask for help. And I think when we hear the word influencer, we're like, oh, fuck, somebody doing a TikTok dance, like, oh, okay. Or we can put ourselves in a place of being vulnerable and talk about our own journeys, be able to say like, hey, I had troubles with freaking PTSD, anxiety, depression, mental health. I had to go to a treatment center.
Speaker 1:That little bit of vulnerability, yeah, you're putting that out there in your TikTok or your Instagram and, yes, you could be labeled an influencer, but at the same time, you're giving somebody a pathway to overcoming something that they might be dealing with and by you being willing to demonstrate how you can go forward. I'm not a millionaire, I don't have all this money, but I can ruck and I'm going to turn on my phone and I'm going to live stream this whole entire thing and get as much attention to this cause. That's influence, that's powerful and that's what we need to be focused on. It's not about tearing each other out because people are going on TikTok and doing a dance. Yes, that's one aspect of it, but what we're tapping into and I think more of our green berets and special operators and conventional force guys are understanding that this is a powerful medium and it's worth exploring and doing something for the good cause. And, dean, I'd like for you to jump in because, dude, you're running philanthropy for one of the biggest veteran-owned coffee companies.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I mean, it keeps me busy, I know I just there isn't a day that goes by that I don't get a few requests. I mean every single day, from the morning I wake up. But I honestly love it. I wouldn't like it any other way. I love the idea that I've been able to build this trust, you know, and slowly to be able to be able to receive and make measurable impacts.
Speaker 3:You know it's cause I mean like, oh, I got a good buddy, mike Gabler, you know he said talk is cheap, takes money to buy whiskey, and it absolutely, you absolutely have to have it. I mean, there is nothing wrong with doing meaningful stuff, but you can have it just, if not more, of a significant impact. You got some cash to follow, you know. Oh yeah, it's the nature of the business, like everything else. So, yes, I mean just, you know, what I've been seeing a lot of is this negative? You know, god, I don't even I'm trying not to talk around it, because I'm a pretty direct handed person but there's been a lot of chief, be a warrant officer.
Speaker 1:Get right down to the bottom line, damn it. That's what we do here in security. Yeah, just like you.
Speaker 3:So I've seen a lot of shit and a lot of, but don't get me wrong. I think it's great that people are being held responsible, because you have to, you know, and there's definitely a difference between you know, elaborating on something and straight up lying about shit, but whatever that ends up being, you know, I just wanted to. I'm I'm Mr Optimistic man. That's how I roll in life, you know, and I realized that sometimes I could drive some people crazy. But I like to put a good light on this and I want people to know and understand that there are many, many operators and veterans out there who are doing amazing shit for the community. I get to work and see them all the day and I'll throw examples out there for days, like a task force dagger. You know Matt Parrish if you guys don't know Matt Parrish, that guy does so much. You think about the special forces foundation, the charitable trust, gbf. You know Travis Wilson out there doing like. There are so many. I think we hit it a little bit, but Nick Lavery.
Speaker 1:Nick fucking Lavery man there's so many. I want to pause on him and give him a shout out real quick not to cut you off, but we were just talking about this in another group. It's like, dude, what we need to breathe fire into recruitment is having a Nick Lavery from every group going out to osa training, going going to basic training with all these guys, the shit. The nick's posting on a daily basis how he's motivating and inspiring these young kids to chase that dream. That's what we fucking need. We don't need any more fucking stupid commercials exactly you know what I'm talking about, I'm not going to go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, be all you can be got me back in the nineties, but you know I'm just kidding, I'm not that old, but you know. But I still remember the movie, but I was just one of those things Like there are phenomenal, like calm influencers, calm, whatever you want, but they exist all throughout the regiment and in the military. You know 18 good guys. They exist all throughout the regiment and in the military. You know 18 good guys. There's so many. You know he won't show his face. I know exactly who he is, but even though he won't show his face, you know he does amazing stuff. Like there's just so much.
Speaker 1:That type of account, that type of influence is absolutely needed. Um, we, we gotta again, we gotta highlight them. He doesn't want to get the recognition because he knows what matters is a job, is a profession. But he understands that there needs to be a positive face for the guy in the team room, for the young kid trying to get in that team room. That's important. So shout out to him and for him to keep it private, to keep it anonymous. It's like a fucking modern age superhero. That account can live for the Dude. He can retire out and just pass that account from Green Beret to Honest Broker to Honest Broker and maybe that's an idea.
Speaker 1:But we need those individuals. Look, poop and cum jokes are great, they're going to get you talking. But the content that he puts out to help guys understand that it's about the positive, it's about the good morals, it's about having good ethics, the broken ethics of the G-Watt soft guy that needs to live in Afghanistan and Iraq of the early 2000s. We're not going to replenish the force with that mentality. It was a byproduct of an age that's gone by. It no longer suits us. We need men of strong moral fiber, of good, fucking decent ethics. We do. I know what really works to keep men healthy and stable in this profession, and it's having good men that are focused and grounded on the most important thing, which is family faith and good health.
Speaker 1:And we don't do that by constantly promoting the old ideas of yeah, man, we're fucking goons, shit's stupid, it's blown out. Dude, nobody cares about that shit. If you're still calling yourself a goon, I'm sorry, it's fucking lame. Move on. Operators fuck doesn't even stand for. Operators fuck anymore. I hate to burst your bubble. Those guys aren't around anymore. It's now almost a news media and everything has to evolve, and maybe that's something that we have to reconcile within ourselves as soft operators, putting to bed the idea that we need to be these broken, outstanding individuals. That's what we deserve to pass on to the pass that baton to the next guys, and not just SOF, but to conventional forces, to the regular Army dudes that are actually the ones who are the main effort. Go figure.
Speaker 4:I think you know, one of the things that you guys were saying that I think is valuable and could be translated across all the branches is that we need good influences and not like influencer influences, just good examples of people want to be like that guy. What is that guy doing that's working for him? Okay, he wakes up every morning at 4 30 and he pts or he eats. He doesn't eat like cake and ice cream every day. He's eating a pretty like steady diet of like high protein. He's maybe not eating all the carbs in the world and, like you know, he spends time with his family. He takes care of his kids, like you know.
Speaker 4:Just having having good examples to emulate is probably one of those valuable things out there. Because that's that that was kind of what I based a lot of my leadership ideas from was like the guys that were my platoon sergeant when I got to the fleet, or my my section leaders like, like, for example, my first platoon sergeants. Both of them were Fallujah the second battle of Fallujah vets. So like those dudes were 0311s in the second battle of Fallujah and they were like corporal and sergeant, and that was my first example of what like a senior infantryman was like. So just like hard dudes that were the salt of the earth, super humble guys, but they gave a damn about. You know how proficient are my PFCs and my Lance Corporals? Because maybe we're not going to war right now, but eventually we're going to and whether they go or not, they're the next generation that's going to train, the next guys that could possibly go after.
Speaker 4:So having that good example and it can translate to when you get out in the civilian sector too, because everybody gets out eventually. Nobody stays in forever, everybody gets out eventually. And when you get out, what are you going to do? Are you going to get disconnected from your entire tribe and then be disjointed and be alone? Because that can happen real easily. It happens to a lot of guys in every community, whether you're SAD for conventional, because people get out and then they, because that can happen real easily. It happens to a lot of guys in every community, whether you're S-Tab for conventional, because people get out and then they lose that tribe and you don't have the same connection with your average person because they didn't have the same shared hardships or the same shared experiences that made you do so.
Speaker 4:That's one of the things I always encourage people to do, especially when they transition out, is get connected immediately. Get connected as soon as you can Get connected, before you even get out, so that way you can just roll right into being connected with people and either working with veteran organizations or nonprofits or other organizations that support veterans and working with other people in the community or that have been a part of the community, and it just not only does that reinforce our entire community as a whole, because we're all working together for common goals and, for you know, for common reasons, but we're also there with each other as a support network to help each other keep going. When, you know, some shit hits the fan personally, like maybe your relationship didn't work out, you know, maybe your kids don't like you, maybe you're having a hard financial crisis, whatever, you know what I mean, like and that that's yeah, that's what it's really all about is is is that interconnectedness, especially as you're getting ready to transition out? Because because, like I said, man, everybody gets out eventually. And what are you going to do? You're going to just like, go off and like work with a bunch of people you don't identify with, or are you going to try to, you know, find a way to get plugged in, you know, and that that's. I think that's where I'm going to.
Speaker 4:That's where I'm going to personally do is just get plugged back in as soon as I get out, you know to, to continue the same stuff I'm doing now, and, and you know, I'll continue doing this while I'm in too, because, like I enjoy it, I like what you said, dean about, like it's about just being a good dude doing good things for the community, and like whether that be just raising awareness about stuff that's important to us, that's affecting us, or just rate, like being capable of having a voice, to like alert people to something that's important that would otherwise go unnoticed, because, you know, your average person in america may not be as clued into things that are happening with the veteran community or the active duty community, and like like, for example, if, like, say, say, for example, uh, I just this is just one example of something that I saw like a kid was on the way back on boot leave from recruit training and he's riding with his parents and his girlfriend or his wife and they got in a car accident.
Speaker 4:His wife lost, I think, one or both parents. He lost one of his parents and then they had a GoFundMe setup that was established by the family. Like, who do you think is going to care more about that situation? Do you think people that have served or that are currently serving are going to care more about that situation? Or do you think, like your average, you know not, not no offense to other people, but other people in another industry. You know what I mean. Like we are, we are, are are. So it's a double-edged sword, because we nobody cares more about vets in active duty than vets in active duty, but nobody hates on our own community like we do as well, you know, and that's, that's a real you know.
Speaker 4:I'm saying like, that's a real problem we have, that we've got so fucking true, man, we are going to be working through that for years because it is just, it's a stigma and it's up to each of us as an individual to try not to continue that poor behavior, because that's setting a bad example for the other people to emulate. Because you've got young folks, or even old cats that look up to you, regardless of who you are, and they see you doing that. They're like oh okay, well, that's the green light for me to do the same, you know. So if you're, if you're out there just trying to be supportive of people, then hopefully, ideally, that that encourages other people to do the same, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you, you know there's better than most man. Positivity is a hard thing to sell, but it's something that we have to rally around. Man, yeah, you put up one video shitting on somebody five million views. You put a video hoping to inspire somebody to just get off the couch and be physically active or or volunteer, and they're gonna think who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? You piece of shit?
Speaker 4:it's like fuck man yeah, yeah, no, man, I get and that's like. I try to post some stuff that's like motivational occasionally here and there, but I'm not really good at it because it just feel it doesn't feel authentic marine because you're a marine yeah, I try, I try to just, I mean, I try to just like be straight up, like hey, yeah, I mean I get up every.
Speaker 4:I do genuinely get up every morning at 4 30 to go cook breakfast and shave and then, you know, do some work and then go to work after that and then I go to the gym every day. But the big reason, honestly, that I I work out isn't because I'm getting paid to be in good shape or I need to make sure I can pass my pft. It's because it keeps my brain healthy and it keeps my mind healthy, which is like, honestly, if nothing else, that's like the biggest reason I p, you know, and especially once people get out and you're no longer taking a fitness test annually, like you know, you got to find your reason, you know, and if it's, if it's so that you can, you know, keep yourself alive, well, that's a pretty good reason. You know what I mean. Like, so I don't know that's and that's just, and that, that stuff, people, can you know these podcasts, man, like they're so valuable because somebody could come along that may be.
Speaker 4:Like you know, I don't know what's going on, man. I've been in this crappy mood and, like you know nothing's going right. And then you know maybe they hear oh, you know, I haven't been working out as much, maybe I should, maybe I should go for a run or something, or maybe I should go for a swim, or you know what I mean, like, and even if it's not me, it doesn't have to be me, it could be anybody saying it and it'd have the same impact, you know. So I don't know. There's a lot. There's a lot of positives. I want to take a moment to pitch our security halt semi-hard challenge.
Speaker 1:You've heard of 75 hard Andrew Frisella, a hugely successful businessman, first form. He developed the 75 hard challenge and what I realized is, for a lot of people, the moment they missed that one day and they reset that clock and they're back to day one when they had 70, they give up. They're through it and everybody does it. Whether you're a hardcore fucking former Green Beret Navy SEAL, first time you reset that clock it hits you in the dick. You're like I don't want to do it anymore. It's okay. Do the security halt semi-hard challenge. All the same metrics. We're only asking you to do one simple thing in addition is to express gratitude and be able to look at your day, no matter how shitty it was, and be able to think of, like, at least three things you're grateful for. Now, if you miss one of your metrics, miss one of your things, that's okay. You don't reset the clock. Instead, what I want you to do is donate to a group of the charities. One of them is Special Forces Foundation, nonstandardorg, 50 for the Fallen and the Reason Outdoor. Now you can start donating at just $1, $2, or $3, but here's the thing Next time you miss a day, you just double it. So it gives you that intensive feeling of oh shit, shit, I shouldn't miss the gym today, or I shouldn't miss drinking my water.
Speaker 1:So if you're on Whoop, find our team Security Halt. Join us in this 75 Semi-Hard Challenge. And here's the kicker we're going to continue doing 75 Hard all year long and if you stick with us, you prestige. You don't get anything, but at the end of the year you could be invited to do one of our challenges. You don't get anything, but at the end of the year you could be invited to do one of our challenges. And the first one we're doing is actually in March. We're doing the Savage Loop in Florida. So look that up and join us.
Speaker 1:If you're down, 42 miles, you can attempt to run it. If you're super cool and fit, or just walk it. However, you need to survive it. Just be willing to commit to a challenge. We need to do hard fucking things in life, as men and women too. Once you stop doing hard things and get stuck in that pipeline of comfort seeking, it's hard to get out of it. So again, join us in this year as we're doing 75 hard loops, as long as we can, for as long as our bodies will let us. And if you need to take a day off, take a day off. Just be willing to donate a few dollars towards great organizations like the Special Forces Foundation 50 for the Fallen organizations like the Special Forces Foundation, 50 for the Fallen and we're going to add Lowell's. Tell us about your nonprofit real quick. I didn't know anything about it, but we're going to throw it in the loop because we need to be able to support these causes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what I run is a council called the Aiken County Veterans Council. We do a bunch of stuff throughout the year and the cool thing about what I do here is it's it's niche to where I live at so it can be replicated to anybody that wants to do essentially what I'm doing. You could do it exactly where you're at and you could replicate it. So, um, all all we did, it was done way before me. It was started in 1992, uh, by some folks and they just realized I mean Dean's doing the black black, uh, black rifle coffee stuff. You got your just realized I mean Dean's doing the Black Rock for Coffee stuff. You got the podcast. We all have our own little niches and if we're all in the same community your loop that you're talking about in March, this event that you're going to do you want to make sure that when you go into that environment that somebody else doesn't have an event going on that same day that's going to draw away from the participation of yours.
Speaker 2:And so essentially, back in 92, the veteran leadership of all these veteran service organizations the VFW, the American Legion, marine Corps League, purple Heart Chapter all that stuff got together to create a fusion cell so that they were not only complementing each other, they weren't competing against each other, and that turned into a registered nonprofit in 1996. I took it over almost a decade ago. I'm currently the longest serving chairman in its history. But we started doing our own projects within it. One of the things that we do is we have a program called Hometown Heroes, which over the last five years has raised about $22,000. And what it is is we put banners up. So you know, like Colorado Springs would be an awesome one. I mean, it would raise a ton of money because there's a lot of veterans that probably still live in the springs or outside of the springs. And so the way it works is the council website. You can go on there, aiken County Veterans Councilorg, but we have a pay processor on there, and so you submit your DD-214 to us. All we do is verify that you actually served, and that's just to protect the integrity of the program, so we don't have any stolen valor stuff.
Speaker 2:And then you submit a photo. That has to be, you know, like we don't. We don't want G. You know Dean up there in his short shorts, you know you wish, but yeah, I mean that would just you know, people would be, people would be crashing their cars downtown, but essentially submit a photo and then we send all of this information off and, excuse me, we um create these banners and they're large banners, I mean they are probably uh, if I were to stick, roll one out next to me, it's you know. I mean they're good six feet. They go up on all of the telephone poles around town and we started the program. We had 22 entries. Now we have essentially now every six months I'm in a battle with the cities around here to get me more locations to put these banners up, because now we have over 200 of them around town and they're double-sided.
Speaker 2:But it does a couple of things. They're double-sided but it does a couple of things. It raises money because I charge you $85 to put your face and your information on one side and it only cost me $85 for the whole banner. So I make $85 for a nonprofit for every single banner I sell. It also shows the community that there are a lot of veterans, especially where I live at. That people don't even know. I mean, I didn't know Dean was a Green Beret. I didn't even know he was in the Army. He's just moved into my community. He's just doing his thing, but he bought a banner.
Speaker 2:Some of the cool stories that have come out of it. We probably and Dean's talking about philanthropy earlier. The nice thing about the philanthropy issue is when and I'm sure he's dealt with it, because we dealt with it just recently with, uh, hurricane Helene in North Carolina it's the stories that come out of it that that you don't know, that somebody is about to tell you and somebody says, hey, man, let me tell you what, what, what this did for my family. We have a, we have a lot of uh, we have it's an older demographic here, so we have a lot of assisted living and a lot of uh, we have a it's an older demographic here, so we have a lot of assisted living and a lot of nursing homes in the area.
Speaker 2:And, um, we had a banner that was submitted by a family member for somebody who lived in one of those assisted living communities and they said hey, you know, is there any way? By chance, and it's a smaller town, so we know a lot of people, we've got a lot of connections and we can pull a lot of strings. But they said is there any way that we could get his banner near the facility so that the family could wheel him out he's in a wheelchair, could roll him out to the unveiling of his banner. And so I said, surely we can make this happen. So I notify a friend of mine who's a writer with our local newspaper and I say, hey, you know, we've got the banner up, the family's going to meet us, they're going to bring him out and the guy's a World War II veteran.
Speaker 2:He's since passed away, but he was probably every bit of 90 years old. He's in a wheelchair with his son and we just it's like we're just going for a walk around the, around the block and as we're walking he you know the family had submitted this, so he has no clue and I just remember, like it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I was just like, wow, man, like this is, this is amazing, like what we've just done today, like something so small. The guy sitting in a wheelchair and he, he looks up at the banner and he's kind of like looking at it and his son like kind of nudges him and is like, hey, pop, look at that up there. Yeah, and he's just in, like all of a sudden, like he's looking at that photo of himself from that era and you could see him in that moment from his wheelchair. Go back to that time and like just the smile on his face and I was like man, like we just, you know, we literally just did that for this guy.
Speaker 2:Like you know, I mean just the simplest of things, like when when somebody says, hey, thanks for your, your service, and we're always like, oh yeah, whatever man you know, like at veterans day this year, I told people the things that we've done in our careers.
Speaker 2:We don't often stop and reflect how that impacted other folks. You know your podcast, how that's affecting people right now, how dean's doing that with black rifle coffee and with the sf foundation, the stuff that we do. It's just because we grew up in a unit where that was kind of expected. You did what you were asked to do and then, all right, man, what's next? It wasn't like, oh, hey, man, we're going to get an award for this. Surely I can't wait to see. Well, it was just yeah, man, that's what we're asked to do. We're asked to do a lot of impossible things at impossible times and that's, that was the norm. And it was like, all right, man, good job, all right, go back to the team room and re-cock, because we're going to go do it again but what you're, what you're doing now, like that, that story, fuck man.
Speaker 1:like that's what we need. What you gave that that gentleman, what you gave that family for that moment for him to see himself and his service to be recognized, that's fucking that.
Speaker 2:And that's the thing. So, like with our council, like I tell people all the time I'm like if you wanted to start like a small nonprofit just doing things in a community, I've got the playbook I'm like I will send it to you, I'll help you, I can put you in contact with the people who make our stuff. Um, my favorite program is a program I started personally like seven years ago. It's called Operation St Nick, the like 10 days to a little depressing, because there are some of us that you know some of the places that we go into. Like I've had veterans that are like, yeah, man, I'm not interested. Like you know, kind of get out of my room.
Speaker 2:Councils of the towns that are in my county to these, but, um, you know just little things like that. We sit with them if we can and talk. You know we uh, we do it for every single assisted living facility every year. It's about three, anywhere from three to 350 veterans, um, and then we take Santa Claus to two locations. I've got guys here that own military vehicles that like tag along with us. They'll deliveranta to the front door and you know the the veterans that can get out, they come out. Take a look at these old military trucks and stuff like that. So it's just a really cool, really cool aspect. So, like the council was big on, you know, remembering those and I think it's a big pillars for all of us, like remembering what we did. You know, like a lot of people don't even you know you, you talk about nine, 11 and people were kind of like, oh, I'm like that wasn't that long ago my man changed our lives.
Speaker 2:The guys that are sitting here right now like change our lives drastically, Um, but you know, educating the youth, being a being an inspiration for the guys coming behind us, what, like Nick, is crushing right now bringing guys into the regiment and into the military to serve. But also a lot of focus goes on to helping guys that have served and we're not necessarily like my big issue right now with us as a community, as a veteran community, and you can see it in retention and recruiting. The whole world thinks that every one of us has PTSD and we're all crazy and like, oh man, Dean can't cope. I don't know how he gets to it. The poor guy's just so broken. It's like we've got some brothers and sisters that are severely broken that we're trying to help, but they're a very small minority. And then you look at, like why is recruiting so low? I'm like, well, if, if, if. The thought process is like I'm going to join this and I'll become some broken turd that like can't function all day, like why would you want to join that?
Speaker 1:I can't be around fireworks no, it's not how it works.
Speaker 2:Turn the volume down yeah, I'm like, and you know what I mean. I hate to make light of it because we do. We really do have some people that are struggling, but we are like. I say it. Probably the last couple of weeks I felt like I've said it every single day and I literally hate saying it to this point, but it's almost become like one of my catch phrases around here with the veteran community. But I constantly tell people man like, life isn't a spectator sport.
Speaker 1:No, and you can heal. That's the. That's the missing part. That's a missing part. If you're struggling, you can recover. That's the piece that we're missing out on it. Like dude, you've been diagnosed with something. Hey, guess what? It's okay, there's a way out of this. You're in a draw. You're in a frigging nasty draw. You're back at Camp McCall and you're in a star course by yourself. All you need to do is shoot up that star cluster, get some help, get on the right plan of action and you can blaze out of there and you'll be back and you'll be another great any of the conventional medical system saying like hey, you can recover. All they want you to do is put on that nice warm comfort victim jacket, stay medicated and keep complaining about how the world's unfair and how you're a broken, disgruntled vet. That's not the truth, dean. You were about to say something, man, before we jumped on you.
Speaker 3:No, I mean, I just I. I can't agree more with low. I hate the whole victim mentality. It drives me insane. I don't like it one bit. Like I just. I remember getting the group and one of my first seniors I could just tell that this guy, like he was like he was going through a divorce. He probably smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and drink much Mountain dues. Smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and drank a bunch of Mountain Dews and I was like what the fuck did I get myself involved with? Like I don't want to end up like that. Uh, but obviously later on I've saw a lot more better mentors and stuff that I, you know, drifted towards. So it is not that victim mentality.
Speaker 3:And sometimes doing philanthropy it can be difficult to send that message because you know you don't want to come in to people who want to help and support the cause and tell them everything's great and you're perfect, because then you're you know you're a hypocrite at that point because it's not. There are a minority who absolutely need the support and that's what we're trying to achieve and support with through nonprofit work and other philanthropy efforts to be efforts. But to Lowell's point, the majority of us still do pretty well today and we need to be able to show that, without always being this victim of it is. It's such an elegant thing to talk about because you know there's a balance to it. You know it's this. You know how do you show that we do need help in certain aspects, but not that we're so damaged and broken that everything that we do is this crumbling building, you know the, the building with the scaffold around it 24, seven, that's never going to get fixed, so it's not but um, but it's just interesting to kind of see that come together and be able to. Because you know, working in philanthropy, you know you see a lot of the, the worst of it, but at the same time and I always try to, you know, once again, mr and optimistic here is show all the greatness and stuff and the leaders that we're working with, who are doing amazing thing and that are setting a very good example that I hope you know kind of pushes towards. You know, upping the recruitment, because, while I had my bad days, like everybody else, joining the military and doing special forces is some of the best stuff I've ever done in my life. I don't, I refuse to be defined by it for the rest of my life. I want to have more to it, but I don't regret a single day of doing it and I hope other people and the next generation coming in.
Speaker 3:I think it's really easy for us old dogs to be like you know, back in my day when shit was hard, dude, I go to the Thor gym now and you should see these, these kids that are in there. I call them kids. They're like 25 and stuff, but I mean they're power lifting to 25. Like it's nothing. You know, these, these kids are fit, strong, educated. I'm just like dude, you are light years ahead of where I was when I was your age.
Speaker 3:So it's really enlightening to see some of the next generation coming up. And you're just like you know. I really can't tell them that it was hard. Maybe it was harder in some ways back in my day, but for the most part it's probably the same. I think we just lie to ourselves about that, but I'm I'm pretty excited to see the next generation come in. So this whole, like you know, we're this weaker force, shit, you know. Maybe you know, maybe you can make an argument for that. But come and stop by the gym sometime and interview some of the boys in there and you'll be shocked to see what the next generation looks like yeah, they're fucking hybrid athletes all hopped up on oat, milk and vegan diets.
Speaker 1:It's machines. They, they are Fuck with these kids. Yeah, kagan, I want to. I want to chat with you for a little bit or have your input. You're, you're somebody that's out there in the forefront in this year. You, you're constantly on our feeds. How do you navigate, putting the best foot forward, putting an honest broker face, while still being in, in, in service? It's easy for us when we're on the outside. If we mess up, we're like, oh fuck it, I don't have to answer to the regiment, but you're still in the fight and you're still trying to put a human face and actual personify. You know service. How do you deal with that?
Speaker 4:Very careful. That very careful. That's honestly. That's honestly it. Man, like I have I've messed up. I don't get me wrong, I've messed up occasionally and then, like you know, 10 minutes later I'm like oh crap, I need to delete that and I've deleted it before. You know what I mean. Like you made mistakes. You know I've also had people come after me because they didn't like me or they didn't like my wife and say they wanted to try to get me in trouble. I've had people call NCIS on me. I've had people call my command. I've had all that stuff happen.
Speaker 1:I didn't know it was that bad, oh no it's not bad anymore.
Speaker 4:I haven't had any issues now like in a while because I was getting harassed by this one person who's serially like a serial NCIS caller, basically trying to constantly get me in trouble. But eventually that stopped.
Speaker 2:But um as Kagan said man, we're the best and we're the worst at the same time.
Speaker 4:Well, yeah, exactly that's what. Yeah, that's it. And I say that like a broken record because I say it on every podcast. I go on because I, honestly, if for nothing else, I'm just reminding myself you know what I'm saying, because I, you know. I just want to remember, like, hey, look, most of the people that I've met in the military in general, regardless of branch, are decent people. You know, there's going to be it's like, it's like a microcosm of normal American society. You're going to have good people and you're going to have bad people. You know, I do.
Speaker 4:I do genuinely believe that most people that I've met or encountered are decent people and they just want to make a difference. They want to have a sense of purpose, like other people, and they want to feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves and they want to feel like they got a purpose. But I think part of the nuance to it is number one, you know. But I think part of the nuance to it is number one understanding and having an intimate level of awareness of what your left and right lateral limits are. That's, that's, that's first and foremost. If you, if you know that and you got an intimate level of awareness and understanding, then you're probably going to be fine.
Speaker 4:You stay within that stuff and you're good. And if you stick to like fact-based stuff and you're not like giving your political opinions and stuff like that, then that's okay too. Plus, it's okay for me to talk about how much I like machine guns and how much I think everyone should be allowed to own a machine gun. You know what I mean. But and that's okay, cause that's like my personal opinion and second amendment's part of the constitution for a reason, right. But you know, obviously, like I try to stay away from, I try to stay away from, I try to stay away from some of the drama like cause there I mean you guys just see like you were talking about early I try to stay out of that, don't even touch that.
Speaker 1:I don't like that button. I don't want to press yeah, I don't.
Speaker 4:I don't get involved in the drama, like I try to keep a lot of my stuff. I try to keep just informative because I really have I have a fascination with what's going on around the world. I like to understand what's happening on the other side of the planet because it could directly impact us as service members as far as, like where we could deploy, where our friends could end up going, uh and and like things that are going to potentially directly impact, you know, the national security of the United States, like, like what's going on in Syria, for example. That's a good example, but, um, so that's one thing. And then you know raising awareness about something that like happened, that happened maybe like a, an order changed or a policy change. That's like oh like, for example, the Marine Corps just changed their leave and liberty policy and like that's. That could be something that people might find interesting. They may not be looking up the more admins every day, cause they're not like a senior gunning, they're not like on their computer every day, you know whatever, and like your average PFC is not going to know that stuff, but or like toxic is exposure stuff, like what Hunter seven does, like I like being able to have the ability to amplify good people like that, because I don't know the first thing about any of that stuff, but they do and I trust what, I trust their judgment and I trust their ability to to navigate that, that area of expertise and if I can help amplify their voice, that to tell people like, hey look, if you want to get tested, these folks will provide you with a free $1,500 cancer screening, like that kind of stuff. Like that's cool too, you know, and I think really what it comes down to is just like, again it, you know, just be a good dude, try to keep things lighthearted, light.
Speaker 4:Life is, life is hard, man, and and you know, obviously, like you guys were discussing before, like we have, we have a real issue with, you know, mental health stuff, whether that's, you know, depression, anxiety, ptsd, whatever it is like, even if it's only a minuscule amount, like as far as the PTSD, everybody's got stuff going on mentally and and especially in in our community, like most of us, those people that I know at least, like tough, hard-charging dudes. They don't want to ask for help. They're like, I'll deal with myself, I'm not gonna tell anybody about my problems, I'll handle my own stuff, because I'm uh, you know that's what. That's what you know. We're kind of race.
Speaker 4:You're like, don't go to the aid station. You know I mean that kind of stuff. Like no, go to the aid station. You know what I mean, that kind of stuff. Like no, go to the aid station and get your stuff checked out, get yourself healthy so you can get back in the fight, and then you're good to go right and just like you know, really just being open to communicating and relaying information. That's, you know, sometimes it's negative, because that's the nature of the beast. Sometimes, like life isn't always, isn't always a bed of roses, but at the same time you can share that stuff too.
Speaker 1:It's important to have that ability to be open and be vulnerable and share the good and the bad. Look, it's not all sunshine, rables and lollipops, but that's not life. You don't want life to be all comfort. You want challenges, lollipops, but that's not life. You don't want life to be all comfort, you want challenges. I'm telling you as much as I I enjoy a day free of bullshit. The days that you and dean you're you're right there, you were warned the days that you're going to remember are when you came in. It was a fucking shit storm and you worked your ass off and you took care of things. You're like fucking a took care of the fires.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly you know, and I just I love what kagan's saying he's one of my favorites because in fact, if you didn't know, he was prior enlisted, so I think that's why I like him a lot. First time we met I noticed he had way more gray hair than a, than a first lieutenant should. I was like there's something weird about you and you haven't said one stupid thing yet.
Speaker 4:So are you sure you're a lieutenant? There's something I can't quite tell about you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's that old, way too old officer. That's like hanging out with the kids, like, hey, kids, you all want to do some young lieutenant things. Yeah, what the fuck sir.
Speaker 3:Yeah, something seemed weird there so I immediately called him out. I was like you speak very well for being the first lieutenant, I don't know, just dogging on them. But yeah, it's awesome to kind of see the goodness that's going around these days and that's what I really wanted to get in this podcast. It's just one of those like fuck all that negative shit. Don't get me wrong, I will always state by it's important to hold people accountable for their actions and words. Don't get me like. That stuff should always exist. But you know, talking about the toxic stuff usually ends up getting all the rave and all the you know, 50 million views if you're into that kind of shit. But but I do like calling out a lot of the people like 1950s are falling. You know Chad Pond, we always out there doing amazing shit to help people out. There's so many. I tried to get Benny on here, our bunny Benjamin from a warrior rising. He's doing amazing stuff with Jason Dane camp oh, who else is there? Nate Boyer, you know he's always through MVP.
Speaker 2:Well, going back to like what Dean said, with the the aspect, like I always laugh because like who we were. Like, if we look back right now at who we were when we joined the united states military, it's comical. Like I look at like a photo of basic training, I'm like who, who's this kid? And so from there to today, even after separating from the military, the things that we do on a regular basis today, like we've changed and so like I laugh when I hear people talk about how they quantify you know who we are now. It's like, oh well, you know, and it's and it's laughable to me because they're like you know, oh yeah, like dean saw a lot of shit. You know he doesn't like to sit with his back to the door and I'm like like well, why would you? You know what I mean. Like I'm you know I always laugh. You know like I look at and I'm you know what I mean. Like I'm, you know I always laugh, you know like I look at it and I'm like you know, like I always want to like use analogies, like yeah, you know, dean doesn't like to overpay for groceries, you know. Or like he doesn't like to have somebody stand right behind him at the ATM. I'm like who the fuck would you know? Like so, so word chains. Like like, when buddy's like tell me stuff, and they're like, yeah, man, I know you don't like to sit with your back to the door and I'm like why the fuck would you want to sit with your back to the door? Like I also don't like to to try to breathe air while underwater. You know what I mean. Like I'm just like come on, guys. Like it's we have changed. Not all of our changes are a negative. Yeah, like we have developed, we have educated ourselves. Like we don't draw a pistol like the first time we ever drew a pistol because we've developed other skills. Like you know, when we first started learning how to transition, you're like, oh, and some. Then your nco is like hey, workspace, and now you're like, oh, and you see people doing it. You're like going back to like that influencer. It's like being a mentor, being a divisoror, being an account, being a counselor. You're like, hey, bud, let me show you how to do this. Like you know, dean talks about that first. You know, senior, like one of my first seniors was a complete shit show and I don't look back at it as a negative, like I look at it, as I learned just as much from him on things not to do, going forward that I did from some of the best NCOs that I ever met in my life. So, you know, it's up to us how we take the information that's put in front of us. So, like, dean talks about being very optimistic, and he is, and that's a great thing, because we need more ray of sunshine people in our lives on a daily basis.
Speaker 2:Kagan talks about, you know, leaving the military and separating and us not finding that tribe. You know, and I I mentioned the. You know that's not finding that tribe. You know, and I mentioned the. You know life's not a spectator sport. That's where I see a lot of veterans go wrong and it's because we are like, well, you know, these people aren't like us. You go back to your hometown and it's like, well, you know, these guys aren't the same and it's like, yeah, man, like when you separate from the military. I left fort bragg and moved four hours south and I joke because we've got a lot of third group dudes that live here. We've created our own little tribe back here where I live at, but of course, we're not like everybody else. They're not like me in the same instance. They look at me just the way I look at them. It's a different look, but it's not to say that they're any less.
Speaker 2:I love the fact of what you said when we kicked this podcast off about you know, you got to add people to your ODA and then you got to decide. Those people that you're around and the buddies that I hang out with here are very successful guys that we don't talk about like oh, hey, lola, what you know, would you rather shoot a guy with 171 grain? Or you know, like I've got, I really want to get a 45, but I heard there's not enough knockdown power. And I'm like, yeah, man, I spent a lot of years of combat. No one's ever rolled over and been like should have shot me with a 45. I'm like, no, they're just dead. You know, like accuracy probably accuracy over caliber I would preach that. But you know those are the conversations I laugh about, when people are like, oh, you know these guys, like they're changed. I'm like, yeah, man, so are you. You're different than when you went to high school and you didn't go to combat. You know what I mean. Like it's just, we evolve and we grow as adults. But we want to go back to that Like well, you know, they've been to combat, done all this stuff, Like perfect example.
Speaker 2:And I won't use the person's name, but I was the commander of a VFW here where I live at, and we have someone in that post who was a tune guard and he wasn't assimilating back to society very well and was often in the bottom of a bottle and sometimes we just got to be brutally honest with each other. And uh, you know Dean's last name is Goldblum I'll use his last name, uh, for this. But uh, they were like, yeah, you know, like, uh, well, you know, he went to a lot of funerals. You know, like he was a tomb guard at Arlington. And they're like yeah, yeah, I'm like he's buried more people than that dude, but guess what he like, he, he like drinking every night, like oh, you know I'm buried, jump jim, bob or steve or bob.
Speaker 2:I'm like. I'm like this dude was a tomb guard. Like you think he knew every single person that he buried at arlington. Like, give me a break. Like, stop making excuses, own your shit, you know, put yourself around positive, but at the end of the day, like we, like you know, like, oh man, look at Nick, look at these dudes that have lost limbs and they're doing more than every one of us on this podcast. And then other people.
Speaker 2:I've got a guy that is in the gym that I work out at here every day, who lost his foot. He lost his left leg below the knee in his right hand in a motorcycle accident. Um, crashed. He had a crotch rocket going a little too fast, got away from him, uh, his hand was reattached, uh. But I see him, you know. I was in the gym this morning walking on treadmill and there's jewels like doing his thing, and I'm like, hey, what's up dude? And he's like, yeah, you know telling me about what he's got going on, but but he's in there every single day Like, and he that's a very like he could have been like, yeah, man, I lost my hand and I could just quit, but he's not. So you know, like I said, like life isn't a spectator sport, you get out of it what you put into it, just like I got something real quick that I wanted to say before I forget, based on what you were saying so.
Speaker 4:So one of the things that makes me think you kind of remind me is like the military in a lot of ways, like we're all like trying to slap our our tube stake on the desk and measure it in front of everybody. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, like it's constantly a meh, like a dick measuring contest. It's like we are so, so bad for doing that all the time because like, oh, you went to marcia, well, I went to fallujah. Oh, you went to fallujah, well, I went to way city. Like you know what I mean? It's always like, like there's, it's always going to be, somebody that did more, somebody that's harder, or somebody that's done this, that and the other. You know, and and it goes back to the idea that you know and I hear Joe Rogan say this on his podcast all the time he says comparison is the thief of joy. And like we, we, we compare ourselves to each other more than anybody, probably in any other group, just because like that's I don't know, maybe it's, maybe it's like a cultural thing or a social thing that happens when you're in the military, because everybody's constantly like oh, look at his ribbon stack, he's got 15 ribbons, I've only got 12, like he must have seen more of them or whatever. You know, I mean, like there's always, always stuff like that going on.
Speaker 4:I think I think if, if we focus more on like hey, look again, like it goes back to speak, good dude, and treat everybody the same, treat everybody, just treat everybody. Well, be a nice guy until you, until you have to be not nice guy, you know what I mean like, uh, and, and you know, I guess, try to go through life and help people as you go through life the most, as best you can, you know. Um, that's why I like Dean's like outlook upon life, cause I I kinda like, like you said, man, life can be pretty damn dark sometimes, man, and honestly, like I don't want to wallow in that for too long, cause it's like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. You know what I'm saying. So I'd rather, I'd rather just try to keep stuff lighthearted.
Speaker 4:I like to know what's going on and be informed, but try to keep stuff lighthearted, try to do something good for somebody whenever I have opportunities and try not to compare myself to other people. Somebody the other day was like you know what's unreal that you don't have an Afghanistan campaign medal. I'm like'm like bro, I didn't have a choice where I deployed. Do you think I like the first time, the first time I deployed to a combat zone? Yeah, quote, a shit bag. I was like bro, the first time I deployed to a combat zone wasn't until I was a fucking togue. I wasn't even in the infantry anymore. When I finally went to combat, I rot. That's irony, is what that is. You know what I'm saying, but it is what it is. That's that's life, man. That's that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. And and like there's no reason for me to be comparing myself to anybody else the same way anyone else should be doing. You know what I?
Speaker 1:mean yeah, dude, yeah, that that is. There's a huge thing that I see within our community the oh well, you weren't in fucking Fallujah, no, I was in fucking elementary school. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I got in the fight as soon as I could, but I think, dude, like what the fuck do we do to people that didn't have the same service? And then like, and then we just have to be able to take a deep breath and understand that and it's a cheesy saying, but hurt people, hurt people. Oftentimes the most like aggressive and just spiteful individuals are going through something that they're not ready to get help for.
Speaker 4:That's true, man, that's big fat, yeah, I mean hater, hater is gonna hate dude.
Speaker 3:You know just that's. And then that's cool. You know, I kind of sometimes I like it, but uh, yeah, I always just. I mean just whatever. If you feel like hating, you're gonna hate on me because I'm gonna give back positive energy toward you. It's probably gonna piss you up anymore, and usually spitefully. Sometimes that's what I do. I'm just one of those assholes that just like oh, my house is on fire, like well, at least we're warm, because it's cold as shit outside. You know, I just it's how I roll, man.
Speaker 1:You know I may have said that to an Afghan farmer once. Did not work out.
Speaker 3:Exactly Now. Granted, don't get me wrong, I get I'll get pissed off, like everybody else, from time to time. I'm not perfect, I'm not Jesusesus, so you know it's it happened. But but once again, I just, quite frankly, there are times I absolutely hate seeing all the hateful shit that's going out, you know, just to get attention and stuff, because I know that if it wasn't for the internet, most of you wouldn't be doing that. If I was standing there and you were hating on something, you would, you'd probably be like, well, I'm not gonna do that right now, and so try to put yourself in that position.
Speaker 3:You know I do see some hate on Black Rifle Coffee Company from time to time, and some of it can be justified, you know. But I get it. I get the opportunity to talk to the founders and executives and I can tell you that every one of them give a shit about what we're doing to help veterans and first responders Hands down. If they didn't, I wouldn't be doing to help veterans and first responders hands down. If they didn't, I wouldn't be guaranteed I would find something else, because I'm not going to be a part of an organization that isn't there to help veterans and first responders. So, but it's just one of those. But you know, but sometimes the hate can't always be bad.
Speaker 3:I do appreciate when I do get called out from time to time on things that I know I can do better and I need that kick in the ass to kind of get me straight again. I think everybody, you know, some of the best leaders that I had were the ones who literally were the ones who would kick me in the ass and straighten me out from time to time that I didn't even know I needed. Were they hating on me? Sure, did they do it the correct way. I think that's important, you know, because there's something to be said on something just like yeah, lowell's a shit bag, and then walk away. Or you can say hey, lowell, you're the always the last person to show up every day. You should probably come when everybody else does. Now you're hating on him, but in a positive way, to get his ass working and moving in the right direction. I think that it is there's a cool word for that Instructive criticism. I like that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:That's true leadership.
Speaker 3:It is Some of the best leaders I had would always give it to me straight, maybe not even at the time. I'd walk out and I'd be like fuck that guy. But then a couple of days later I'd be like man, man, he was right. I probably should, you know, hit the gym a little bit more because I'm getting soft, I'm getting weak, but you know, I don't know. I belabored that point enough, you know, and try to rag on a little bit, because I'm just trying to get a body like his.
Speaker 1:Dude is jacked, just veins. I told him not everywhere.
Speaker 3:Don't just veins, I told not everywhere. Don't take pictures standing next to him.
Speaker 3:It just makes you look like this tiny dwarf person that's like the first time I took it was like a year ago or so, I took a picture standing next to uh to nick lavery and um travis wilson, and both these guys are like behemoths. And then I see the picture and I look like this little bitch. So obviously that affected me. I'm like what the? I don't feel like I'm even that small of a guy, but I was like holy shit but anyway, I met travis once in my life and it ruined my self-esteem forever I've had.
Speaker 2:I've had to bring nick up on stage at two different occasions and I always joke that the reason I get stuck doing it is because nobody wants to stand next to him both those individuals like fuck dude, like you're uh one's uh captain america and uh, the other is, you know, a different superhero.
Speaker 3:It's like fuck man like you can't win. You can't win, it's it does make getting behind a rock a lot easier, and taking cover though, so you know I'll throw that at him. Yeah, you know I was like you know, like you're not gonna hide behind that shit, but I'll sit when you're on the airplane with them, you're like how's that leg room over there bud?
Speaker 1:just fucking massive individuals. Ah, fuck yeah, it's more motivation to go to the gym and then to try every single supplement on god's green earth to try to get a fraction of what they got.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I told Nick. I was like damn Nick, you make me want to take TRT. I seen him up in DC. The first time I met him in person. I was like or the second time I was like dude, have you ever tried TRT? I was like dude, you're genuinely making me interested. You know what I'm saying. I was like I was like dude, have you ever tried trt? I was like I was. I was like dude, you're genuinely making me interested. You know what I'm saying. I'm 38. I mean I'm getting close to that age. You know I'm saying why not?
Speaker 1:you know, dude, every everybody. Uh, right now, if you haven't, uh, go get your levels and uh, shout out to dr mark warden if you're looking for that avenue. Uh, that's one doc that I can't recommend enough for his protocol. What, what he's done for other soft guys and what he continues to do, brother, that that guy's got a good plan and there's there's a lot of other up and coming and some reputable other companies out there, but that's just one that I know that I mean he works his ass off for our veterans, our active duty and our soft guys. So, shameless plug to Dr Gordon.
Speaker 1:Guys, I can't thank you all enough for coming in today and Dean, for fucking making this happen. Man, like, this has been a fucking awesome talk. Man, I needed this because everything prior to the new year was just nothing but shitting on everybody and then trying to constantly stay in the positive work. Like I said before, man, it's hard to sell positivity in this day, especially to you motherfuckers. You motherfuckers are so negative on a daily basis. I pull you into my podcast with some positive vibes and some memes and then you turn right around and you go negative. Challenge that 2025 is a new year. I'm talking to you right now. You're listening to it.
Speaker 1:Just take a moment, just pause and reflect on everything that Dean Lowell and Kagan have talked about and myself about just being positive. If you're having a bad day, take a knee and understand that this will pass. Everything has a time limit. Do you want to give your entire day to this one negative experience? Chances are no. Somebody cut you off. Somebody was a dick to you at the gym. Let it go, man. Somebody said something about you or your unit or something on a podcast. Chances are it was just a joke. Chances are it didn't mean anything by it. Let it fucking go. Focus on being a force for fucking good, especially if you're in the military. Man, I am grateful that you're there. I'm not in there anymore and I don't want to go back to doing that job and I need you to continue doing it. I need you to give it all and I'm grateful for your service. I'm grateful for what you're doing, from 88 Mike to fucking 18 series, except for S1. We'll talk about that later, but that's neither here nor there.
Speaker 1:I want to thank all y'all for tuning in Lowell. Thank you for what you're doing, man. Kagan, thank you for being a force for good and highlighting and tiptoeing that fine line. I don't know how you do it, especially when motherfuckers are coming after you with NCIS. I've seen the TV show. I don't want those people coming after me. And, dean dude, it's an absolute pleasure to be connected with you and have you back on the show and for fucking putting this together. Man, again, to all you listening, thank you for tuning in Season fucking seven.
Speaker 1:Let's go jump on our whoop team. Let's get started on the 75 Semi-Hard Challenge. Let's start donating some money to some organizations that are doing some great shit for all of us. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you all next time. Until then, take care. Thanks for tuning in and don't forget to like, follow, share, subscribe and review us on your favorite podcast platform. If you want to support us, head on over to buymeacoffeecom, forward slash setcoffpodcast and buy us a coffee. Connect with us on Instagram X or TikTok and share your thoughts or questions about today's episode. You can also visit securityhallcom for exclusive content, resources and updates. And remember we get through this together. If you're still listening, the episode's over. Yeah, there's no more Tune in tomorrow or next week. Thank you.
