Kyle Perrier is a hero. He won't say it, so I will.
It's not just because he served in the Navy. AND in the Army.
It's not just because he worked his tail off to earn a spot flying the Apache helicopter on numerous deployments...most with significant combat.
It's not even just because he helped defend our freedom for more than twenty years as an enlisted man and then an officer.
It's because he did all of the above and still put priority on his family. He figured out how to do the best with what he had. He believed in words like respect, sacrifice, structure, discipline and communication. And he used them to not only do the job that he swore an oath to do, but also to maintain a marriage, a family and a life stateside.
Kyle now lives with his wife, Melinda, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Not one to stop serving, he now flies a medical helicopter for the Broward County Fire Rescue. He moonlights as a pilot carting tourists to the Bahamas. But as you'll hear, he's a wonderful human being who --in his humble way-- helps us civilians understand just how fortunate we are to have members of the armed forces who are willing to serve.
Kyle Perrier is a hero. He won't say it, so I will.
It's not just because he served in the Navy. AND in the Army.
It's not just because he worked his tail off to earn a spot flying the Apache helicopter on numerous deployments...most with significant combat.
It's not even just because he helped defend our freedom for more than twenty years as an enlisted man and then an officer.
It's because he did all of the above and still put priority on his family. He figured out how to do the best with what he had. He believed in words like respect, sacrifice, structure, discipline and communication. And he used them to not only do the job that he swore an oath to do, but also to maintain a marriage, a family and a life stateside.
Kyle now lives with his wife, Melinda, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Not one to stop serving, he now flies a medical helicopter for the Broward County Fire Rescue. He moonlights as a pilot carting tourists to the Bahamas. But as you'll hear, he's a wonderful human being who --in his humble way-- helps us civilians understand just how fortunate we are to have members of the armed forces who are willing to serve.
Well, hello and welcome to episode 25 of practically ranching. I'm your host, Matt Perrier. This week, we are celebrating veteran's day. And I thought that it was no better tribute. Than to pay a bit of Oman to our us service men and women. And talk to someone who is probably. The soldier that I know the best. And that's not saying much because honestly I'm embarrassed to say, I don't know. And haven't known a lot of active military folks in my life and I guess just in my community and The circles that I ran, um, I didn't get to, and haven't gotten to visit nearly as much with, with, uh, service men and women as probably I should. And I would like. But this week I have what I would call the toughest guest that I've had on yet. And I'm not sure if that is because he is family. Spoiler alert. It's my cousin, Kyle. Or if it's, because I'm largely ignorant of what it is that he has had to go through as a member of the us armed forces, both the Navy and the army at different points in his, in his career. Or if it's just because. This is probably the first episode that it's, it's gotten really real. Um, I'm pretty good at talking about science and beef industry politics and policies and, and. Stuff like that. And it gets tougher when you talk to someone about. The stresses of war and how much difference there is between. Those war stories that we always used to watch on television in the movies. And the actual stories of war. And. When we hear Kyle talk about. Just simple things like communication and respect and sacrifice. Discipline and structure and all these things that are words to us that we may use sometimes when we're coaching our kids or trying to improve our life. But. For Kyle and, and anybody who has been deployed um, They're a matter of life and death and in many different ways. And so, uh, this one was, yeah, it was, it was tough. It was tough to. To structure. It was tough for me to edit because I didn't want to cut anything out. But I think it is. A very pertinent discussion. And I think it's a, uh, it's something that we all need to hear. Not just this week as we look forward to veteran's day. But every week and every day, and, and as Kyle will tell us, Remember the service men and women who have given everything quite often paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can. Sleep peacefully and live. In the land of And so, I want to thank Kyle once again for being on here with us. And I want to thank you for listening. And, uh, look forward to celebrating veteran's day with even a little deeper meaning this year.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Welcome Kyle to practically ranching.
Track 1:Well, thank you for having me.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:You bet How are things Florida today?
Track 1:it's sunny in about 85 degrees. You can't beat it. It is very nice. Day.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Well, good. What have you been up to today? So,
Track 1:Well I had to I had a CPR re certification class, a BLS life support as part of my, you know, my current job. I had to go do that at eight o'clock this morning, which only took about 20 minutes. And then uh, came back to the house and we uh, spent about three or four hours walking around the boat show, the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. It was a lot of fun. I can't afford anything in there, but, you know, it's a lot of fun to look
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:well, good. I bet that would be a pretty, pretty impressive place to have a
Track 1:It is, it's neat. There's a lot of money in there. It's incredible amount of money. So, and that boat show is one of the biggest in the world, in Fort Lauderdale. So it's quite amazing how they put all those boats in a marina together.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:So they have it at the marina.
Track 1:Yeah, and it's actually spread out between the convention center and the marina. They add several miles of floating dock onto the, the marina that's already there to bring all these other boats in and everything. And there's just hundreds of boats there. So yeah, it's an interesting sight.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Good. Well, tell us a little bit about yourself and I know a lot of our local Greenwood County folks will obviously you, remember your folks. But give us your history and, and the tie from Eureka, Kansas on forward and bring us all the way, full circle.
Track 1:Okay. Yeah. Kind of how I got here, I guess. Yeah, and it, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, especially where I'm living now in Southern Florida, and I work with a lot of people that. You know, have never even left, South Florida. You know, I'd say I, yeah, I was born, born in Eureka, Kansas. A small town in Eureka. They, they, like, they can't believe it. It's beyond their imagination, really. But yeah, so I was born in Eureka. My dad worked on Dale Banks for a number of years, and we moved out of Eureka in, I think I was four or five years old. So just fleeting memories of living on the farm there. So I remember my dad out running, running tractors around. I remember, I remember the barn cats. Courtney and I would always try to chase the barn, barn kits around, and that never really worked out well for us. So you know, Yeah. Kids and feral cats just isn't a good mix sometimes. So but yeah, that's so live there and, and you know, I've, I've. Been all over Kansas, really. we ended up in Dodge City. I had lived in Kansas City in Overland Park for a while, and then ended up in Parsons where I, that's where I went to high school in Parsons. So back and forth, you know, I came out and spent a couple summers with you guys for a few years. That was always fun to do. yeah, Grandpa would pay, put me to work paint in the house. Right.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Right. I
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I forgot that. The one memory I have is you or Courtney, one of the two. We had a storm coming in or something and um, said, We just don't have storms like this in Kansas City. I was like, You're, you're only a hundred and so
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:finally dad said, you just can't see them
Track 1:Yes, that's correct. Yeah, I know there's no sight line to see it up on the ridge. I remember that. I remember that distinctly because I believe there was a tornado form that we were watching from a distance from Grandpa's house. So yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:a good, a good perspective. And, and we had a lot of them back then,
Track 1:yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:it just seemed like we had one or two a summer. then we kind of got outta the pattern. And unfortunately, for eureka's sake, we've kind of gotten back into the pattern
Track 1:yeah, yeah. Well that's how hit or miss. Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:So, graduated Parsons High. And then what'd you do from.
Track 1:So, yeah. Graduated Parsons. And that, that was the big question is like, what am I gonna do? You know? I was not, I was not a stupid kid, but I was not a motivated kid. I didn't have that kind of structure and discipline that I know I needed. I could have gone to college you know, I could have squeaked out something, but it probably would've resulted in failure. Uh, And I was at least smart enough to know that you know, I didn't get terrible grades, but I didn't get great grades in high school. And I had a friend that had joined the military, a guy who was a grade ahead of me, and he talked well about it. So, you know what, I, this is what I gotta do. I, I gotta go try this. I think. So I signed the paperwork when I was 17 years old before I even graduated high school. So, and then for some reason, I delayed my enlistment until the end of the summer. You know, looking back on it, I probably should have just left right after. Right after I graduated, but you know, that's hindsight. and that's how, that's how I ended up in the Navy for the first thing off of that.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:You go? Where'd you go first?
Track 1:Well, I tell you a story, this, this friend of mine, he was in, he was a, a jet engine mechanic, right? And, and he was already getting job offers. He'd been in, you know, a year and he's already getting job offers from, from Boeing and, you know, some of these airlines and everything. So I'm like, well, you know, that might be a way to go. So I went up there and I took the ASVAB and thankfully I scored very well on that, that test. And for those of you not familiar with the ASVAB, is the entrance exam. It's an aptitude test for the military. And this the recruiter uh, She handed out a sheet to me, She said, Hey, this is, I have a better job for you than being an engine mechanic. And thankfully it was a much better job. I mean, it, it it got me fly, it got me introduced to flying. Essentially I was gonna be a crew member of a helicopter and there was some, I guess, caveats with that. I had to uh, uh, I went to Air Crew School and, and Pensacola. Well anyway, let me go backwards here. So basic training was in Orlando. Yes. Florida. So, yeah, I started out in Orlando, Florida. Uh, Yeah, full circle. Uh, But you, you know, talk about weather in Florida, you know, cuz Orlando's right in the middle of the peninsula and so it's the lightning capital of the world. They get more lightning strikes than anybody else, and at least they did at that time. So we were constantly having to. You know, stay indoors or stuck indoors because there was a lightning storm. Then I, up in Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola Florida is where I did my initial kind of crew member flight training. And that was a lot of fun. It was you know, it was like an amusement ride. A little challenges, you know, they, they'd, you know, put you in a parachute harness and drag you through the water and you gotta get out of the harness. Uh, You had to do a bunch of swimming. Uh, There was a little short survival course and everything like that. So that was a, a wonderful school and I had a great time there. After that school was kind of wrapping up, they you know, like, Well, you're going down to rescue swimmer school. And I'm like, Well, I, I didn't sign up for that. I, I don't know, I don't know what you're talking about. And I remember the guy, he broke out the paperwork and he showed me, and he goes, He goes, No, no, this is your volunteer statement for Rescue Swimmer School, cuz it was a volunteer only school. And I go, I never signed that. And he goes, he goes, This is your signature. So I think back and that recruiter, you know, when she sat down and she says, I got a great job for you. And part of that thing she was handing me paperwork to sign. She goes, she goes, sign this. This is just because you have to be a, you have to be able to swim. So this is just a statement saying you, you can swim and that, that was my volunteer for Rescue Swimmer school. And you know, and then that was about two and a half months of hell after that, before I, I graduated that school. So at that time, the Coast Guard guys were going to our school. So it's the same Coast Guard rescue swimmers you see going outta the aircraft today and everything else. You know, looking back on it, I'm, I'm glad I did it. I just didn't realize I was doing it. So yes, for all those listening that, you know, you're thinking about the military or uh, have children or kids that want to go in the military, I caution you, you know, a lot of those recruiters can be used car salesmen and you never know what you're gonna get. So
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:just sign, Read
Track 1:yes, read, don't be 17 year old Kyle So you need to read, read what you sign first. But it, it, it was amazing that I, I'm very lucky that I ended up with that job because it was for an, an enlisted person in the Navy. It was, it was an excellent job. It was. You know, is they still had a lot of mental challenges. It had a lot of physical challenges and, and everything else. After Pensacola, I spent, I spent a while in Millington, Tennessee. Went to school up there and that was for some reason, you know, I, after growing up in Kansas, I was more cold in, in Tennessee than I'd ever been in Kansas. Cuz it was just, it's always wet. It's always wet and right at freezing. So I don't, I, it's just, Yeah, it seemed like it was miserable. Yeah. After that I ended up in San Diego and that's where I was stationed for a, a little over six years as stationed out in San Diego. So, and I had a, I had a great time out there, it's a wonderful city. It's expensive to live out there now, but you know, it was a wonderful city and we had a great time out there. What my job was, I was a, I was a a sensor operator. So the aircraft I flew in was a they don't even have any, they're all in museums now. It's an H two uh, uh, s H two F. And then I went to a G model and it was primarily an anti-submarine uh, platform. But it, we did some other things with it. It had a radar on it. So we do a lot of, we did a lot of counter drug missions, is what the majority of things we did. And a lot of training for the rescue swimmers were, I never had any actual rescues. So that's good. But, you know, good and bad, I guess good that nobody went in the water and needed saving and and bad that, you know, I never got an opportunity to use those skills. But it's still, it's part of the job. So, and that was a, that was a lot of fun. I, I, I really, and I learned a lot and that six years and the military is, that's what kind of started forming that structure and discipline that I needed. And then, yeah, eventually I start working on my, my college degree in the middle of all this too, cuz I knew I had to get it eventually. So and it's not fun. God, I wish I had, I had just done four years of that and, and been done with it, but I was on the little longer program.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:what were you doing when you were on the h?
Track 1:So they had different sensors on there. There was anti-submarine that was primarily anti-submarine platform in a, in a surveillance platform. So it had uh, we dropped Sona buoys that would listen into the water. The aircraft had a a essentially a processor, a computer on board that I would use to interpret that. Part of my training in Tennessee was they would lock us in these cinder block rooms with no windows and this secret information. So I can still tell you, you know you know what the, what the hertz of a, a main coolant pump was a of a, of a typhoon submarine, a Soviet typhoon sub submarine is to this day, cuz that was just drilled into my head after all these years. And for some reason That stuff will never, never fall out. I don't know why. I've forgotten all kinds of other stuff, but that, that stuff is stuck in there. But you know, it, unfortunately, back to that, all that secret information on Soviet submarines, you know, in eastern block submarines that they gave us, it was center block room. It was, you know, they'd have buzzers on there, so there couldn't be any recording devices in there. so they would lock you in that room, turn the buzzers on, and so it's just this constant buzzing while you're trying to learn all this stuff and they're teaching and all these things, and every, and but then I, you know, several months later, I'm at a bookstore. This is back when bookstores still existed. And there's a James James Manual. I don't know if you're familiar with James. James is a, is a, is a publisher that. Uh, Produces like military, this big kind of picture, books and information and it details all these military equipment and everything. So I opened that up cuz there was a Janes on submarines and almost all of that secret information that was learning in there.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:right there
Track 1:Yeah, it's right there at Jane's. Sitting on the bookshelf at what? Barnes and Noble or at the time or anything. So.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:W
Track 1:Yeah. And again, that job was, you know, we did some of that, but I, we did so many things cuz it, it was a, it was a helicopter and I was in a reserve unit, but I was full-time. So I had a variety of different pilots in there. A lot of training flights where I'm just sitting in the back while the pilots do their training. Um, um, A lot of the rescue swimmer stuff, cuz we'd uh, every six months you'd have to go out and do qualifications. You have to jump into the bay you know, jump outta the aircraft into the water, getting into your hoist iterations. I'd have to do hoist iterations where I'm doing the hoisting and not on the hoist. So those were always a lot of fun. It's a lot of work. It's, it's, it's more back broken work than you would, you would think, but
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I'll bet.,
Track 1:it was always good to do.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:But you didn't have the stick at that time.
Track 1:No, I was not a pilot. I was not a pilot at the time and. You know, I never even really thought about it that much, but I knew there was a guy that I had worked with, I knew transferred over to the Army, into the Warrant officer program to flight school. And I had kind of, kind of, I've heard just little bits and pieces about him but not a whole lot. And it's kind of a combination of events of what led me into going to flight school. Uh, It was at, at the point I was ready to get out of the Navy. Uh, My paperwork was signed and I was getting ready to, to get out and go to school full time. Melinda, my wife She had a good job and we were all ready to go. And then uh, after several doctors told her she wouldn't be able to get pregnant, she got pregnant. So and uh, Yeah, I know. So, yeah, it's uh, uh, it's, it's great news, but it's a little scary too when you're, you know, or 25 years old and, and now I got a, I got a kid on the way I need to provide for, so I need to kind of get after this a little bit better. So I'm, I'm sitting there thinking like, Well, what am I gonna do? And I'm flying one night and I had two pilots and we're out doing these uh, deck landings on a, on a ship at night. And this is before anybody used night vision goggles in the Navy. Now they're commonplace. Army was using night vision goggles for a long time, but the Navy really wasn't big into it. So these, it's pitch black out here other than some lights. And these guys are landing on a small ship. And it's a calm night. But, you know, I I was scared to death and I'm, I'm sitting there and I'm like, Okay, you know what? If these two idiots can do this, then there's a chance for me. There's gotta be, there's, there's gotta be hope for me. So that was kind of my motivation. Then I started putting my flight school packet together literally the next day. and then like a day before Jake was born is when I got accepted to flight school. Uh, is when that, that board met. And then I finally got the acceptance letter. So, and after that I was off to the Army. Uh,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I think I know, but why the switch from Navy to army in order to get into flight school?
Track 1:So at the time at the time I did not have a degree to get into flight school in the Navy or Air Force. It's a fairly complicated process. And there's always, there's never even any guarantee that you'll, you'll get to flight school, right? You could have all the qualifications make it through the the officer candidate training and all that stuff. And then they come back and they say uh, well, we don't have any slots right now, so you're gonna go, you're gonna go be on a ship somewhere for a while. So that's part of it. And, and at the time, to be a warrant officer in the Army, you did not have to have a college degree. I would eventually have to finish that degree in order to get promoted, but initially you didn't have to have it. So. That's what kind of led me into, to that realm, I guess. And, you know, it was, to me, flying in the Army was more appealing than in the Navy to be honest with you. Especially what I was doing, I mean, for the helicopter stuff. So it was a good opportunity for me. You know, I switched from enlisted to officer and, and it was You know, looking back on it and thank God I did it. So, you know, and, and, and thankfully I got, I got picked up on my first try cuz there was another guy at the squadron that went through and put all his packet together the same time as me. And it took him three years to get accepted. So I, I lucked out on that first, that first go round. Uh, Thankfully which, interesting enough, that guy, I ran into him three years later when I was back at, back at Fort Rucker in Alabama when I was teaching. And that was the transition where I took. You know, my wife and, and, and newborn from, you know, Melinda, you know this story. Melinda's born and raised in California. Uh, We met in San Diego, and then I move her to lower Alabama. So uh, and it.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:on up.
Track 1:it was quite the shock for her. I remember the, we were, we were in the grocery store and, and it was Sunday and she had a bottle of wine and you know, the lady wouldn't sell it to her, right? And uh, uh, and Mo's, like, it just, she'd never seen anything like that in her life. She just didn't understand it. So uh, why, why can you not sell this to me on a Sunday? It just doesn't make any sense. So she's never even seen anything like that. in a side note with Melinda, you know, my California wife and bringing her to Kansas for first time.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:right?
Track 1:We get off. I can't remember where we were. I think we were, cuz we were going to Parsons and I, we get off the interstate and we get into Joplin and then we're on a two-lane road heading into Parsons. And you know, we're only 30 minutes outta Parsons. And this car comes by, he waves at me. I wave at him and she's like, Who's that And I go, I don't know. And the next car comes by. I wave at that guy. He waves back, you know, and after the third time it was just all too much. She goes, and she's like, Why are you waving at these people? I don't understand what's going on. I'm like, Honey, this is called being friendly. You know, it, it doesn't happen in California, but it, it does happen in this neck of the woods. So uh, you know, you just gotta get gotta get used to it. It's okay. Nobody means any harm. It's, they're being nice, so don't worry about it.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:First of many culture shocks for
Track 1:yeah, yeah. For, Yeah. But she, she adapted well and actually we lived in Alabama, we lived there uh, when I went to flight school and then went to Germany and then back to Alabama, where we were there for another little over four years. So, and we had a great time. We really did. You know, it's, It's where you live is what you make of it, you know? And whether you think it's the best place or the worst place, but it's, it's what you make of the whole situation and we had a great time. We really did. We had good neighbors, We had a lot of fun with them, and they're still good friends with us to this day. So anyway, Where were we? Flight school. Yeah, Flight school. And that was challenging. It, it really was. I uh, those days it is, you know, you'd get up at, at, you know, probably four in the morning. Uh, You'd be on the flight line by four 40 or you'd meet the bus about 4 45. And at five 30 you had to be in the classroom and seated. Then you had, you know, some table talk with your instructor. You sit with him. An hour, hour and a half, then you'd go fly. And it was two students for every instructor. So, you know, we'd both go fly out to these little stage fields these little, small, little runways. Uh, They're out in the middle of the Alabama countryside. You know, the, and the first period student would fly and the next period student would go, wait, like by the tower there uh, for his chance. And then you get back, That's all done by about noon, and then you're in class from, you know, pretty much the rest of the afternoon till about five in the evening. And then you uh, you got probably three or four hours of studying that evening uh, before it all starts the next day. So It is, it is, it's not,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Really is school.
Track 1:challenging. It is. It is school. They shove it.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:school for
Track 1:Yeah. They, they shove it down your throat. That's, that's for sure. But uh, it was, it was good. I mean, I wouldn't trade that time. I mean, Looking back on it, it was a pain in the ass while you were there, but, you know, looking back on it, it's still, it's still a good time.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:how long was flight school?
Track 1:It is about a year all telling, and that flight school you go through, you know, your primary, your instruments, and then your essentially your tactics. And then you go into your advanced aircraft and it's, it's a different program now than it was when I went through. They put the guys in the advanced aircraft much earlier than, than I went in there. That's how, you know, I ended up, I ended up flying Apache, so I was, you know, you put a wishlist in and that wishlist, you know, I don't know what they do with that, but uh, it uh, it pretty much goes out. It pretty much goes out the window.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Rescue Rescue
Track 1:Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah. Oh yeah. No, they held onto that one for sure. Yeah, they did. They weren't let that one go So anyway, yeah. So and you know, and I, I, I, I really didn't care what, what I flew, but I, I think that suited my personality a little bit better. And they do some, they do some aptitude testing. It's not as much as other branches of the military do, but they try to fit your personalities, uh, in, with the type of aircraft. And it's shown over the years that people will tend to do better where their personality fits. So, you know, the Type A personalities are gonna be more, more Apaches and that the other time, the 58, the scout missions and not, you didn't have Type A personalities in the other aircraft, but they're just a little different.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Right.
Track 1:so, and there were some also some other things that they, they tested with that all also. But yeah, I ended up with that and got, went through the Apache qualification course and got orders to Germany. I'll never forget that cuz we were living in base housing and you know, we knew it was coming. We knew orders were coming and I was one of the last ones in the class to get orders. And I don't know why that happened that way, but it, it, it happened. I definitely wasn't the last in the, in the standings. I was almost at the top, but it, for some reason they, they delayed mine. I don't know, which just increased the suspense on it, right? Cuz it's
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:sure.
Track 1:Yeah. It's a great deal of stress. And so,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:seen Top Gun. I know how this
Track 1:so I, they tell me like, Well you're going to Germany. And I'm like, Oh crap. How do I tell my wife this? You know, I mean, no. Oh, how do, how do I explain this? And I was, I got back to the house. I was so nervous that I went and talked to the neighbor first just to kind of relax and, you know, cuz he was out like doing something in his yard. So I, I chatted with him for a minute and, and Linda was
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:script.
Track 1:and Linda's staring at me out the window cuz she knew it was coming. Right. And so she's like, she's still mad. She still remembers that, that I, I, I was out there chatting with the neighbor when I knew we had order somewhere. Uh, So. And it was a bit of a shock, you know? It, it, it really was. We'd never been, you know, now you're gonna go live in another country, right? Uh, So it's a, you know, it's a big step. But again, we spent three years in Germany and had a wonderful time. I really did. It's a, it's a, it's a beautiful country. And, you know, as far as agriculture goes, and we were down in kind of an agriculture region so the variety of different crops uh, but uh, Uh, all natural fertilizer in the springtime. So you would just when it gets warm enough, do you open your windows cuz there's no air conditioning in any of the houses or anything. Just soon it gets warm enough to uh, open the windows. That's when they they get the old manure spreader out and uh, yeah, it's an interesting smell inside the house after that. So, but,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:should remember what bay, where was the base in Germany.
Track 1:It was in Kobach, Germany. It was near Nurnberg. It was just just southeast of Nurnberg which is kind of towards this southern end of the country. We weren't down towards Munich area, but Munich was about a two hour drive uh, south of that for us. So just, it's unbelievable how clean that country is. It is. And you get in some of the bigger cities like Berlin and Frankfurt, they get kind of messy here and there, but there is, the German people take an unbelievable amount of pride in their small towns. And they're incredibly clean. I mean, you just don't trash, you just don't see trash anywhere.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:And you were in Germany, what years Kyle?
Track 1:97 to 2000. We were back in the States for about Right, right around the beginning of 2001 is when I started doing my training uh, there. So while in Germany I did, I did do my first deployment with the Army. I spent total of about seven months, kind of off and on down in Kosovo. And it was kind of a it wasn't a un mission anymore, but it was still kind of a, a, a peacekeeping mission at, at that point. And that was really interesting being, especially me as a relatively new pilot. I was a brand new p i c it was a, you know, so there's a, Apache has two, two pilots. There's a, the, the PPIC and the, and the, and the co-pilot gunner. So I was in charge of that and then eventually charged cuz we, Apaches don't. Uh, You don't fly by yourself. You know, you fly with another aircraft, you always have a wing man. There's always a wing man there. So and it was interesting to see another country and, you know and I've been traveled a little bit, but never to that extent. So uh, Al Albania uh, Macedonia uh, Kosovo you know, and then we self deployed all the way down there. So I flew from Germany all the way down through France, Italy, to Bernese, which is right at the heel of the boot of Italy, and then across the age sea uh, into Albania. And then to. Yeah, from there. So it was it was good. That was the, the first real uh, deployment. Uh, It wasn't necessarily a dangerous deployment. Uh, Nobody was really shooting at us but it was more of us trying to keep people from shooting at each other, so which quite honestly sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. So, which is, that's usually how that goes. So,,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:as we've seen all too often in the last decade.
Track 1:Yeah, for sure, for sure. So uh, from Germany uh, yeah. Back to the States. I got an instructor job back at Fort Rucker and I, I kinda got stuck there because of, you know, that's when 2003 hit the deployment cycles began in Iraq and Afghanistan and I essentially got stuck there until they moved us to Texas, which is Fort Hood. Uh, uh, So, yeah, and we ended up in Fort Hood for, geez, over 13 years, I think, almost 14 years from there.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:you would've been at Rucker on nine.
Track 1:I was, I remember it very distinctly. You know, like most of us, we always remember where we, we heard that news, you know, and just, you know, our parents always remember kind of where they were when, when Kennedy was assassinated, you know, it's that same type of thing. And I was at the gym and I remember looking at, because the TVs were on there, I was at the gym on base and I'm looking at the TVs, and this is, you know, like, like most of us use, it's just you couldn't believe it. And I left that gym and I had a I had a a simulator period, like an hour after that and I, or ran up to the office real quick and sent off an email to my career manager. Like, you know, if, if, if you need me somewhere else, then, then please let me know. You know, And a lot of us did that at that point. So that wasn't, that wasn't uncommon for us to do for a lot of guys that do. So yeah, it's always, we always remember that, you know. Yeah, we all know those events started a string of other events that, that kind of led me into the, you know, the the high and low points of my military career is the, is the, the combat deployments, you know, And so I go to Hood and I mean, almost within a week of me showing up there you know, we have a deployment date for this unit that I just signed into that's about six months later. And almost, geez, a little over a week after I sign in. We have an, we have an aircraft accident and, and a pilot killed. And it's a pilot that's in my company that, you know, I was, I was the senior instructor for this company. Uh, So, and I hadn't even really signed into the unit yet. I was still kind of in processing. So it was a bit of a shock, you know, right off the bat to experience that um, Unfortunately that wasn't, you know, it wasn't the first time that's gonna happen. And, and it, and I had, I had lost a coworker before in an accident some years prior. But this is the fir at this point, I've been flying for, you know, geez, fif 10 or 12 years I think. And I had never really experienced, you know, an accident where we've lost a pilot. So that was, that was kind of a, it was a big shock and a little, frankly a little late career. If you, if you do what I did for a long enough, you know, it's, it, it kind of becomes, it's not commonplace, but it, it, it does happen because it's, it's not the safest industry in the world for sure. So but yeah, it was a big shock on there. And then the deployment after that, and, you know, One, and I, we, we've, we learned after the first deployment we're, we are a there is no long sad goodbyes or anything. It's, we call it the clean break and see you later. Uh, So I would we're like, you know, a hug and a high five and, and then I'm out the door, and then they, they come up the, come up the post and, and pick up my car later. Instead of these, you know, you'll see these long tearful goodbyes with families and everything, and it's, and it's, to me, it's torture to us. It's, it's, it's torture. So uh, we made the, the best of what we could with that. Uh, uh, And, you know, and the kids, kids learn from the deployments too, right? You know, they're you know, both of them hated the military. Yet both of them ended up in the military. So it's, yeah. It's, it's, there's all kinds of things that can happen to you. Right. So, but yeah, that's uh, uh, it kind of leads into the deployment years and, and my kind of final years in the, in the military. and, and, you know, and it's, we can talk about that conflict. And I never went to Afghanistan. I was only in Iraq. Uh, I was stationed in Baghdad uh, the whole time. Which is a, a good story on that. My first deployment uh, Casey Clyde is a, is a, is a very good friend of mine. We went to flight school kind of at the same time. They lived next to us in Germany. Uh, He was, if, if I was home, then he was deployed, but. I was deployed, then he would be home. We were kind of on an opposite cycle, I guess for a little bit. And Casey would always ruin stuff for me. So Melinda, you know, I'd tell her cuz I was stationed at an airfield to the north of Baghdad. But again, Baghdad was my territory uh, that I flew every night. Um, So I tell Melinta, I'm like, Oh, no. She goes, You're not in Baghdad, are you? I'm like, No, I'm, I'm north of Baghdad somewhere. Don't, No, I'm way north of Baghdad. Don't worry about it. It's no big deal. And then like nine months into the first deployment, you know, it was a 12 month deployment. And Casey, Vanessa over in, in Casey, just, he's like, No, no, he's not. He's writing Baghdad. He's in Baghdad every day. So the whole thing. Yeah. So we had several over those, you know, where I tried to protect her from certain things. But, you know, Casey was usually the one that, that blew it up for me. Uh, so to say. But yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:and Melinda's, Melinda's always so understanding of, of little white lies where uh, she's kept in the dark.
Track 1:Yeah. Very much so. Like, like any wife. Yeah, Like any wife, right. So, Yeah. yeah, that went over well. So Anyway, that was yeah, so I spent a year and uh, an employment, and that was without a doubt the, the toughest year of my life. It's, I can't even describe it. It's, you know, and some of the things I saw you, you know, it just, it, it's unbelievable, really. And you know, if I, if I said some of this stuff in detail, you, you, you'd almost not, you couldn't believe it was real. So anyway. Yeah. So thankfully, I, I made it through that. Mo and I were actually at dinner last night talking about it, and there was, there was a point in there where I did not think I was gonna make it through it. So we had four pilots killed in the first three weeks of my one year deployment. So with the amount of pilots that we had, that was that was, you know, we had 10% casualties in the first three weeks. So when you look at those numbers, you're, and you're faced with that and you're like, Well, this ain't gonna work out great for me. So,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:start doing
Track 1:yeah, I started doing the math, but, you know, and this is where, you know, you learn, there's, there's uh, you know, you got a job to do and you just gotta go do it. You know, right or wrong, whether people believed in that conflict or not. I, I signed up for it. I raised my right hand, and I'm gonna go do what I told them I was gonna do. And I gotta do that every day because there's people depending on me to do that job. So and there's guys that, that couldn't do that. Soon as the bullets started flying, we had a lot of guys that, that all of a sudden they had, you know, back and neck pain or some other ailment where they, they couldn't fly anymore. And that's, you know, it's okay, you know, I, you know, but if, if you don't want to do the job, then, then, you know, you don't wanna do the job. But uh, and we had s we had probably. That first year, probably six or seven guys like that in my squadron that at one point or the other, bowed out for some reason uh, and never flew again and it was, it was a lot of work to try to get rid of those guys and bring other people in. It's that deployment cycle is something, you know, and, you know, you and your listeners are, are not unfamiliar with hard work in long days. And it is, I wouldn't say it's a whole lot different from some of that. You still work in a dangerous environment. Uh, This was just a little more dangerous. Uh, But yeah, a little.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I would
Track 1:you know, I'd gone through all these classes on, on, you know fatigue, acute and chronic fatigue. Uh, You know, when they teach your air medical subjects, that's always a big one on how to recognize those. And there's a picture I I, one of the crew chiefs took before I went out on a night mission and it was, I sent it to Melinda, he sent it to me and I sent it to Melinda and she's like, Oh my God, thank God you got home cuz you look exhausted. I look back at that picture and I still have it. I was, that was before I took off on a five or six hour flight at night. And, you know, that was that chronic fatigue in my face. Uh, I came home, they give you like a mid month or a mid deployment break. You come home for about 10 days. Uh, And I came back and I crawled in bed and I, I slept for 24 hours. Yeah, talk about freaking out. Melinda was freaking out. So thankfully Casey was there for me this time, Right. She called Casey. She's like, What do I do? Casey's like, just, just let him sleep. Let him sleep, you know, And at some point in that 24 hours, you know, obviously I got up and I used the restroom. She had made me a sandwich, put it by the bed. I ate part of that. I drank some water and everything. But really, I, I don't even, I mean, I was out for 24 hours solid So finish that first deployment come back home. And that's, you know, it's, it's, the next deployment is already, we already had the date for the next deployment, so that's when the work starts again. and it's, it's constant, constant effort. It was almost worse between deployments because I'm now, I'm working, you know, 12, 13, 14 hour days and trying to get the unit ready to deploy again. And, you know, but I'm at home, so it seems like I'm spending less time at home than you know
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:so how much time between your deployments I
Track 1:had about, I had about 14 months, I think, 14 or 15 months. They have a minimum, a dwell time of they, they can't redeploy you again for that long within a year. So, you have to be stateside for at least 12 months before they'll redeploy you. So the one,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:of the deployments within a year as
Track 1:Correct, Yeah. My second deployment was scheduled for 15 months and it was luckily cut down to uh, ended up being right around 13 months. So it's a long time. But I tell you one thing that did, the good thing out of this is is, and this is our modern era that we live in, this communication, for the most part, I had decent internet access. Uh, So I would, I would be able to talk with the kids. I'd get emails. I remember I got home from a flight and I had gotten an email from Jake's teacher That he did something in class. I don't remember what it was. And I looked at my watch and I'm like, Oh, guess what? That guy's getting off the bus here in about 15 minutes. So, so that poor kid walked in the house, he walked in the house, the phone rang, it's me from the other side of the planet, you know,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Huh?
Track 1:ask him how his day was and why he got in trouble. So uh, you know, it is, and it's really the important things that it, for Melinda and I, it taught us how to communicate a lot better. Very much so, cuz you have no choice. It's either, you know, it's pass or fail at that point for marriages. And unfortunately military marriages suffer a lot and it's mainly do that communication. So we've gotten a lot better at that over the years and, and mainly because of those deployments, just, you know, they force us into that stuff. Yeah, so one funny story so I'm sitting there talking to Melinda one day and I had internet and we had video, but there wasn't enough to get voice There wasn't enough bandwidth for voice over there. So we were typing messages. So we had, we could both see each other with a little bit of a lag. And, and she's typing messages a couple months prior. The neighbors, she's like, Oh, the neighbor's cat had kittens. I'm like, We don't want any, She's like, No, we don't want any kittens either. We don't want any cats. And there's a long story with these cats, I'll tell you a later time. But anyway, so I'm like, We don't want any cats. And so we're two months later, we're sitting there chatting. She's in her room set up, and there's this little, I'm looking at the picture and there's this little gray ball on the, on the bed, and we're sitting there typing away and. I go, Where did you put the litter box? And she looked at that message and you could see her. She looked down on it, turned around and shoved the cat off the bed. So I'm like, like, okay, first off, it's not the cat's fault that you got busted doing this. You know, you So
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:obviously Casey. Casey didn't blow
Track 1:you know, no, In case he didn't spill the beans on that one, he probably would've. But yeah, that's one of those things and that's, that's where the communication comes in and you know, there's always little things like that. I came home from one deployment or the mid tour, I think on my second deployment. And we didn't tell the kids they knew I was coming home. We had like a two week window when I was coming home, but they didn't know when. So Melinda knew. So she came and got me uh, at the airport and. Was back at the house when the kids got home from school. Joey the youngest, Joey gets off the bus and I just sitting there in the chair casually in the living room. Joey walks in the door, I go, Hey, Joe. He goes, Hey dad, And he walks into his room. It does, it takes him about, about 10 or 15 seconds before it registers in his brain. And then of course he comes running back in there. So, yeah, there's always little things. It's a military family. You learn, you learn how to make the most of what you have right at, at the time. And, you know, before that second deployment it was right before Christmas, so we, No, maybe it was a first deployment. I can't remember which one. We, and it was right after Thanksgiving, so the kids went to bed and we just, It was Christmas the next morning when they woke up, the, the tree was up, house was decorated, presents were out. You know, cuz we were gonna miss a Christmas. But anyway, that's it. So after the the second employment, and I, you know, I'd had enough at that point. The Army wasn't playing nice with me on, on career management. I'd gotten a promotion, but I had ended up turning down that promotion in order to retire because it was just, they wanted to move us to El Paso. And uh, it just, it just kinda didn't wanna work out. So, and Melinda had a good job. We weren't solely dependent on my income, so the decision was made that in both of us, that, you know, And Melinda, I made an agreement a long time ago that, you know, I play Army for 20 years. Uh, And then after that it's, it's, it's your career, right? So, you know, and how that's worked out is, is you know, I've moved her to lower Alabama and Germany and back to Lower Alabama, and then she moves me to Fort Lauderdale. So Yeah. It's working out. Yeah, it's working out well for me
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:earlier said, I don't feel like I was a stupid kid in high school. I think you're proving to anyone listening, you are definitely not a stupid kid.
Track 1:Oh, God. We've all had our moments though, right? Yeah. so for sure. Yeah, and I, so I ended a military career. I was a, I was kind of at the pinnacle and it's, it's sad that the Army didn't do more to keep me because and they did, they made some effort, but I wanted more out of it because there wasn't a whole lot of me at the time. I was a senior instructor. Uh, I'd been at the, I'd run a, a company in a battalion standards office at the time. So I had a lot of good experience. And they, you know, they didn't wanna play. And, and we were done playing also. So the time was to get out and, and thankfully I rolled into a contracting job which I essentially did the same thing except I wasn't deploying. And I did that for about another seven years. So I flew Apaches as a civilian uh, for another seven years after that. Which is, it's amazing really when I look back on it,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:What year was it? You retired, Kyle
Track 1:Well, you, you remember, you were at the retirement party. So it was
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:remember being
Track 1:31, 31 December of 2009. At the uh, I can't remember what, it's the Hyatt in uh, Austin. We had that, we had a retirement party. We, we, we blew a whole bunch of money on it, but it was a great time.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:And, and everything that you have said leading up to that I didn't know at the time.
Track 1:yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:did know was that here were, to me, officers in the army that had worked side by side with you, some of whom had been deployed with you, some of whom had taught with you, some of whom had led you or been led by you,
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:every single In their army dress, either set it publicly or standing at the bar about what you had meant to them and what you had done in your career. never been anywhere somebody was lauded that much was held up in that high regard. And you know, I part of it is, is respect and duty and, and training and everything else. Part of it is the bond that you all had formed by what you had had to do and see. But yeah, it was clear and that's the tough thing about whether it be the military or in government, sometimes we don't make sure that we do whatever we have to do to keep the right people on and maybe people.
Track 1:So I, I'll tell you, Matt, there's two reason those guys sat highly of me. One because uh, there was an open bar there that night, and, and two, it was my retirement party. So they were being nice. So uh, Yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I've been to retirement parties before where people, know, give the toast and, you know, talk about, ah, this guy put in a lot of hours and he yeah. Sad to see you go and here's your watch. This,
Track 1:yeah. So, and that's the, you know, and going past the military, I, I've, and even to this day, I have to, Surround myself with those type of people. You know, it's, it's I worked, when I first moved out here, I worked for a you know, an airplane charter company which I still do part-time, but I was working for them full-time. But there wasn't a single person in that building that ever had any military experience or anything like that. So my sense of humor uh, uh, be it dark sometimes didn't, didn't go over well, at point. Uh, At some points it, it is, and, and that's why I ended up, you know, currently I'm working for a fire department you know, You know, medical and doing some search and rescue stuff. And that fire department is, you know, it's really, it's kind of that similar military structure, right? So uh, and there's a lot of guys I work with that were in the military also. Uh, So the one big thing I've learned out at from my own, you know, kind of psyche I guess after I got out, is I need to keep that kind of military mindset people around me. And, you know, I'm just, I'm just happier and healthier that way. I think. So, and part of this, you know, what I'm doing here too is, you know, I have to have a mission still. You know, flying people, it sounds fun, right? Flying people to Bahamas sounds like a great time, but, you know, there's still, you know, I still got, I'm like, Come on lady, you gotta put your shoes on before we go through customs here. So, you know, and that, that gets old after a while, right?
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I, I wanted, want to stop you before you get too far and, and you kind of glossed over your two current retirement gigs. So tell people what you really do on those two different jobs.
Track 1:Well I'll, I'll go back a little bit. I worked after I retired that seven years I was flying Apaches the majority of the time, almost the entire time I worked for the Dutch Air Force. Uh, So I actually have a Dutch Pilot's license that I, I keep my wallet still and I break out every once in a while uh, when I find somebody that's of Dutch origin. So I did that and I, I had a wonderful time doing that. I, I still keep in touch with those guys. But it was, it was contracting as military contracting, which is a very shady business uh, uh, to be quite honest. Uh, There's a lot of, you know, profiteering and, and not a lot of care for what's in there. And I, I got after the, you know, the second little furlough that I got out of there when the contract was lost and these companies were fighting over me and. I just, I'd had enough of it. So, I went down to Houston and got a job flying medevac and that was my first job flying like civilian medical transfers in a helicopter. And I loved it, but it was just melinda and I weren't gonna be happy living in Houston, I don't think at that point. So I commuted down there and I did that for a year, but it gave me valuable experience and, and allowed me to get this job that I have out here. So currently like I said, I, I came out here in 2018 and got a job flying airplanes in The Bahamas. Small, little fixed wing airplanes. Cuz I, I have no desire. I, I qualify for the airlines to go in. You know, but it's, it's a hard life. You're still gone a lot. This job I have now, I'm, I'm home every night, so uh, I don't want to be gone for three or four days at a time anymore. I think I'm past that in my, my career, Or my life.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:So you, you went from deployed, shooting bad guys in Baghdad to training Dutch pilots on Apache still to then flying fixed wing, which is a plane
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:retired or vacationing people from what? Fort Lauderdale to
Track 1:All over the place. Yeah. We get'em from everywhere. So.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:and which is the job that you hated the most.
Track 1:Uh, I don't re I never really hated any of'em. It's, it's, it's, it's a, it's, I, I think it was just the, the fix wing job. When I was doing that full time, I just wasn't happy because I didn't have that mission and I didn't have that, that kind of camaraderie that I needed, you know?
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Was what I was getting I remember some of the comments you made about that. It could tell that it just wasn't enough of a challenge. me, what better gig does it get than to live in Fort Lauderdale and
Track 1:I know, right? Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:fly people back and forth
Track 1:Yeah, I know. But
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:this is,
Track 1:leave it to Kyle. I wasn't happy so uh, but, you know, I, I, yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:anybody listening to this is doing what they're doing. Not because it's easy, because it's rewarding and there's a certain amount, as you said, there's a certain amount of respect and satisfaction in doing something.
Track 1:Correct. Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:us to your other job or your full-time gig right now. Tell us what you're doing there
Track 1:So,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:When we hear I work for a fire department in Fort Lauderdale,
Track 1:yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:they don't have in mind what I got to see last January,
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:is where you work.
Track 1:So, yeah. I currently work for the Broward Sheriff's Office uh, Department of Fire Rescue. So the, the county fire Department belongs to the sheriff's office, which makes it even more confusing. And what I do for them is, is, you know, I fly a helicopter for them. Uh, It's me and two uh, firefighter paramedics that are in there. And then the department trained me as an emt. That's why I had to go do my, go do my CPR recertification today. and we. Generally medical transfers. I did, I just came off a week of days. We did some hospital transfers. I did one transfer, one scene call with a guy with a gunshot wound. Another one with well the guy had an, had an aneurysm, so we, we moved him to a higher level hospital, and stuff like that. And we, we go and do searches offshore periodically there's cuz it's the Everglades. And you experience when you were out here, right? You went out on the airboat? Well, a lot of those people go out on airboats or small little John boats uh, that you can rent out there. And you get in that mosa maze of canals out the Everglades and they get lost. So uh, we'll go out and find them uh, and uh, little offshore stuff every once in a while. We get calls for boats that have overturned. We go out and find where there are, we don't have a hoist. Um, That's the capability we're looking to get here shortly. But yeah, so it's not a busy job. And this is the main reason that, you know, there's other parts of the country and, and probably in Kansas you have a helicopter and that's a, it's more than likely a, a a company, Air Methods or another company like that, that's, they're a for-profit medical transfer company. You know, I work for a sheriff's office, so there ain't no profit in it for sure. And this is why, you know, it's not that busy here. So we don't have a lot of we don't have a lot of business, which keeps a lot of those for-profit companies out of there. But you know, Fort Lauderdale's unique terrain, right? Where you have, we have ocean, and then, you know, if from here my house, if I go. You know, I'm about a, about a quarter, quarter mile from the uh, ocean. If I go do west about eight or nine miles, then it's, it's swamp. So there's, it's It's all north, south. There's pretty much nothing east, west of everything. So yeah, that's kind of how I ended up, ended up there with that. And it's a good job. I, I enjoy it. It's, it's got its challenges though, like everything, but if it doesn't, cha it's not challenging. It's probably not worth doing. You know, if it's easy, it's, it's, it's probably not, probably something wrong. If it's too easy, there's probably something wrong.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Especially for someone like yourself and like so many who are listening here, that as we just said earlier, that that expect to be challenged and expect to put in uh, on day's pay. Along those lines, I mean, you talked about how once the started flying that people in the military and, and thinking back to we hadn't seen a lot of active combat,
Track 1:No, not at all.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:since Vietnam. I mean, you know, you take out some Panama and some things there in the early nineties, of course in, in Iraq and,
Track 1:Yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:but today anybody, I would guess who signs up for kind of military. Knows that's a serious potential. And yet we hear in private and in civilian life folks sign up for a job and then once they have to work hard, they fall out. what you talked about, what is happening your perspective within the military? I mean, is it easier to retain folks today or is
Track 1:Yeah, it's, it's, and, and right now it's, you know, my, my kids can speak better with this. Jake is, Jake is getting ready to get outta the military right now and he's got kind of a raw deal out of a lot of stuff. The military's handling a c and was, you know, poor in my opinion. There was a lot of mistakes in there and they, they just shut everything down. And when they shut everything down, it, it hurt a lot of people and it hurt a lot of retention. And for Jake, what he's doing as a corpsman you know, cuz they're, they're really hurting for people right now. They, they don't have the numbers that they used to have. So a reenlistment bonus was like nothing. Really, they didn't offer him anything, but yet if he were to get out and then come back in, the bonus is like quadrupled. So it, it doesn't make any sense, and this is why you get a lot of, you know, kind of bean counters that don't really uh, they don't have to put numbers to, you know, to reality. And a lot of it, unfortunately in the military right now is a, is a lot of, they're not necessarily focused on the mission. They're focused on all these other, you know, things that are, that are distracting uh, you know all the gender, your, what are your pronouns? All this other, you know, and I'm sorry if somebody doesn't believe in it, but, you know, it just, it, it drives me sane. I don't quite understand it. You know, we gotta kind of grow up a little bit and, and be able to do our job. Uh, You know, and then it's, a lot of that is lost. Military's lost focus on a lot of the stuff. Now that's Jake's perspective. Uh, Joey, who's in the army Joey's, you know, he's kind of the same route with that, but his is, you know, that kid right now, you know, my deployments, I went to every crap hole on the, on the planet. He, he's in, uh, he's in guitar right now for four month deployment to provide security for the uh, the World Cup Soccer Tournament.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Through the Army.
Track 1:through the Army
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Nice.
Track 1:So of course he thinks it's a great deal. Uh, So uh, he's having a good time. But I think it's a lot of, you know, the, the military is lost, focused on what's important in, in a grand scheme of things and, you know,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:of all the to lose focus. I mean, I've always felt like military regardless branch,
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:of time and history. If you had to say what, what's the one thing that the teaches maybe outside of chain of command? It's focus
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:is, you know, laser focus
Track 1:Right.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:to me. The irony that that is, is in that.
Track 1:Yeah. And, you know, and that's, that's, they still have a job to do and there's different branches and different commanders uh, handle things differently. But, you know, you might end up with a commander now what I say, don't join the military. Uh, Absolutely not. For, for some people it's, it's the absolute right thing. If I were to go back on it again I, I would do the same thing. I, I wouldn't change a thing. Cuz I know I needed that structure and discipline to push me forward in life to kind of gimme that little kick in the butt to get. Because coming outta high school, I didn't have that, right? I end up at the JUCO like drinking beer every day. And, you know, and not doing anything as far as education or furthering my, you know, being a productive member of society. So. That's that's what I needed. And I still, you know, people, I, I have a coworker that has a son that's thinking about the military, and I'm like, Please, you know, have him call me. And, and I do it all the time to guys. I'm like going for it for the right reasons. Know what you're getting into. You know, and that's again, young and dumb as I was at, at, at 17 years old when I raised my right hand, I understood that if the nation called on me to go into conflict, I had to go do that. And you know, that's a big part of it, but, So do I recommend the military still? Yes, I do. And there is all kinds of things you can do in the military now. I mean, if you. Yeah, you, you from carrying a rifle to, to carrying a computer. Right. Cybersecurity is one of the biggest growing fields in the military right now because that is our next kind of battlefront uh, that we're heading into. So there's all kinds of things for people to do in there. And you do it for a couple years. If you don't like it, then get out and do something else. If you like it, stay in and then you'll have a decent, decent retirement and go do something else for 20 years. So which is kind of what I'm doing.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:you've done exactly what you said that you and Melinda figured out, and that is make the most of what you have and build on every single step. Build from there, and
Track 1:Yeah. And you make most of what you got. Right? Because not everything's gonna be a perfect situation. You gotta, you gotta work with what you got, No matter what.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:So I wanna back up a little ways. You were talking about military marriages kind of being a, a pass fail and,
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:you described, I think, appropriately that communication is the key
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:sure that you, whether it is typing while you're watching a slow, fuzzy picture on your computer
Track 1:Yeah, yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:about what you need to talk about when you do get face to face or get a connection. Um, Not just in relationships and and spouses, but what about, I mean, we hear the horror stories about soldiers who've come home and the, the s D and the horrors and the demons that they have to through. Um, is communication. Is that what's lacking quite often here, that they don't have anybody to talk to or they won't or can't talk to anybody? I know obviously there, but
Track 1:It, it, it is. And, I'll start with this. You can't, and, and I kind of said something about like this, you can't see what I've seen or done what I've done, and have it not affect you in some way, shape, or form. Right. And it's just impossible. And it affects people differently, some severely and some not so severely. A good friend of mine beginning of December, you know I'm going, he's getting buried in Arlington. He'd passed away about four months ago. And he's getting interned in Arlington National Cemetery. And uh, Mike is, he's a good friend, but he, he really struggled. And fortunately the VA in our current medical systems, you know, they're, they're kind of learning a little bit because they don't, you know, as medical systems that don't adapt to change very well. Right. So for a long time they would. Whatever drug he wanted, they would just give it to him. They would hand him uh, okay, here's an antidepressant. Okay, here's, here's some, some you know, some stuff to focus uh, here's some some stuff to sleep. And then you'd go to another doctor, well, you know, and they'd give him something, this and that. And it, it, it all built on it. And nobody was really looking after him. There was no one point of contact that was actually trying to take care of Mike other than his friends. And, you know, so Mike struggled with a lot of addiction and a good portion of that is, is, you know, it's kind of what he had going on. And, and a lot of it is the, is the PTSD that he suffered from. So, and for me personally, and it's what I've talked about already, I surround myself with people that are kind of out like-minded. That is my therapy. And that's how I deal with situations that I, I can, you know, I still have a lot of military contacts that I keep in touch with friends that I'll never, you know, they'll be friends until we, until we die. Right. But you know, it is, it is what it is. But it's important that, you know, we. You know, that communication again, and, and how to deal with that. There is no perfect answer on how to deal with it for every individual, but you have to deal with it some way, shape or form. Uh, You can't hide it. And that's what you know you know, our grandfather and his generation in World War II generation, that's, that's all they did. They hid it, you know, and they end up with alcoholism and, and, you know, all kinds of other problems. So you, you can't hide stuff like that. You have to, you have to confront it and, and, and deal with it. So, And everybody's got their own certain ways.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:You know, as I watch television, as I watch, and I don't watch a lot of it, but there's a show on, and I think I've mentioned it to you, Seal Team,
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:and for all it's imperfections. I know it's probably like me watching Yellowstone and chuckling about how many things they may not get Perfect. You these shows and go, My gosh, you know, at least get the uniform Right. People, you know. But the one thing
Track 1:Yeah. Yeah. You don't, you Dale Banks, You don't take anybody to the railroad. The railroad station. On a, on a, on a bi-weekly basis.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Yeah, we haven't, we haven't this month. The train stations that dang
Track 1:the train station. That's what it is. That's the for it. Hey, we're go to the train station.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Yeah. It's, it's just too far. I don't have time. But, you know, you watch Steel team and, and for all its imperfections on the details. The thing that I have gathered from a show like that is exactly what you're talking about. How, how we as a society, whether it be the medical system or the military or, or us just ignorant and not seeing the signs you know, trying to treat things with another drug, another drug, another drug
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:And override as they say. You know, these are things that today especially we just can't do. And, and I've never really, I've never really compared and ranching to the military. But you've mentioned it in terms of work ethic and, and long hours
Track 1:Yeah. And certainly, certainly the stressors are there too,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Exactly. I me, it, ours is nothing like what you saw and, and, you know, combat deployments,
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:in terms of toughen it out, not talking to anybody letting these stressors, financial, weather, market, know, family, community, you name it in, in terms of just letting these things fester until you do something drastic, it's there.
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I I, I go back to exactly what you said about you and Melinda holding things together because of communication. I, I think it's the same with a lot of farm and ranch families
Track 1:Yeah, absolutely.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:the cowboy, soldier, we've all got this stigma. We've all image that we're not to. Let our feelings show we're not to go there. And if we do, it's a sign of weakness when in actuality it's, it's probably the strongest thing we can do.
Track 1:Yeah. And it is, and everybody has stress in their lives and, and it's finding ways to deal with that and, and deal with it in a healthy manner. Right. You know, I exercise a lot. That's one of the things I do to, to relieve stress. You know, if I don't, if I don't go get, so if I don't work out every three or four days because well, cuz I'm, I'm, when I'm not working on a ranch Right. So I, I don't have a lot of that physical labor that, that I need to do all the time. But you know, Melinda will say, Hey, you're, you need to go for a run. Yeah. It's, go do something somewhere else.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:buddy. Hot yoga.
Track 1:Yeah. You ever done hot yoga? That's no joke. Let me tell you
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I, you were telling me about it.
Track 1:Yeah, it is.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:the first time when I was there in Florida and I was chuckling about started telling me what you did and I'm like, Holy smokes. That guy's a machine,
Track 1:yeah. I took Melinda and then Lucy there and, and both of'em hate me now because of it. So Yeah. That is no joke. If anybody thinks you're weak because you do hot yoga, I guarantee you, you are not weak. So anyway. Yeah. So, but the important thing with, with all of us, no matter what your career is, you deal with those stressors. You don't hide'em. You know, cuz that's, that makes it worse, you know? And sometimes we can't dump our stress on other people. I'm not saying that, but you, you still have to deal with it somehow.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:those around have to be ready to.
Track 1:yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:sometimes maybe that's all that we have to do. I think that's some of the tough thing with, you name it, stress, grief,
Track 1:Yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:be. Not only are we not good at voicing that stressor or that that grief that we're holding in, those of that are there and want to help, we're not good at listening. I mean, I'm a fixer. I hear
Track 1:yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:That's, that's a challenge. My, I mean, Amy constantly, she's like, I just wanna talk about it. I don't want you to fix
Track 1:yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I'm a, I'm a per, I can't
Track 1:That's absolutely true. You're, you're, you're, you're not the only one, you know. I'm like, Okay, we have a problem. Let's, here's the solution. So let's try this. We have course action. A and I go back to my military terms, right? Course action. A. Course Action B. Course action. C. Okay, Well, pros and cons of each of those. Which one are we gonna do? And it's like, I just want you to listen. Okay. I'm sorry. I tried to solve it.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I'm just glad I'm not the only one. And
Track 1:Oh, for sure. You're not the only one. Yeah. You're It's very common. So anyway.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:is, it is tough. It's, it's tough to just be that, open ear
Track 1:Yeah,
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:let'em vent not necessarily try to fix it, but just show that you give a dang.
Track 1:yeah. Absolutely. And that's the biggest thing.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:we're, coming up on Veterans Day here and that's always been, especially me growing up in relative peace time. Born in 73, Nam was essentially over and I didn't anything again until the first Iraq war, or first Gulf War. Veterans Day for me was a, was always old guys maybe Korea, but probably World War II that were putting on the fatigues that didn't quite fit anymore. And, and were going through this formal march, this formal thing that I didn't get. Today it means a lot to me, and I suppose it's because of few more gray hairs. I think it's probably because of a lot more combat that guys my age had to go on. But it's still one of those things that, especially in the, in areas of the country um, we're kind of isolated from, I don't know, a lot of active military and women.
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:and, and it, it's, it's just hard for us to even relate. shared, but us how best to honor those who have fallen, those who are still here, those who are dealing with stresses and PTSD that we don't even realize. What do we do best this Veteran's Day and in the future to honor those served?
Track 1:Just, you know, it, it's not forgetting. Right? And this country has learned a lot since, since Vietnam. Right. And how it, how we treat veterans. And, and just cuz somebody served in the military doesn't make, they're not a hero. That's a cliche word. Now that gets tossed around a lot. But you know, I went in the military because I, I frankly, I needed a job. And that seemed like the best job available to me. Did I stay there and, and enjoy it and make the most of it? Yeah. But how you honor veterans is, is it's just don't forget about'em. And, and it's this country. We, we do it. I think, Well, I, I still, you know, I was in Lowe's yesterday using my military discount and, you know, The cashier, you know, they always usually say, say it, but another lady sitting in line, she's, she, she came up and, and and thanked me, you know, and, and I appreciate that. And that's, those little things like that always help. So I told you I worked for the Dutch for a number of years. Uh, And you and I have talked about Brady, Texas, right? You're familiar with Brady, right? So I'm with uh, two Dutch guys in a cafe in Brady, Texas, and the Netherlands. You know, if you're in the military, you're not well respected at all. They think you're in, in, in a lot of Germany is like this too. Some of the other that you're not, you're not looked down upon. I mean, but it's not like a desirable job that everybody wants They don't get any respect. There's no such thing as a, as a, a military discount or a Veteran's Day in the Netherlands. So these guys, and, and there were two infantry guys that were, that were brand new. this is their maybe first or second trip to the states. Uh, And they're sitting in this cafe in uniform in Brady, Texas. And nobody knows. These guys don't know who these people are, and the people don't know who they are, but they know they're in the military. And so somebody bought our lunch and these guys, it blew their mind. They could nev they couldn't even imagine something like that ever even happening in the Netherlands. So, and that, that stuff, you know, and I, I don't need people to buy me lunch, but just that recognition every once in a while, you know, and it, it's important and it's something I. We do well in this country right now. We didn't do well in the past, but I think we do well now. Uh, I certainly feel that way. And I think, you know, you know, I think that's important. Cuz there's, there's a lot of people that have sacrificed a lot for this country. Uh, And there's some people that have, haven't really sacrificed that much, but they still deserve recognition for raising the right arm. So yeah, that's it's just that recognition. Yeah. Those Dutch guys, they, they still couldn't believe that. It's one of my favorite stories to tell when they, they saw that. It's just, it blew their mind.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Well, I'm, I'm glad that we do respect the military. I'm glad. That we do recognize you and, and it doesn't feel like enough to just say thank you. It doesn't feel like enough to you and, and everybody who has served, especially given the sacrifices that you have and your families um, have given as well. but yeah, I mean, we can't thank you enough because defense of freedom and defense of people that we can not even give a second thought to that are happening right now and every
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:in other parts of the world instead of here.
Track 1:Yeah.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:thanks to what you've done and those who've gone before you.
Track 1:Well, I appreciate that greatly. I, I really do. And, and, you know, that's, it's, it's important and, you know, that makes a lot of that worthwhile. I still tell people I was a dumb 18 year old kid that needed a job though. So
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Well, as I, as I've said a couple times before, anyone who would've believed you um, after listening for the last hour or so, they're not buying
Track 1:Yeah, we'll see. There's always time anyway.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:No. Well, Kyle, thank you.
Track 1:Hey, I appreciate it, Matt. It is a good time. So, and I'm looking forward to next month, so I'll be down there for the sale.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:We can't wait to, to have you all here, you and Melinda. Is anybody else
Track 1:It's just Melinda and I I think
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:I uh, fields and things like that.
Track 1:Yeah. I know, right? Yeah. It's not the same deployment I went on for sure. So yeah, anyway.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:Well, seriously, thank you And we will we will do exactly that this Veteran's Day and, and every day after.
Track 1:Right. I appreciate Matt. Thank you.
matt_2_10-27-2022_160804:bet. Thank you Kyle.
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