WEBVTT 00:01.960 --> 00:04.460 Behind every mission , there's a plan . 00:04.880 --> 00:07.500 Behind every plan , there's a soldier , 00:07.960 --> 00:10.039 training , leading , and getting the 00:10.039 --> 00:12.539 job done . This is the Kentucky 00:12.539 --> 00:15.899 National Guard's G3 podcast , where we 00:15.899 --> 00:17.979 share the stories , lessons , and 00:17.979 --> 00:20.110 leadership that keep our guard always 00:20.110 --> 00:21.659 ready , always there . 00:25.340 --> 00:27.899 Welcome . Hello , we're back to the G3 00:27.899 --> 00:30.620 podcast Fixed Bayonet . I am your 00:30.620 --> 00:32.620 favorite podcast platoon Sergeant , 00:32.620 --> 00:35.580 Sergeant B . We are here today in what 00:35.580 --> 00:37.802 should be Frankfurt , Kentucky , but it 00:37.802 --> 00:40.024 looks like Antarctica outside . I am so 00:40.024 --> 00:42.247 over this weather , so over it . I hope 00:42.247 --> 00:44.302 you are warm and safe . Glad to have 00:44.302 --> 00:46.302 you here . Uh , we're gonna kind of 00:46.302 --> 00:48.469 dive in today to a part two from the , 00:48.469 --> 00:50.524 the last podcast , Star Major 9 with 00:50.524 --> 00:52.747 Raven 42 . But we're gonna go through a 00:52.747 --> 00:54.858 different kind of perspective of , of 00:54.858 --> 00:57.080 the training in the eyes of at the time 00:57.080 --> 00:59.302 the E4 mafia , uh , specialist Cooper , 00:59.302 --> 01:01.302 but as we go on , he'll build up to 01:01.302 --> 01:03.524 where his career is at and kind of tell 01:03.524 --> 01:05.747 his part of , of the Raven 42 incidents 01:05.747 --> 01:07.969 and stuff that he's , he's went through 01:07.969 --> 01:10.024 in , in his deployments and training 01:10.024 --> 01:12.191 over , over the years , so . With that 01:12.191 --> 01:11.580 being said , let's just , let's dive 01:11.580 --> 01:13.430 right into this . I have with me 01:13.430 --> 01:15.763 Sergeant First Class Casey Cooper . Man , 01:15.779 --> 01:17.779 welcome to the show . Thank you . I 01:17.779 --> 01:19.890 appreciate it . Hey , I'm glad that , 01:19.890 --> 01:19.620 yeah , I'm glad to have you here . Um , 01:19.870 --> 01:21.790 like I said , it's been , uh , an 01:21.790 --> 01:24.059 adventure so far doing some of these 01:24.059 --> 01:26.281 episodes , but I've heard so much about 01:26.281 --> 01:28.559 the Raven 42 incident , uh , obviously , 01:28.559 --> 01:28.190 and then just the stuff that y'all have 01:28.190 --> 01:30.190 done over the years . So having you 01:30.190 --> 01:32.246 here to tell your side of it , which 01:32.246 --> 01:34.357 will come from Specialist Cooper back 01:34.357 --> 01:36.301 in the day . So I think it'll be , 01:36.301 --> 01:38.468 it'll be a fun time to , to talk about 01:38.468 --> 01:40.690 stuff like that , but . Uh , let's dive 01:40.690 --> 01:39.949 into a little bit about you . You were , 01:39.989 --> 01:41.989 uh , a recipient of the Bronze Star 01:41.989 --> 01:44.300 Medal with a V device , and that was 01:44.300 --> 01:46.467 for that incident and the Purple Heart 01:46.467 --> 01:48.522 for the incident from the Raven 42 . 01:48.522 --> 01:50.744 And then you also had an RO , uh , with 01:50.744 --> 01:52.800 V from , uh , a firefight . Was that 01:52.800 --> 01:55.022 before it was before that was the first 01:55.022 --> 01:57.189 award . January 29th , yep , OK , uh , 01:57.189 --> 01:59.356 been on two deployments to Iraq , your 01:59.356 --> 02:03.305 favorite place , and , uh , yeah , so , 02:03.364 --> 02:05.364 um , with that , let's , let's dive 02:05.364 --> 02:07.605 into the how you kind of got started 02:07.605 --> 02:09.772 with your career because I did laugh . 02:09.772 --> 02:11.661 So for people that don't know , I 02:11.661 --> 02:13.605 really , we don't get to know each 02:13.605 --> 02:15.716 other first . I met you for 5 minutes 02:15.716 --> 02:17.938 one time and it seems to be the , the . 02:17.938 --> 02:20.161 The way of the road for me . So , but , 02:20.161 --> 02:19.960 uh , one thing I did laugh about , I 02:19.960 --> 02:22.182 sent out a bio and you had talked about 02:22.182 --> 02:24.238 when you first got in , and that was 02:24.238 --> 02:26.127 because you tried college first , 02:26.127 --> 02:28.349 correct ? How'd that go ? Uh , about as 02:28.349 --> 02:30.293 well as , uh , everybody around me 02:30.293 --> 02:32.460 anticipated , you know , I was , I was 02:32.460 --> 02:34.160 fortunate . I had , uh , some 02:34.160 --> 02:36.382 educational scholarship opportunities , 02:36.382 --> 02:38.604 you know , because I , I was relatively 02:38.604 --> 02:41.000 well educated in high school . Uh , I 02:41.000 --> 02:43.360 joined , uh , uh , went to Murray State 02:43.360 --> 02:45.639 University . Joined a fraternity as a 02:45.639 --> 02:47.869 freshman , which was never a good 02:47.869 --> 02:50.080 decision . uh , I , I wouldn't 02:50.080 --> 02:52.136 recommend that for anybody to get at 02:52.136 --> 02:54.369 least a year under your belt , um . At 02:54.369 --> 02:56.536 that point my grades started to drop . 02:56.536 --> 02:58.647 Uh , they , they decided to take that 02:58.647 --> 03:00.702 scholarship opportunity away from me 03:00.702 --> 03:02.980 and my dad gave me the , the ultimatum , 03:02.980 --> 03:05.258 like any good father would . He's like , 03:05.258 --> 03:07.202 I'm not gonna pay for you to go up 03:07.202 --> 03:09.258 there and , and fool around , so you 03:09.258 --> 03:09.089 need to come back and either start 03:09.089 --> 03:11.200 digging ditches and get a job or , or 03:11.289 --> 03:13.511 figure something else out , but I'm not 03:13.511 --> 03:15.733 paying for this , uh . So at that point 03:15.733 --> 03:17.733 I decided to take my fate in my own 03:17.733 --> 03:19.845 hands and I walked into a recruiter's 03:19.845 --> 03:22.119 office that day . Uh , it was 2003 , so 03:22.119 --> 03:25.360 the war had just kicked off , um , and 03:25.360 --> 03:26.971 it was May . I walked into a 03:26.971 --> 03:29.193 recruiter's office and said , hey , are 03:29.193 --> 03:31.249 you all still doing that , uh , that 03:31.249 --> 03:33.249 scholarship thing where you pay for 03:33.249 --> 03:35.360 school ? And he's like , Yeah . I was 03:35.360 --> 03:35.259 like , well , let's go , let's do this , 03:35.720 --> 03:39.050 um . The MEPs process and and entry was 03:39.050 --> 03:41.106 a little bit more streamlined at the 03:41.106 --> 03:42.939 time , and I , I had a , a great 03:43.410 --> 03:45.354 process . It only took me a couple 03:45.354 --> 03:47.577 weeks before I went to basic training , 03:47.577 --> 03:49.688 yep , and it's one thing the word you 03:49.688 --> 03:51.799 use like I was like a unicorn because 03:51.799 --> 03:53.799 it's something that you technically 03:53.799 --> 03:53.595 don't see a lot . Not anymore as you , 03:53.884 --> 03:56.106 you said , I wanted to go get money for 03:56.106 --> 03:58.328 college . You just walked in , no , you 03:58.328 --> 04:00.328 know , really no appointment . It's 04:00.328 --> 04:00.125 just like , hey , I'm ready to , I'm 04:00.125 --> 04:02.347 ready to join and then they just jumped 04:02.347 --> 04:04.514 on that , you know , and I seemed like 04:04.514 --> 04:04.365 that was something they did in the past 04:04.365 --> 04:06.476 that you don't see a lot these days . 04:06.476 --> 04:08.587 So it did . There was a lot of , uh , 04:08.587 --> 04:10.698 you know . Service related members of 04:10.698 --> 04:12.921 my family , everybody joined and served 04:12.921 --> 04:15.198 at some point in one reason or another . 04:15.289 --> 04:17.649 And being the unicorn part was you'll 04:17.649 --> 04:19.649 have a lot of walk-ins , you know , 04:19.649 --> 04:21.649 because I came out of recruiting as 04:21.649 --> 04:23.927 well . Um , you have a lot of walk-ins , 04:23.927 --> 04:26.205 uh , or you'll recruit and have really , 04:26.205 --> 04:28.427 really good applicants and candidates , 04:28.427 --> 04:28.010 but some people may have some medical 04:28.010 --> 04:30.121 issues or some people may , um , have 04:30.121 --> 04:32.343 some ASVAB issues or whatever it is . I 04:32.343 --> 04:34.510 just happened to be in that niche area 04:34.510 --> 04:36.732 where everything kind of lined up and I 04:36.732 --> 04:36.690 was able to join right away . Well , 04:36.769 --> 04:38.991 you had , you had brought up , um , you 04:38.991 --> 04:40.991 came in as a 25 Charlie , correct ? 04:40.991 --> 04:43.047 That's commo . It was commo , but it 04:43.047 --> 04:45.269 was actually colorblind though . It was 04:45.269 --> 04:47.510 a 31 Charlie , uh , because that MOS 04:47.510 --> 04:49.788 doesn't even exist anymore . We're all , 04:49.788 --> 04:51.899 we're all so old at this point , uh , 04:51.899 --> 04:53.899 they switched over to 25 series . I 04:53.899 --> 04:56.480 joined to be a 19 kg , which is a 04:56.480 --> 04:58.647 tanker , and , uh , we still had armor 04:58.647 --> 05:00.980 in Kentucky and it was a , it was a big , 05:00.980 --> 05:03.790 big area . They , uh , told me at MEPs 05:03.790 --> 05:05.957 I found out I was color blind and they 05:05.957 --> 05:07.790 said , well , now you've kind of 05:07.790 --> 05:09.957 narrowed your opportunities down and I 05:09.957 --> 05:09.829 said , so let's look at them and see 05:09.829 --> 05:11.980 what they've got . Uh , so I picked a 05:12.029 --> 05:14.251 combo slot . Thought it would give me a 05:14.251 --> 05:16.307 great opportunity and a head start , 05:16.307 --> 05:16.079 and just went with it . Just went with 05:16.079 --> 05:18.079 that . That's , that's something 05:18.079 --> 05:20.190 interesting because I , yeah , I feel 05:20.190 --> 05:22.246 like I know several people that they 05:22.246 --> 05:21.720 didn't know they were color blind until 05:21.720 --> 05:23.998 they got the Mets . That's crazy to me . 05:23.998 --> 05:26.109 It is you never knew , like in your , 05:26.109 --> 05:28.331 in your lifetime that you really before 05:28.331 --> 05:30.442 then , absolutely no , because if you 05:30.442 --> 05:32.609 grow up your entire life pointing at a 05:32.609 --> 05:34.609 color , say we've got black hair or 05:34.609 --> 05:36.942 even a color like , uh , yellow , green , 05:36.942 --> 05:38.942 whatever , if you point at that and 05:38.942 --> 05:41.109 somebody says that's green , no matter 05:41.109 --> 05:42.942 what you see to you that shade , 05:42.942 --> 05:45.053 whatever that happens to look like is 05:45.053 --> 05:46.831 green , uh , so the real , uh , 05:46.831 --> 05:48.831 determining factor came up whenever 05:48.831 --> 05:50.887 they show us the Ishihara plates and 05:50.887 --> 05:52.887 you see those dots and they're like 05:52.887 --> 05:52.579 you've got to see some numbers in there . 05:52.959 --> 05:54.903 You didn't see them . I didn't see 05:54.903 --> 05:57.015 those numbers , and I was like , this 05:57.015 --> 05:59.181 is some kind of sick joke that there's 05:59.181 --> 05:58.839 nothing there . And they're like , OK , 05:58.959 --> 06:01.181 we got some red-green issues going on . 06:01.181 --> 06:03.760 Yeah . All right , so no EOD then . No , 06:03.880 --> 06:05.824 definitely no EOD . No , no flight 06:05.824 --> 06:07.880 school , and that's unfortunate-50 . 06:07.880 --> 06:09.936 Yeah , well , I mean , it seems like 06:09.936 --> 06:12.158 it's , it's worked out . You , you said 06:12.158 --> 06:14.213 you came in as a 25 Charlie and then 06:14.213 --> 06:14.075 eventually you crossed over to the 31 06:14.075 --> 06:16.804 Bravo MOS . I did after my first , uh , 06:17.195 --> 06:19.417 annual training . As soon as I got back 06:19.417 --> 06:21.528 from basic training , uh , we went to 06:21.528 --> 06:23.251 AT with the 130th Combat Heavy 06:23.251 --> 06:25.417 Engineers . Uh , it was a great unit , 06:25.417 --> 06:27.639 but I was the only combo person there . 06:27.639 --> 06:29.475 We had a fantastic , uh , annual 06:29.475 --> 06:31.642 training down at Coronado Naval Base . 06:31.674 --> 06:33.785 It was beautiful . We spent two weeks 06:33.785 --> 06:35.618 out there working on some border 06:35.618 --> 06:37.841 crossing stuff down at that border , so 06:37.841 --> 06:40.063 it was a nice adventure doing that kind 06:40.063 --> 06:42.174 of stuff . Um , I was the commander's 06:42.174 --> 06:44.959 driver , but our final day , uh , there 06:44.959 --> 06:46.903 we had sort of a picnic out on the 06:46.903 --> 06:49.126 beach , and , uh , they sprung it on us 06:49.126 --> 06:51.320 that , hey , does anybody feel like 06:51.500 --> 06:53.556 becoming a military police and , you 06:53.556 --> 06:55.611 know , going to Iraq , we need , you 06:55.611 --> 06:57.833 know , some people to try because , you 06:57.833 --> 07:00.000 know , they were going overseas , they 07:00.000 --> 06:59.380 knew they had it and they wanted some 06:59.380 --> 07:01.790 people to reclass . I didn't really 07:01.790 --> 07:03.957 have anything going on . I was young , 07:03.957 --> 07:05.957 you know , 18 years old , 19 , so I 07:05.957 --> 07:08.179 raised my hand . I was like , I'll go . 07:08.179 --> 07:10.290 I got nothing going on , and took off 07:10.290 --> 07:12.457 and that's how it happened , yep . And 07:12.457 --> 07:14.290 as soon as I completed , uh , MP 07:14.290 --> 07:16.450 training , uh , that was in July of 07:16.470 --> 07:20.309 2004 in September . I joined the debt 07:20.309 --> 07:22.959 16 17th . And became part of Ravenport 07:22.959 --> 07:25.015 too . There you go . That's , that's 07:25.015 --> 07:26.903 crazy how life works out though . 07:26.903 --> 07:28.959 That's pretty wild . So I mean , you 07:28.959 --> 07:31.181 know , think about that . If you didn't 07:31.181 --> 07:30.339 raise your hand where you'd be now , 07:30.420 --> 07:32.309 you know , it's just , there's no 07:32.309 --> 07:34.087 telling . It's the stories that 07:34.087 --> 07:36.364 soldiers have are , are pretty amazing , 07:36.364 --> 07:36.000 just , you know , what's going on , but , 07:36.380 --> 07:38.440 um . But then you , we kind of dive 07:38.440 --> 07:40.880 into even you became full time in 2009 , 07:41.160 --> 07:43.327 which we'll get to the deployment . So 07:43.327 --> 07:45.438 this is after you come back from both 07:45.438 --> 07:47.604 deployments and it just chase that AGR 07:47.604 --> 07:46.929 career . Is that what you end up doing ? 07:47.000 --> 07:49.000 I did . I realized it was something 07:49.000 --> 07:51.167 that I really enjoyed , uh , something 07:51.167 --> 07:53.389 that I'd , you know , shown proficiency 07:53.389 --> 07:55.611 in , um , and decided to , to attack it 07:55.611 --> 07:57.833 and decided I wanted to be a part of my 07:57.833 --> 07:59.833 everyday career . Uh , anybody that 07:59.833 --> 08:01.667 knows the AGR program knows it's 08:01.667 --> 08:03.722 probably the best kept secret in the 08:03.722 --> 08:05.444 army . Um , it , it's , it's a 08:05.444 --> 08:07.556 fantastic opportunity and it's been a 08:07.556 --> 08:09.500 great career so far . I've had the 08:09.500 --> 08:08.980 opportunity to work all over the state , 08:09.179 --> 08:11.299 you know , I've gone from human 08:11.299 --> 08:13.290 resources , HR to , you know , 08:13.420 --> 08:15.587 readiness and recruiting . I've worked 08:15.587 --> 08:17.698 in the budget office . I've worked up 08:17.698 --> 08:19.587 in the office of , uh , Office of 08:19.587 --> 08:21.920 Personnel Management up in the state G1 . 08:21.920 --> 08:24.142 So there's a lot of room for growth and 08:24.142 --> 08:26.253 opportunity and broadening , and it , 08:26.253 --> 08:26.200 it's been really fulfilling definitely 08:26.200 --> 08:28.144 to do it . The networking , that I 08:28.144 --> 08:30.367 think that's the , the crazy thing that 08:30.367 --> 08:32.478 when I talked to St Stormaer 9 was he 08:32.478 --> 08:34.644 was 31 Bravo , true and true , right ? 08:34.644 --> 08:36.811 Just bam , bam , bam , bam , bam . But 08:36.811 --> 08:36.280 I thought people like that's kind of 08:36.280 --> 08:38.280 unique just because like you talked 08:38.280 --> 08:40.447 about , I was the same route of when I 08:40.447 --> 08:42.558 became full-time , you kind of bounce 08:42.558 --> 08:42.200 around and , you know , do networking , 08:42.239 --> 08:44.406 which I stayed in the same battalion , 08:44.406 --> 08:46.517 but You know , I had 42 Alpha . I had 08:46.517 --> 08:48.739 13 Mike , you know , you , you name all 08:48.739 --> 08:51.072 these MOSs , but you , you do as you go , 08:51.072 --> 08:53.295 and it all to me kind of shaped me . So 08:53.295 --> 08:55.406 it's like seeing people that don't do 08:55.406 --> 08:54.948 that route , it's kind of unique . But 08:54.948 --> 08:57.281 then also like people like you , I mean , 08:57.281 --> 08:59.392 you kind of bounced around . You went 08:59.392 --> 08:58.669 into recruiting and stuff at one point . 08:58.708 --> 09:00.875 You went into budgeting , so it's like 09:00.875 --> 09:03.041 you've had a pretty unique career just 09:03.041 --> 09:05.264 from where you started at to now . So I 09:05.264 --> 09:07.486 have , yeah , I , I would say that both 09:07.486 --> 09:09.652 aspects . Benefits and downfalls . I , 09:09.652 --> 09:11.430 I got the opportunity of seeing 09:11.430 --> 09:13.375 perspective from all the different 09:13.375 --> 09:15.597 levels of state , brigade , battalion , 09:15.597 --> 09:17.764 and the unit level , and that gives me 09:17.764 --> 09:19.764 perspective to be able to hopefully 09:19.764 --> 09:21.819 help soldiers that haven't seen what 09:21.819 --> 09:23.986 goes on on both ends or both levels or 09:23.986 --> 09:26.097 anything like that , whereas Sergeant 09:26.097 --> 09:28.375 Major 9 is a 31B , and so he gets very , 09:28.375 --> 09:30.375 very specially focused and he has a 09:30.375 --> 09:32.690 really , really . Uh , strong mindset 09:32.690 --> 09:34.619 in the MP world and , and is the 09:34.619 --> 09:36.786 absolute subject matter expert in that 09:36.786 --> 09:38.952 area . Yeah , I mean , I would totally 09:38.952 --> 09:38.859 believe it after one conversation with 09:38.859 --> 09:41.320 him . Yeah , he said that one only MOS 09:41.320 --> 09:44.659 is what he let me know . But uh so yeah , 09:44.700 --> 09:46.644 you're going on 17 years of active 09:46.644 --> 09:49.419 service . I actually it's close . I'm 09:49.419 --> 09:52.500 crossing over to 19 years . March will 09:52.500 --> 09:55.260 be 19 years or I'm sorry . Yeah , 09:55.419 --> 09:57.419 Marshall will be 19 years of active 09:57.419 --> 09:59.752 service in my , in my 23rd overall year . 09:59.752 --> 10:01.641 Yeah , that's . And then I mean , 10:01.641 --> 10:03.808 digging in a little bit , but you said 10:03.808 --> 10:05.697 you're married to a retired AGR , 10:05.697 --> 10:07.919 correct ? Who , who's your , who's your 10:07.919 --> 10:09.975 wife ? Emily Cooper , uh , was Emily 10:09.975 --> 10:12.030 Tanzel . She was readiness in the in 10:12.030 --> 10:14.308 the MP battalion as well at the 1103rd . 10:14.308 --> 10:16.641 Uh , she worked , uh , uh , supply , uh , 10:16.641 --> 10:18.808 for the 1103rd , and when it was still 10:18.808 --> 10:18.780 a unit in the 223rd , we actually 10:18.780 --> 10:20.947 worked in the same office for a couple 10:20.947 --> 10:23.113 of years , um , and , and it was a , a 10:23.113 --> 10:25.391 great dynamic being able to . You know , 10:25.391 --> 10:27.669 still maintain professional , you know , 10:27.669 --> 10:29.891 conduct , but still getting to see your 10:29.891 --> 10:29.799 wife every day and getting to , to 10:29.799 --> 10:32.021 maintain the same schedules . The , the 10:32.021 --> 10:33.910 great thing about having somebody 10:33.910 --> 10:35.799 that's a veteran with you or that 10:35.799 --> 10:37.910 retired with you is . They understand 10:37.910 --> 10:39.743 where you're coming home with if 10:39.743 --> 10:41.799 whatever's going on , if , if , uh , 10:41.799 --> 10:43.966 you know , it's USR Week or drill week 10:43.966 --> 10:45.966 or something like that , they can , 10:45.966 --> 10:47.632 they can absolutely deal with 10:47.632 --> 10:47.630 understanding how you're feeling and 10:47.630 --> 10:49.797 what you're going through , and that , 10:49.797 --> 10:49.559 that's always great to have that kind 10:49.559 --> 10:51.559 of support . Yeah , that's , that's 10:51.559 --> 10:53.781 kind of cool because I mean , I , I'm , 10:53.781 --> 10:55.892 I'm dual status as well , but my wife 10:55.892 --> 10:58.115 is M Day . Um , but you , you meet some 10:58.115 --> 10:57.890 people that's , you know , yeah , that 10:57.890 --> 11:00.057 kind of that dual AGR role , and , and 11:00.057 --> 11:02.210 you got 3 kids , so I mean managing a 11:02.210 --> 11:04.432 family and then , you know , both being 11:04.432 --> 11:06.766 in the military , military heavy family , 11:06.766 --> 11:08.710 so it's like it's , that's another 11:08.710 --> 11:08.570 thing to kind of really , you know , 11:08.729 --> 11:10.729 people don't hear about a lot , you 11:10.729 --> 11:12.729 know , that , that whole dynamic of 11:12.729 --> 11:12.280 that , and that , that is cool how you 11:12.280 --> 11:14.336 put it though , the relating to each 11:14.336 --> 11:16.447 other is pretty . It is being able to 11:16.447 --> 11:18.849 relate is is fantastic um we have you 11:18.849 --> 11:20.793 if you're gonna be dual AGR you've 11:20.793 --> 11:22.682 gotta have a really , really good 11:22.682 --> 11:24.905 support system , uh , family care plans 11:24.905 --> 11:26.960 gotta be tightened up uh we've got , 11:26.969 --> 11:28.913 you know , family members like her 11:28.913 --> 11:31.136 sister that just . is basically a third 11:31.136 --> 11:33.358 parent to us that always helps out with 11:33.358 --> 11:35.469 everything . She's always fantastic . 11:35.469 --> 11:37.802 So having that family support structure , 11:37.802 --> 11:37.710 uh , with anybody in the military is , 11:37.750 --> 11:40.028 is , is a great thing to have for sure . 11:40.028 --> 11:42.083 Yeah , 100% . I , I believe that too 11:42.083 --> 11:44.139 because I've always said it about us 11:44.139 --> 11:46.194 with , you know , family . You gotta 11:46.194 --> 11:45.140 have somebody , you know , when it , 11:45.219 --> 11:47.386 when it comes to stuff like that . But 11:47.386 --> 11:50.109 excuse you , excuse me . No , keep it 11:50.109 --> 11:52.309 going , uh , but yeah , that , that , 11:52.510 --> 11:54.732 that's , uh , like I said , I wanted to 11:54.732 --> 11:54.669 bring that up because there are people 11:54.669 --> 11:56.891 out there that's listening , you know , 11:56.891 --> 11:59.169 it's kind of that same boat , and , uh , 11:59.169 --> 12:01.336 you know , there's resources out there 12:01.336 --> 12:00.789 and stuff too has helped , but you 12:00.789 --> 12:03.011 gotta have that support structure to do 12:03.011 --> 12:05.067 what you're doing , even if you're , 12:05.067 --> 12:04.820 you know , a single soldier doing it , 12:04.869 --> 12:07.091 but that , that dual rows , it's pretty 12:07.091 --> 12:09.425 crazy , but . Uh , so yeah , let's , uh , 12:09.425 --> 12:11.536 let's dive into something else . Uh , 12:11.536 --> 12:13.480 actually , let's take a break real 12:13.480 --> 12:13.210 quick and when we come back , let's , 12:13.219 --> 12:15.052 uh , let's jump into some of the 12:15.052 --> 12:17.219 training . What I'd like to do is talk 12:17.219 --> 12:16.530 to you about , you know , some of the 12:16.530 --> 12:19.020 past things that you came up doing and 12:19.020 --> 12:21.187 some of the stuff that's still similar 12:21.187 --> 12:23.242 or some techniques that y'all had to 12:23.242 --> 12:25.353 upgrade or even , you know , rules of 12:25.353 --> 12:24.969 the road that you was like this is a 12:24.969 --> 12:27.025 terrible idea and we learned from it 12:27.025 --> 12:28.858 real quick . So , I think that's 12:28.858 --> 12:30.858 another thing that we usually , you 12:30.858 --> 12:30.320 hone on all the good stuff , but 12:30.320 --> 12:32.376 sometimes that bad stuff is what you 12:32.376 --> 12:34.376 learn from , and I'm , I'm sure you 12:34.376 --> 12:36.431 know that too , so . Um , so let's , 12:36.431 --> 12:36.039 let's , let's take a little break real 12:36.039 --> 12:38.206 quick . When we come back , we'll jump 12:38.206 --> 12:40.317 into the training side of it . Sounds 12:40.317 --> 12:39.239 good . Appreciate it . 12:44.710 --> 12:47.109 Welcome back to the G3P . We're here 12:47.109 --> 12:49.387 with Sergeant First Class Cooper today . 12:49.387 --> 12:51.609 We're talking about that second part of 12:51.609 --> 12:53.720 Ravenport too , but let's jump into a 12:53.720 --> 12:55.942 real quick , a sponsorship that we like 12:55.942 --> 12:58.165 to do for episode number 3 . And I know 12:58.165 --> 13:00.109 you probably got a subscription to 13:00.109 --> 13:01.887 Netflix and all these different 13:01.887 --> 13:04.109 magazines . I think ESPN had a magazine 13:04.109 --> 13:06.220 back in the day , but what you really 13:06.220 --> 13:08.331 should be , uh , accustomed to is the 13:08.331 --> 13:10.387 Bluegrass guard here in the Kentucky 13:10.387 --> 13:12.276 Army National Guard . You can see 13:12.276 --> 13:14.276 pictures of your friends , all your 13:14.276 --> 13:14.270 battle buddies . It's great . 13:14.500 --> 13:16.500 Publication and guess what ? you're 13:16.500 --> 13:18.389 like , oh man , did I cancel that 13:18.389 --> 13:20.500 subscription ? You didn't because you 13:20.500 --> 13:22.722 signed up for the military . So just by 13:22.722 --> 13:24.778 doing that , you should be receiving 13:24.778 --> 13:26.833 your Bluegrass Guard magazine and if 13:26.833 --> 13:26.530 you're not , then get with your Radius 13:26.530 --> 13:29.020 NCO today and check IPSA for your home 13:29.020 --> 13:31.020 address because that's where you're 13:31.020 --> 13:32.742 going wrong at . But shout out 13:32.742 --> 13:35.250 Bluegrass Guard . Sergeant Cooper , sir , 13:35.450 --> 13:37.799 welcome back . So , uh , we kind of 13:37.799 --> 13:40.021 went over your , your life of coming up 13:40.021 --> 13:42.077 and , and joining the military and , 13:42.077 --> 13:44.243 and kinda how you're , you're living . 13:44.243 --> 13:46.466 So let's , uh , let's kind of jump back 13:46.466 --> 13:48.299 in time and kind of focus on our 13:48.299 --> 13:50.355 training aspect , um , I guess right 13:50.355 --> 13:52.521 off the rip just kind of what comes to 13:52.521 --> 13:54.521 mind is when you first got in . Has 13:54.521 --> 13:56.521 training , I know it's kind of been 13:56.521 --> 13:58.743 adaptive as we've went along , but what 13:58.743 --> 13:58.320 are some things that you can remember 13:58.320 --> 14:00.487 when you first got in that you trained 14:00.487 --> 14:02.487 even at home station because I know 14:02.487 --> 14:04.653 home station drills were kind of a , a 14:04.653 --> 14:03.799 bigger thing before we really kind of 14:03.799 --> 14:05.966 went out to all the ranges and started 14:05.966 --> 14:07.966 moving around a lot , but was there 14:07.966 --> 14:07.690 things at home station you remember 14:07.690 --> 14:09.801 doing that you were like , I , I love 14:09.801 --> 14:11.746 this , this is what , you know , I 14:11.746 --> 14:13.746 joined for ? I , I do . I , my very 14:13.746 --> 14:16.049 first , besides being a commo as an MP 14:16.049 --> 14:17.938 whenever I first joined and , and 14:18.049 --> 14:22.030 joined , uh , the 6 17th . I was given 14:22.030 --> 14:24.630 the staff sergeant at the time 9 and 14:24.630 --> 14:27.369 met our team then and If you've ever 14:27.369 --> 14:29.320 seen the first episode of Band of 14:29.320 --> 14:31.376 Brothers , you can always understand 14:31.376 --> 14:33.780 that Sobel's platoon or Sobel's company 14:33.919 --> 14:36.141 was the ones that were always working , 14:36.141 --> 14:37.863 always training , always doing 14:37.863 --> 14:40.086 something . Uh , it was a lot like that 14:40.086 --> 14:42.363 with our squad , not in a negative way , 14:42.363 --> 14:44.586 but when everybody else was hanging out 14:44.586 --> 14:46.697 in the racks when they were at , uh , 14:46.697 --> 14:48.641 Primo AT or something like that at 14:48.641 --> 14:50.863 Wiffertech . Uh , he , he always had us 14:50.863 --> 14:52.919 out there together doing something , 14:52.919 --> 14:55.141 whether it was weapons cleaning , which 14:55.141 --> 14:57.969 was huge , but we maintained a lot of 14:58.229 --> 15:00.229 cross level training and that was , 15:00.229 --> 15:02.285 that was huge in our teams because . 15:02.285 --> 15:04.219 Just because I was a , a gunner 15:04.219 --> 15:06.497 specifically had to learn how to drive . 15:06.497 --> 15:08.830 I needed to use how to learn the radios . 15:08.830 --> 15:11.140 I had to work the FPCB2 or BFT or JBCP 15:11.140 --> 15:13.251 or whatever it is now , you know , as 15:13.251 --> 15:15.418 they , as they adapt every system that 15:15.418 --> 15:17.299 they used , uh , every tactic , 15:17.330 --> 15:19.849 technique , procedure , TTP that , uh , 15:20.020 --> 15:22.187 sergeant out at the squad leader level 15:22.187 --> 15:24.460 would use , the , the cross level 15:24.460 --> 15:26.682 training of everybody knows everybody's 15:26.682 --> 15:30.429 job was , was critical , um . You , you 15:30.429 --> 15:33.809 see that still to this day , um , but 15:34.260 --> 15:36.260 it was , it just seemed more , um , 15:36.349 --> 15:38.516 pertinent at the time because we would 15:38.516 --> 15:40.750 always practice battle drills of , of 15:40.750 --> 15:43.429 different areas that , that , um , at 15:43.429 --> 15:45.651 the squad level that were fantastic and 15:45.651 --> 15:48.570 helpful , um , but I was 100% a gunner 15:48.710 --> 15:51.159 all the way . I was an E4 . I was brand 15:51.159 --> 15:53.229 new to the military . I had a 15:53.229 --> 15:55.700 camaraderie with my other E4 gunners in 15:55.700 --> 15:57.811 the company and we would get together 15:57.811 --> 15:59.978 and do our training most of the time , 16:00.270 --> 16:03.729 uh . Separate from everybody else , uh , 16:03.859 --> 16:06.179 it , it , I can only relate it to in 16:06.179 --> 16:08.235 the AGR world that we have now , you 16:08.235 --> 16:10.290 know , the , the 1 section and the 3 16:10.290 --> 16:12.346 section and the 6 , they all kind of 16:12.346 --> 16:14.512 work together , but the 4 kind of does 16:14.512 --> 16:16.568 their own thing because supply is so 16:16.568 --> 16:18.790 inherently different . Well , with us , 16:18.790 --> 16:20.957 the way that we trained , um , gunners 16:20.957 --> 16:23.739 were not so different . That we didn't 16:23.739 --> 16:25.906 cross train , but we were always up in 16:25.906 --> 16:28.072 the gun away from what's going on down 16:28.072 --> 16:30.295 inside the truck so we learned a lot of 16:30.295 --> 16:32.239 communication amongst each other , 16:32.239 --> 16:34.406 nonverbal communication , hand and arm 16:34.406 --> 16:36.572 signals , uh , it was critical that we 16:36.572 --> 16:38.795 were able to talk to one another across 16:38.795 --> 16:40.961 the different vehicles , especially if 16:40.961 --> 16:43.128 calms went down because sometimes your 16:43.128 --> 16:45.239 frequency hop didn't work or the fill 16:45.239 --> 16:47.406 didn't come out correctly or you're on 16:47.406 --> 16:49.239 the wrong channel . Uh , my , my 16:49.239 --> 16:51.520 favorite part of training . That was 16:51.520 --> 16:53.576 gunner specific in the truck that we 16:53.576 --> 16:55.687 always did and that I actually passed 16:55.687 --> 16:58.320 on as I became an E5 and an E6 was this 16:58.320 --> 17:00.209 is something that helped when you 17:00.209 --> 17:02.599 didn't think about it all the time and 17:02.599 --> 17:04.766 that was learning to back your vehicle 17:04.766 --> 17:07.380 up from the gun , being able to direct 17:07.380 --> 17:10.609 your driver . To go left , right , back 17:10.609 --> 17:12.553 it up , back into a certain spot , 17:12.553 --> 17:14.720 being able to parallel park because in 17:14.720 --> 17:16.887 the training environment we always use 17:16.887 --> 17:18.942 a ground guide , right ? Well , when 17:18.942 --> 17:21.165 you're in a combat scenario , maybe you 17:21.165 --> 17:23.276 don't have time to use a ground guide 17:23.276 --> 17:25.498 and so being able to look to the rear . 17:25.749 --> 17:27.860 Know that to your eyes you mean to go 17:27.860 --> 17:30.082 right , but you have to tell the driver 17:30.082 --> 17:32.416 to go left and closer , slower , faster , 17:32.416 --> 17:34.360 those type of things that are real 17:34.360 --> 17:36.471 world , uh , correlation to , to what 17:36.471 --> 17:38.693 you do in combat was something that the 17:38.693 --> 17:40.860 gunners in our squad platoon worked on 17:40.860 --> 17:43.082 specifically and it was really , really 17:43.082 --> 17:45.082 helpful , uh , and it's not part of 17:45.082 --> 17:47.249 standard training that you think about 17:47.249 --> 17:49.360 it's something that we just developed 17:49.360 --> 17:48.948 because we saw a need there , right ? 17:48.989 --> 17:51.045 And that's , well , you just said it 17:51.045 --> 17:53.219 with , uh . It's just something unique 17:53.219 --> 17:55.219 that y'all just kind of , you don't 17:55.219 --> 17:57.552 think about for training purposes and I , 17:57.552 --> 17:59.608 I've never even thought about that , 17:59.608 --> 18:01.663 even being up in the , in the gunner 18:01.663 --> 18:03.941 seat , you're kind of out of the truck , 18:03.941 --> 18:03.819 you know , to an , to an extent . So 18:03.819 --> 18:05.986 everything that's going on in it , you 18:05.986 --> 18:05.739 don't really see everything that's 18:05.739 --> 18:07.850 going on or hear the conversation per 18:07.850 --> 18:10.209 se . So getting that view right there , 18:10.329 --> 18:12.551 uh , that's , to me , that would be a , 18:12.551 --> 18:14.551 a good training aspect just at home 18:14.551 --> 18:16.329 station there is make it safe , 18:16.329 --> 18:18.162 obviously because yes , we're in 18:18.162 --> 18:20.218 garrison , but I mean , just to , to 18:20.218 --> 18:22.385 think , I , I never would have thought 18:22.385 --> 18:22.250 of that just backing up , moving the 18:22.250 --> 18:24.472 hand , you know , you always hear about 18:24.472 --> 18:26.694 the hand and arm signals and stuff like 18:26.694 --> 18:26.650 that , but talking out of the , the 18:26.650 --> 18:28.890 turret and communicating to the driver 18:28.890 --> 18:30.890 and letting them kind of just do it 18:30.890 --> 18:32.946 themselves and figure it out because 18:32.946 --> 18:32.869 that would , that would definitely help . 18:32.969 --> 18:35.302 So that , that's one right there that's , 18:35.302 --> 18:37.191 that's a key thing to think about 18:37.191 --> 18:39.525 that's kind of unique . It creates . Uh , 18:39.525 --> 18:41.580 a need between the driver and gunner 18:41.580 --> 18:41.219 because they have their own 18:41.219 --> 18:43.330 relationship just like the driver and 18:43.330 --> 18:45.386 the TC have their own relationship , 18:45.386 --> 18:47.441 but you have to build that trust and 18:47.441 --> 18:49.497 you have to know that what there's , 18:49.497 --> 18:49.400 what the gunner is telling the driver 18:49.699 --> 18:51.921 is right and they're just gonna blindly 18:51.921 --> 18:54.143 do that because you have that trust and 18:54.143 --> 18:56.088 you have that teamwork that's been 18:56.088 --> 18:58.310 built over a certain amount of time and 18:58.310 --> 19:00.366 training . Uh , it , it was really , 19:00.366 --> 19:02.588 really good and whenever I became an E5 19:02.588 --> 19:04.921 and an E6 and we deployed the next time , 19:04.921 --> 19:06.866 uh , myself and my teammates or my 19:06.866 --> 19:08.921 fellow team leaders . On downtime or 19:08.921 --> 19:11.143 whenever the uh squad leader or platoon 19:11.143 --> 19:13.869 was having a bub or a cub or sub or 19:13.869 --> 19:15.980 whatever happened to be we would take 19:15.980 --> 19:18.036 them out into a gravel parking lot , 19:18.036 --> 19:21.140 set up cones and and tell the gunners , 19:21.420 --> 19:23.531 hey , we need you all to to back this 19:23.531 --> 19:26.300 truck up to that cone and you figure it 19:26.300 --> 19:28.522 out and when you mess it up , back up , 19:28.522 --> 19:30.356 do it again until you build that 19:30.356 --> 19:32.467 rapport you built that correlation of 19:32.467 --> 19:34.467 trust between the driver and the uh 19:34.500 --> 19:36.839 gunner and , and you can do it without . 19:37.459 --> 19:39.739 Even thinking about it , uh , you , 19:39.859 --> 19:42.081 you'll see that throughout , you know , 19:42.081 --> 19:44.359 our hopefully our talk that , you know , 19:44.359 --> 19:46.526 the training really comes out when you 19:46.526 --> 19:48.637 don't think about it because when the 19:48.637 --> 19:50.637 firefight happens or whenever , you 19:50.637 --> 19:52.859 know , the hits the fan , you're always 19:52.859 --> 19:56.060 gonna lower yourself down to your best 19:56.060 --> 19:58.739 level of training and uh you know you 19:58.739 --> 20:00.850 can always prepare for the , the best 20:00.850 --> 20:02.739 possible scenarios and think that 20:02.739 --> 20:04.628 you're gonna . Do this , but it's 20:04.628 --> 20:06.850 muscle memory . Whenever you do certain 20:06.850 --> 20:08.906 things over and over , those are the 20:08.906 --> 20:08.329 things that are gonna come out when it 20:08.329 --> 20:10.551 actually matters when you don't have to 20:10.551 --> 20:12.885 think about it . Yeah , I mean , that's , 20:12.885 --> 20:12.160 that's , that's a great point . I can't 20:12.160 --> 20:14.800 wait to hear that side of it . But , um , 20:15.410 --> 20:17.849 like being , you know , switching over 20:17.849 --> 20:20.250 to different MOSs , did it seem like 20:20.250 --> 20:22.250 some of that training you just kept 20:22.250 --> 20:24.472 doing over the years , or when you went 20:24.472 --> 20:26.639 a different route , a different MOS or 20:26.639 --> 20:28.806 a different company , did things , did 20:28.806 --> 20:28.569 things change at , at home station 20:28.569 --> 20:30.736 drills or even going to , to ranges or 20:30.736 --> 20:32.847 wherever ? Did you see a common thing 20:32.847 --> 20:34.902 of , hey . I could fix this a little 20:34.902 --> 20:37.013 better and , you know , do , do it my 20:37.013 --> 20:36.469 way and kind of put , put myself in 20:36.469 --> 20:38.636 those places to help train , or was it 20:38.636 --> 20:40.691 like you started seeing other people 20:40.691 --> 20:42.913 doing kind of similar things or being , 20:42.913 --> 20:42.790 like you said , unique and , and coming 20:42.790 --> 20:44.790 up with something else ? You know , 20:44.790 --> 20:46.901 sometimes , uh , you'll see that TTPs 20:46.901 --> 20:50.060 are pretty universal . uh , there are 20:50.060 --> 20:52.282 certain things that just work no matter 20:52.282 --> 20:54.393 where you're at , no matter what type 20:54.393 --> 20:56.504 of unit you're in . Uh , and then you 20:56.504 --> 20:56.260 know certain companies train on certain 20:56.260 --> 20:58.699 things more than others , uh , and then 20:58.699 --> 21:00.755 you , when you have those broadening 21:00.755 --> 21:03.088 opportunities you get those assignments , 21:03.088 --> 21:05.088 you get an opportunity to say , you 21:05.088 --> 21:07.088 know , that may work , but have you 21:07.088 --> 21:09.199 considered this or if you look in the 21:09.199 --> 21:08.780 FM or if you look in the training 21:08.780 --> 21:11.260 manual , um , this is an alternate way 21:11.260 --> 21:13.204 of doing things and then sometimes 21:13.204 --> 21:16.060 you'll see when they're doing exercises 21:16.060 --> 21:18.116 or during an AT when they're running 21:18.116 --> 21:21.829 their uh . Field exercise to actually 21:21.829 --> 21:23.996 close out the AT . They'll run through 21:23.996 --> 21:26.107 and have an IED strike or something , 21:26.107 --> 21:28.051 and we may be observing and you're 21:28.051 --> 21:30.051 looking like , oh , that's , that's 21:30.051 --> 21:33.130 scary to me . Because we see what the 21:33.130 --> 21:35.352 actual results can be , but that's what 21:35.449 --> 21:37.949 the best thing about AARs . AARs are . 21:39.270 --> 21:41.437 The , the greatest successes are built 21:41.437 --> 21:43.603 off the failures of AAARs , you know , 21:43.603 --> 21:45.659 failures and learning and constantly 21:45.659 --> 21:47.630 growing and being able to adapt . 21:47.829 --> 21:50.829 Adaptability is huge because you , we , 21:50.949 --> 21:53.670 we don't go to combat in a vacuum , you 21:53.670 --> 21:55.837 know , you have to be able to adapt to 21:55.837 --> 21:57.948 whatever's going on and maybe the TTP 21:57.948 --> 22:00.390 or the field manual or the TTP says to 22:00.390 --> 22:02.920 do one thing no matter what . You know , 22:03.319 --> 22:05.541 sometimes you've got to do that . Those 22:05.541 --> 22:07.652 are baseline things that you can grow 22:07.652 --> 22:09.708 from , and it takes intelligent NCOs 22:09.708 --> 22:11.875 and uh intelligent soldiers to , to be 22:11.875 --> 22:13.986 able to work together and build those 22:13.986 --> 22:15.930 CTPs that work for their teams and 22:15.930 --> 22:18.097 squads . And , yeah , that's something 22:18.097 --> 22:20.152 to , to me is to relay because I , I 22:20.152 --> 22:22.375 know for us here we're trying to really 22:22.375 --> 22:22.369 talk to those squad leaders , those 22:22.369 --> 22:24.147 team leaders , and when you get 22:24.147 --> 22:26.258 promoted to those spots , sometimes , 22:26.258 --> 22:26.219 you know , you , you leave where you 22:26.219 --> 22:28.330 know , and I think it's a very common 22:28.330 --> 22:30.386 thing too to , to get you some upper 22:30.386 --> 22:32.497 mobility that you go to a different , 22:32.497 --> 22:34.663 you know , a different company or , or 22:34.663 --> 22:34.500 a different , uh , battalion , and then 22:34.500 --> 22:36.500 you kind of watch and it's like , I 22:36.500 --> 22:38.722 don't , you know , especially if you've 22:38.722 --> 22:40.667 got great training tactics , I , I 22:40.667 --> 22:42.833 don't want you to ever be scared , you 22:42.833 --> 22:44.889 know , to speak up like you said and 22:44.889 --> 22:43.890 say , hey , have you thought about 22:43.890 --> 22:45.890 doing it this way or . Can we start 22:45.890 --> 22:48.057 incorporating this because it's really 22:48.057 --> 22:50.279 worked for us in , in doing that . So I 22:50.279 --> 22:50.270 think given that voice of this is how 22:50.270 --> 22:52.326 training needs to be , be creative , 22:52.510 --> 22:54.732 keep showing your ideas and , and , and 22:54.732 --> 22:57.010 doing that , I think it's a good thing . 22:57.010 --> 22:59.177 So , unfortunately , you'll see that a 22:59.177 --> 23:01.010 lot that they're really , really 23:01.010 --> 23:03.232 capable NCOs , really , really strong , 23:03.232 --> 23:05.232 smart , and , uh , intelligent NCOs 23:05.232 --> 23:07.349 that will conduct the training , um . 23:07.880 --> 23:10.047 But a lot of the times the unfortunate 23:10.047 --> 23:12.750 part is that this organization is built 23:12.750 --> 23:15.400 off of hundreds of years of success and 23:15.400 --> 23:17.511 what they do and how they do it , and 23:17.511 --> 23:19.456 one of those is the organization's 23:19.456 --> 23:21.456 built like office space whenever he 23:21.456 --> 23:23.733 says I've got 8 different bosses , Bob , 23:23.733 --> 23:25.844 you know , so they're expecting to be 23:25.844 --> 23:27.678 guided and told what to do , but 23:27.678 --> 23:29.789 whenever you're at E5 or E6 , I would 23:29.789 --> 23:31.844 definitely say that if you know what 23:31.844 --> 23:33.956 you're doing . If you're confident in 23:33.956 --> 23:36.067 what you're doing , take ownership of 23:36.067 --> 23:38.589 your team , you know , make them yours , 23:38.849 --> 23:41.130 uh , make that your squad and , and 23:41.130 --> 23:43.186 protect and circle the wagons around 23:43.186 --> 23:45.352 your guys and be like this is my squad 23:45.352 --> 23:47.408 and the platoon sergeant's obviously 23:47.408 --> 23:49.241 gonna have sole authority in the 23:49.241 --> 23:51.408 platoon leader and command team , uh , 23:51.408 --> 23:53.519 but , but they're yours and one thing 23:53.519 --> 23:55.689 that we took to take ownership of that 23:55.689 --> 23:58.810 was myself and , uh , he's out now , 23:58.930 --> 24:01.209 Sergeant Riddle and , uh , actually . 24:02.069 --> 24:04.569 Master or sergeant First Class , um , 24:05.069 --> 24:07.670 Shelly , let's see , Shelly Burkett , 24:07.750 --> 24:09.694 I'm sorry , she's a recruiter over 24:09.694 --> 24:11.917 there , but we were team leaders at the 24:11.917 --> 24:13.806 same time in a squad and we would 24:13.806 --> 24:15.917 always talk about our kids go get the 24:15.917 --> 24:17.972 kids , we gotta have a briefing , go 24:17.972 --> 24:20.139 get the kids and it's not trying to be 24:20.139 --> 24:22.139 disparaging to the soldiers that we 24:22.139 --> 24:24.139 have , but it's the fact that we're 24:24.139 --> 24:26.306 taking ownership of our team and we're 24:26.306 --> 24:26.260 treating them like our family . Uh , 24:26.520 --> 24:28.576 because we depend on them as much as 24:28.576 --> 24:30.631 they depend on us . Uh , it , it's a 24:30.631 --> 24:32.742 single unit , and we weren't treating 24:32.742 --> 24:34.909 them like kids or anything like that , 24:34.909 --> 24:36.909 but we would talk about them in the 24:36.909 --> 24:39.020 third person , like , go get the kids 24:39.020 --> 24:37.949 because we gotta do something because 24:37.949 --> 24:40.171 we treated them like they were ours and 24:40.171 --> 24:42.393 they were our responsibility , and it's 24:42.393 --> 24:44.560 a big responsibility to have . It is . 24:44.560 --> 24:46.782 It really is , and , um , I , I , I get 24:46.782 --> 24:48.727 what you're saying there because I 24:48.727 --> 24:50.893 think that's one thing that always for 24:50.893 --> 24:50.670 me made me successful is like you said , 24:50.709 --> 24:53.760 I had very competent NCOs and . They 24:53.760 --> 24:55.816 were , you know , the team leaders , 24:55.816 --> 24:57.927 they were , they're ready to get it . 24:57.927 --> 25:00.149 They , you know , full of and vinegar , 25:00.149 --> 24:59.680 just ready to work , and it seemed like 24:59.680 --> 25:01.791 for my platoon , as long as I kind of 25:01.791 --> 25:03.791 took care of them , but listened to 25:03.791 --> 25:05.958 their ideas and they understood that I 25:05.958 --> 25:05.660 was listening to them . I knew I had to 25:05.920 --> 25:08.087 kind of make the decision , you know , 25:08.087 --> 25:10.198 the final being the final authority , 25:10.198 --> 25:12.364 but it was like I was very about , hey 25:12.364 --> 25:14.420 man , y'all are getting after what's 25:14.420 --> 25:14.079 working , what's not . So like you said 25:14.079 --> 25:16.301 those AARs just , hey , this , this was 25:16.301 --> 25:18.468 good , this wasn't . So let's fix this 25:18.468 --> 25:20.468 part . And I think as you went on , 25:20.468 --> 25:22.635 especially like when , you know , even 25:22.635 --> 25:21.890 deployments or whatever , it was like 25:21.890 --> 25:24.112 you really saw the team come together . 25:24.112 --> 25:26.279 It's like a family . It does feel like 25:26.279 --> 25:28.168 a family . Uh , you , you're very 25:28.168 --> 25:27.500 protective . You don't want that 25:27.699 --> 25:29.977 platoon sergeant going over my platoon , 25:29.977 --> 25:29.699 you know what I mean ? You stay over 25:29.699 --> 25:31.921 there . So it's like you wanna fight it 25:31.921 --> 25:34.143 out like a family , but everybody's got 25:34.143 --> 25:36.143 your back , and I think that's what 25:36.143 --> 25:35.380 makes it a kind of a beautiful thing 25:35.380 --> 25:37.602 when you have that , that cohesive just 25:37.819 --> 25:40.041 team that , that can operate together . 25:40.041 --> 25:42.152 Everybody has each other's back . And 25:42.152 --> 25:44.375 when you take ownership of your team or 25:44.375 --> 25:44.040 your squad or whatever it happens to be , 25:44.420 --> 25:46.660 uh . That kind of confidence and 25:46.660 --> 25:48.900 ownership of that translates up to the 25:48.900 --> 25:51.140 platoon level and company level and , 25:51.199 --> 25:53.143 and it makes it easier for them to 25:53.540 --> 25:55.540 loosen the reins a little bit , you 25:55.540 --> 25:57.762 know , you , you eventually when you're 25:57.762 --> 25:59.984 riding the horse , you gotta be like he 25:59.984 --> 25:59.569 knows what he's doing and , and just 25:59.569 --> 26:02.500 let him go , uh , you know , that 26:02.500 --> 26:04.500 giving that confidence to the squad 26:04.500 --> 26:06.611 leader , the platoon sergeant to know 26:06.611 --> 26:08.833 that this guy's got this or this girl's 26:08.833 --> 26:11.056 got this , this soldier has his team or 26:11.056 --> 26:13.056 their squad . It makes it easier on 26:13.056 --> 26:15.056 them and uh it it it allows them to 26:15.056 --> 26:16.944 provide you a little top cover if 26:16.944 --> 26:16.719 they're out there doing something uh 26:16.719 --> 26:18.663 training at at a different area or 26:18.663 --> 26:20.886 something , but they're getting the job 26:20.886 --> 26:20.880 done and they're really successful in 26:20.880 --> 26:23.047 what they're doing and they're meeting 26:23.047 --> 26:25.102 the commander's intent it's easy for 26:25.102 --> 26:27.213 them to tell the first army commander 26:27.213 --> 26:29.269 like hang on , they , they know what 26:29.269 --> 26:31.547 they're doing , let them have that and , 26:31.547 --> 26:33.713 uh , you know , giving them that trust 26:33.713 --> 26:35.713 and gaining that trust from them as 26:35.713 --> 26:37.880 well is , uh , is , is a great dynamic 26:37.880 --> 26:39.602 that . Uh , I really hope that 26:39.602 --> 26:41.769 everybody gets a chance to , to endure 26:41.769 --> 26:44.160 it because the guard , you know , we 26:44.160 --> 26:46.438 joined this for the different benefits , 26:46.438 --> 26:48.549 we join it for school benefits or the 26:48.549 --> 26:50.549 Tricare alone is , you know , worth 26:50.549 --> 26:52.771 staying in just because , especially if 26:52.771 --> 26:54.660 you've got a family , it's , it's 26:54.660 --> 26:56.882 ridiculous . But the whole point of the 26:56.882 --> 26:56.550 military is to fight and win America's 26:56.550 --> 26:58.910 wars , and , uh , when , when you can 26:58.910 --> 27:01.021 just take the reins off and they know 27:01.021 --> 27:03.299 you've got this , that makes it really , 27:03.299 --> 27:05.466 really spectacular . Yeah , and that , 27:05.466 --> 27:07.688 that it's kind of made me laugh because 27:07.688 --> 27:09.688 people know me . I mean , I'm not a 27:09.688 --> 27:11.854 very serious guy . I think you kind of 27:11.854 --> 27:14.077 gather that , but it's like speaking of 27:14.077 --> 27:13.349 that , it's like when the platoon was 27:13.349 --> 27:15.349 like just clicking and we were , we 27:15.349 --> 27:17.460 were rocking and rolling , you know , 27:17.460 --> 27:19.571 mission success and stuff like that . 27:19.571 --> 27:19.229 It's just funny because , you know , my 27:19.229 --> 27:21.396 commander , he would really , I mean , 27:21.396 --> 27:23.618 him and my first sergeant really always 27:23.618 --> 27:25.673 had kind of had my back because they 27:25.673 --> 27:25.030 would bring something up . You'd always 27:25.030 --> 27:27.030 see your command . They'd be like , 27:27.030 --> 27:29.141 you're gonna let him do this , yeah , 27:29.141 --> 27:31.308 like beating field , like , and they'd 27:31.308 --> 27:30.670 be like , calm down , calm down , you 27:30.670 --> 27:32.614 know , so that always , you know , 27:32.614 --> 27:34.559 because you gotta do some hood rat 27:34.559 --> 27:36.837 stuff , you know you gotta make it fun . 27:36.837 --> 27:39.059 You gotta make it fun , and the platoon 27:39.059 --> 27:41.059 always had fun , but I knew when to 27:41.059 --> 27:43.281 kind of hone it in , and I think that's 27:43.281 --> 27:43.030 another thing for teamwork is , you 27:43.030 --> 27:45.252 know , we , we made training fun . We , 27:45.252 --> 27:47.586 we did stuff together . But just to see , 27:47.586 --> 27:49.808 you know , the upper commands and stuff 27:49.808 --> 27:52.030 and be like , I don't know about this , 27:52.030 --> 27:51.670 and they'd be like , it's fine , and it , 27:51.790 --> 27:53.790 it would , it would work , and it's 27:53.790 --> 27:55.734 like having that backing gives you 27:55.734 --> 27:57.790 confidence as a team , and I , I , I 27:57.790 --> 27:59.957 love that about them . I love having , 27:59.957 --> 28:02.179 I love good leadership , but let's flip 28:02.179 --> 28:04.346 the switch then . bad leadership . You 28:04.346 --> 28:04.109 ever learned something from something 28:04.109 --> 28:06.331 that just , hey , we shouldn't be doing 28:06.331 --> 28:08.498 this , right ? And , yeah , yeah , you 28:08.498 --> 28:12.219 can always take a Uh Everything you go 28:12.219 --> 28:14.441 through , whether you have good leaders 28:14.441 --> 28:16.497 or bad leaders is learning for you , 28:16.497 --> 28:18.663 and it's , it's on you as a soldier to 28:18.663 --> 28:20.663 learn from it and you take that and 28:20.663 --> 28:22.719 I've taken that throughout my entire 28:22.719 --> 28:24.830 career , especially going through the 28:24.830 --> 28:26.941 different levels of G1 , uh , all the 28:26.941 --> 28:29.275 way down to the detachment level at the , 28:29.275 --> 28:28.920 at the what we would call the 10 level 28:29.180 --> 28:33.089 of the unit is . Take the good and 28:33.089 --> 28:37.020 the bad . Learn the way that that 28:37.020 --> 28:39.239 affected you if you have , you know , 28:39.579 --> 28:41.801 uh , maybe leadership that you would be 28:41.801 --> 28:43.690 a little bit more successful or a 28:43.690 --> 28:45.857 little more aggressive or a little bit 28:45.857 --> 28:45.560 more knowledgeable or a little bit more 28:46.339 --> 28:48.506 forthright in their in their intent or 28:48.506 --> 28:50.617 whatever . Take that , understand how 28:50.617 --> 28:52.783 it affected you , and then ensure that 28:52.783 --> 28:54.839 you don't do that whenever you're in 28:54.839 --> 28:57.006 that position later and and that's the 28:57.006 --> 28:59.006 best we can do . uh , we have great 28:59.006 --> 29:01.117 NCOs that provide advice and guidance 29:01.117 --> 29:03.339 to the , the officers in their charge . 29:03.339 --> 29:05.339 Uh , the officers do a great job of 29:05.339 --> 29:07.561 creating intent and implementing it and 29:07.561 --> 29:10.040 um . Sometimes there there's good 29:10.040 --> 29:12.262 cohesiveness and it works and sometimes 29:12.262 --> 29:14.151 there really doesn't . It doesn't 29:14.151 --> 29:16.151 matter because the guard is a cross 29:16.151 --> 29:18.318 section of the regular population . We 29:18.318 --> 29:18.000 just take the best of the best of that 29:18.000 --> 29:20.160 cross section and not everything is 29:20.160 --> 29:22.579 always gonna work out as far as . 29:24.079 --> 29:27.650 Leadership styles we'll call it . Some 29:27.650 --> 29:30.699 people don't relate better to their uh 29:30.699 --> 29:32.921 soldiers and you know it's just part of 29:32.921 --> 29:35.040 it , but all things will come to pass 29:35.180 --> 29:37.236 and you just , you know , learn from 29:37.236 --> 29:41.160 those times uh . Grow 29:41.160 --> 29:43.327 with them and , and hopefully that you 29:43.327 --> 29:45.438 don't take that and translate it down 29:45.438 --> 29:47.660 to what your soldiers do or and how you 29:47.660 --> 29:47.000 train your soldiers in the future , 29:47.199 --> 29:49.143 right ? And I , I think that's the 29:49.143 --> 29:51.589 thing that a lot of them , especially 29:51.589 --> 29:53.589 younger soldiers or something , you 29:53.589 --> 29:55.645 know , you , you , you'll have a bad 29:55.645 --> 29:54.640 experience , but that's life . I mean , 29:54.719 --> 29:57.052 I , that's what I try to tell people is , 29:57.052 --> 29:59.219 I mean , that's life . You're , you're 29:59.219 --> 29:58.459 gonna have a bad experience somewhere 29:58.880 --> 30:01.047 and sometimes it's always , you always 30:01.047 --> 30:01.040 hear that term , you know , toxic 30:01.040 --> 30:03.040 leadership , and it's like . If you 30:03.040 --> 30:05.373 break it down like you said , it's like , 30:05.373 --> 30:07.596 hey , we might get in a situation or or 30:07.596 --> 30:09.818 a training event or something it's just 30:09.818 --> 30:08.849 like this seems miserable or 30:08.849 --> 30:10.960 something's not working or whatever , 30:10.960 --> 30:13.071 but it's like you gotta find the good 30:13.071 --> 30:12.410 out of the bad because that's what's 30:12.410 --> 30:14.410 gonna make you better anyways and I 30:14.410 --> 30:16.521 think taking that step back sometimes 30:16.521 --> 30:18.577 and , and maybe it's the way they're 30:18.577 --> 30:20.688 communicating , you know , that maybe 30:20.688 --> 30:19.969 they can't communicate . I get it . I 30:19.969 --> 30:22.080 mean they , they worked themselves up 30:22.080 --> 30:24.247 to certain ranks and stuff like that , 30:24.247 --> 30:26.413 but . I always try to find the good in 30:26.413 --> 30:26.300 it and that's why I try to instill . I 30:26.300 --> 30:28.411 think that's what makes a , a , a , a 30:28.411 --> 30:30.633 well-rounded warrior is not always just 30:30.633 --> 30:32.856 focusing on this is what's wrong , this 30:32.856 --> 30:32.540 is what's wrong , this person's always 30:32.540 --> 30:34.873 wrong , they make the wrong , it's like , 30:34.873 --> 30:36.762 hey , I got it , but we're making 30:36.762 --> 30:38.762 decisions and , and especially in a 30:38.762 --> 30:40.984 training environment , it's the time to 30:40.984 --> 30:42.873 fail and that's why I always tell 30:42.873 --> 30:42.089 everybody in which we'll get in a 30:42.089 --> 30:44.089 little bit further here in a minute 30:44.089 --> 30:46.200 because you'll know the life scenario 30:46.200 --> 30:48.422 of it when when hits the fan , but . At 30:48.422 --> 30:50.478 the time when you're training , it's 30:50.478 --> 30:50.130 the best time to let people , hey , 30:50.319 --> 30:52.319 loosen the reins a little bit , let 30:52.319 --> 30:54.430 them do this , and then we'll correct 30:54.430 --> 30:56.597 it afterwards and , and , and that way 30:56.597 --> 30:58.486 we'll , we'll build , but . Don't 30:58.486 --> 30:58.219 always focus on , it's the leadership , 30:58.359 --> 31:00.581 you know , be the leader yourself , you 31:00.581 --> 31:02.692 know , make your own path , but , but 31:02.692 --> 31:04.915 create something and don't always blame 31:04.915 --> 31:04.079 it on , oh , it's the leadership , 31:04.160 --> 31:06.327 leadership , because I know , I mean , 31:06.327 --> 31:08.493 we've all been in scenarios where it's 31:08.493 --> 31:07.699 like , this ain't the best situation , 31:07.910 --> 31:10.021 or , I mean , this sucks , you know , 31:10.021 --> 31:12.132 it just , it just sucks , but embrace 31:12.132 --> 31:14.299 the and , and , and do it , you know , 31:14.299 --> 31:16.243 that's exactly what I was thinking 31:16.243 --> 31:18.354 about . Uh , we've all had throughout 31:18.354 --> 31:18.339 our careers times when we've been in . 31:19.250 --> 31:21.569 November at the range and it's the 31:21.569 --> 31:24.209 night fire and it's raining and it's 31:24.209 --> 31:26.609 just cold enough that it's miserable 31:26.609 --> 31:28.720 but it's not quite cold enough for it 31:28.720 --> 31:30.942 to be snow so you're just getting there 31:30.942 --> 31:33.109 soaking wet you're standing around and 31:33.109 --> 31:35.165 you're like what am I doing ? but if 31:35.165 --> 31:37.331 you look around and you see that maybe 31:37.331 --> 31:37.170 somebody else is a little bit more 31:37.170 --> 31:39.281 miserable that's good enough for me . 31:39.281 --> 31:41.226 I'll take it as long as as long as 31:41.226 --> 31:43.226 they're really hating it , uh , but 31:43.226 --> 31:45.337 embrace the is a is a great thing and 31:45.337 --> 31:47.337 it doesn't . It's not a mantra that 31:47.337 --> 31:49.448 that you try to ascribe to that it it 31:49.448 --> 31:51.337 always sucks , but uh embrace the 31:51.609 --> 31:53.831 because you know that's that's when you 31:53.831 --> 31:56.053 grow and that's when you get better and 31:56.053 --> 31:58.165 that's when you get to have adversity 31:58.165 --> 32:00.165 you can't overcome something if you 32:00.165 --> 32:02.276 don't ever have adversity and knowing 32:02.276 --> 32:04.442 that you have , you know , the , the . 32:04.442 --> 32:06.609 Personal courage to overcome adversity 32:06.609 --> 32:08.665 no matter what it is , small , big , 32:08.665 --> 32:12.540 whatever , uh , just . Relish in 32:12.540 --> 32:14.660 it and just , uh , absorb it and you 32:14.660 --> 32:16.827 know , let it roll off your back and , 32:16.827 --> 32:18.882 and a lot of it is , you know , when 32:18.882 --> 32:20.993 you're talking to , to battle buddies 32:20.993 --> 32:23.160 or just friends , people who've gotten 32:23.160 --> 32:22.739 out or whatever , sometimes you , you 32:22.739 --> 32:24.795 reflect on the , the brace and the , 32:24.795 --> 32:27.017 those stories , that's the stories that 32:27.017 --> 32:29.239 you made , you know , you made the best 32:29.239 --> 32:28.640 of it , but remember that time . He's 32:28.640 --> 32:30.807 here . Remember the range we were on ? 32:30.807 --> 32:33.084 It was a show like blah blah blah blah . 32:33.084 --> 32:35.307 But those are the source . So it's like 32:35.307 --> 32:37.473 if you just kind of hone in on , hey , 32:37.473 --> 32:36.719 where are we at , what we're doing , 32:36.800 --> 32:39.022 what's the intent , let's make the best 32:39.022 --> 32:41.133 of it , like you said , and every now 32:41.133 --> 32:40.880 and then you might find somebody that's 32:40.880 --> 32:43.158 a little bit more sucking than you are . 32:43.158 --> 32:45.158 It's like , oh man , let's just get 32:45.158 --> 32:47.047 through this . But , um , it's an 32:47.047 --> 32:49.102 opportunity to say , hey , maybe you 32:49.102 --> 32:51.158 can help them . Get gain perspective 32:51.158 --> 32:53.290 and maybe come out of it or maybe if 32:53.290 --> 32:55.401 they're in another platoon that maybe 32:55.401 --> 32:57.623 your platoon's a little bit competitive 32:57.623 --> 32:59.846 with because competition breeds success 32:59.846 --> 33:02.123 and be like , well , they're hating it , 33:02.123 --> 33:01.849 so we're winning , you know , as long 33:01.849 --> 33:04.071 as somebody else is in , in worse shape 33:04.071 --> 33:06.071 than you , you're doing OK . That's 33:06.071 --> 33:08.127 awesome , uh , so well with training 33:08.127 --> 33:10.293 events , I mean , you've , you've been 33:10.293 --> 33:12.349 in for a hot minute it seemed like , 33:12.349 --> 33:14.405 and then you go on these deployments 33:14.405 --> 33:14.369 and you probably went through a lot of 33:14.369 --> 33:16.480 training before and pre-modes and all 33:16.480 --> 33:18.702 that stuff and then , and then you show 33:18.702 --> 33:20.925 up there and . You kind of start seeing 33:20.925 --> 33:22.980 like the real-life part of the war , 33:22.980 --> 33:25.313 right ? I mean , you're in it . So , um , 33:25.313 --> 33:27.536 did you , how , what was the confidence 33:27.536 --> 33:27.170 then like your first deployment , 33:27.300 --> 33:29.411 especially as an E4 , like going into 33:29.411 --> 33:31.633 like , hey , the team's good , but this 33:31.633 --> 33:33.689 is , this is the real deal . Is , is 33:33.689 --> 33:33.459 the training good enough ? Are we gonna 33:33.459 --> 33:35.459 be , you know , did you ever really 33:35.459 --> 33:37.515 think about stuff like that ? Sure , 33:37.515 --> 33:39.515 absolutely . Uh , I'll , I'll never 33:39.515 --> 33:41.737 forget being in Kuwait , uh , as we sat 33:41.737 --> 33:43.737 there for a couple of weeks of just 33:43.737 --> 33:45.626 getting ready to , to go into the 33:45.626 --> 33:47.737 country , you were in Camp Virginia , 33:47.737 --> 33:50.270 which is A , a dusty hole at the time 33:50.270 --> 33:52.381 because they hadn't built it up quite 33:52.381 --> 33:54.603 as much , uh , you start thinking about 33:54.603 --> 33:56.548 what's this really gonna be like , 33:56.548 --> 33:58.714 what's this gonna be really be like we 33:58.714 --> 33:58.069 hear these reports , we hear about what 33:58.069 --> 34:00.013 we're going into , we're trying to 34:00.013 --> 34:02.180 think about the , the rip that's gonna 34:02.180 --> 34:04.347 happen , uh , the relief in place with 34:04.347 --> 34:04.030 the company that we're replacing and 34:04.030 --> 34:06.086 trying to get as much information as 34:06.086 --> 34:08.197 you can , but until you've been there 34:08.197 --> 34:10.252 and , and step off the plane and get 34:10.252 --> 34:12.419 blasted with the hot air on the flight 34:12.419 --> 34:16.350 line , uh . At the E4 level , one thing 34:16.350 --> 34:20.300 that we did or didn't have . Because 34:20.310 --> 34:22.421 it's not necessarily a need to know , 34:22.421 --> 34:24.489 but At that level , you can't absorb 34:24.489 --> 34:26.600 everything that the company commander 34:26.600 --> 34:28.822 and the first sergeant and the platoons 34:28.822 --> 34:30.878 know because you don't need to , and 34:30.878 --> 34:30.770 there's no need to have that much 34:30.770 --> 34:32.937 stress on you . So you trust that your 34:32.937 --> 34:35.159 leadership knows what they're doing and 34:35.159 --> 34:37.214 what's going on . But something that 34:37.214 --> 34:37.189 was funny was we stepped off the the 34:37.189 --> 34:39.750 plane in Bop after one of the worst 34:39.750 --> 34:41.750 C-130 rides ever where they come in 34:41.750 --> 34:44.429 with those , uh , we'll call it combat 34:44.429 --> 34:46.596 landings and they kind of spire , yeah 34:46.596 --> 34:48.707 they spiral over it and you feel like 34:48.707 --> 34:51.179 you're gonna throw up in a bathtub and 34:51.179 --> 34:53.290 you get off the plane and you're like 34:53.290 --> 34:55.290 this must be bad if they're landing 34:55.290 --> 34:57.457 like this and you don't realize that . 34:57.457 --> 34:57.389 You know , I hadn't done the research 34:57.389 --> 34:59.278 to know that Bop was a relatively 34:59.278 --> 35:01.500 secure area . We step off and we get on 35:01.500 --> 35:03.611 these , these buses to take us to our 35:03.611 --> 35:05.556 pad and we're like , we're , we're 35:05.556 --> 35:07.833 outside the wire right now . We're not , 35:07.833 --> 35:10.111 so you're terrified , just not knowing , 35:10.350 --> 35:13.409 yeah , absolutely just not knowing , uh . 35:14.419 --> 35:17.330 Is is enough to make you start to think , 35:17.659 --> 35:19.992 but you know that if it gets down to it , 35:19.992 --> 35:21.937 you're , you're gonna be OK , uh , 35:21.937 --> 35:24.159 because you're where you're supposed to 35:24.159 --> 35:26.437 be , you're where you've been directed , 35:26.437 --> 35:28.603 you're where you've been ordered these 35:28.603 --> 35:28.560 things have been coordinated for you , 35:28.850 --> 35:32.500 uh , the , the only time that you are 35:32.500 --> 35:34.611 curious about it is , is , you know , 35:34.611 --> 35:36.833 just because you haven't experienced it 35:36.833 --> 35:38.833 before . The second time we go in , 35:38.833 --> 35:41.000 it's , it's ironic that we were in pad 35:41.000 --> 35:43.167 12 of , of , you know , Camp Liberty . 35:43.679 --> 35:46.639 In 2004 and 2005 and sure enough pad 12 , 35:46.760 --> 35:49.120 I was like two trailers over the same 35:49.120 --> 35:51.429 place that we were in 2008 and 009 and 35:51.429 --> 35:54.360 I can tell you that experience of being 35:54.360 --> 35:56.389 able to talk to my team and be like 35:56.399 --> 35:58.540 this is what's gonna happen . This is 35:58.540 --> 36:01.189 the why this is the what and , and 36:01.189 --> 36:03.356 given that knowledge whether they want 36:03.356 --> 36:05.411 it or not gives a sense of ease . So 36:05.411 --> 36:07.522 the knowledge is everything and being 36:07.522 --> 36:09.689 able to understand what's going on and 36:09.689 --> 36:08.909 why it's happening and how this is 36:08.909 --> 36:10.909 going on and you're not outside the 36:10.909 --> 36:13.076 wire right now it's fine . We're gonna 36:13.076 --> 36:15.187 go over here and the chow halls right 36:15.187 --> 36:17.353 over there and , and having leadership 36:17.353 --> 36:19.465 that has that experience , uh . It is 36:19.465 --> 36:21.550 really comforting , uh , and I knew 36:21.550 --> 36:23.649 that Sergeant I had already deployed 36:23.750 --> 36:25.750 and , and had a good idea of what's 36:25.750 --> 36:28.870 going on . So , uh , even as an E4 36:28.870 --> 36:31.037 following him blindly was fine with me 36:31.037 --> 36:33.310 because I was dealing with my E4 stuff 36:33.310 --> 36:35.429 and other gunners , but , uh , I 36:35.429 --> 36:37.596 understood that he knew what was going 36:37.596 --> 36:39.651 on and that was good enough for me . 36:39.651 --> 36:41.707 And he'd built that trust in us with 36:41.707 --> 36:43.707 the way he conducted training , and 36:43.707 --> 36:45.818 that it all dials back to that . Like 36:45.818 --> 36:45.219 he , he kind of already built that 36:45.219 --> 36:46.997 rapport with you because of the 36:46.997 --> 36:49.219 training event , so . But uh so y'all 36:49.219 --> 36:52.260 in Iraq you're deployed . And we have 36:52.260 --> 36:54.482 some issues that happen eventually . So 36:54.939 --> 36:57.050 let's , uh , let's take a quick break 36:57.050 --> 36:58.995 and when we come back in , let's , 36:58.995 --> 37:01.217 let's jump into the Ravenport too . All 37:01.217 --> 36:59.939 right . 37:09.010 --> 37:11.280 Welcome back for part two of this Raven 37:11.280 --> 37:13.224 42 with , uh , serving First Class 37:13.224 --> 37:15.447 Cooper . We've kind of talked about his 37:15.447 --> 37:17.780 life . We've talked about training , uh , 37:17.780 --> 37:19.891 building up to the deployment , but . 37:19.891 --> 37:19.850 Before we start getting into your 37:19.850 --> 37:21.961 firefights and those scenarios , tell 37:21.961 --> 37:24.128 me about this window we got sitting in 37:24.128 --> 37:26.320 here off a Humvee . Yeah , so , uh , 37:26.530 --> 37:28.719 this is , uh , uh , we'll call it a 37:28.719 --> 37:30.886 souvenir that I was able to , to bring 37:30.886 --> 37:33.399 back , um , after our vehicles were , 37:33.530 --> 37:35.641 were deadlined after that firefight . 37:35.641 --> 37:38.199 Mine was particularly jacked up , 37:38.330 --> 37:42.179 you'll see , um . And that's where you 37:42.179 --> 37:44.540 know in the gun standing up in the gun 37:44.540 --> 37:46.596 or the turret we called it get up in 37:46.596 --> 37:49.100 the gun , uh , that's where 37:49.100 --> 37:51.211 theoretically my legs would have been 37:51.211 --> 37:53.433 and I was like , you know what , thanks 37:53.433 --> 37:55.739 window so uh when they when they're 37:55.739 --> 37:57.850 replacing parts or whatever they were 37:57.850 --> 38:00.300 just gonna dispose of it and , uh , on 38:00.300 --> 38:03.879 the way home I decided to to . Um 38:05.620 --> 38:07.780 See if I could make it a souvenir and 38:07.780 --> 38:10.199 uh Navy customs was was really helpful 38:10.199 --> 38:12.649 with that in their ability to look uh 38:12.649 --> 38:14.593 in a different direction for a few 38:14.593 --> 38:16.316 minutes uh so that's it's been 38:16.316 --> 38:18.538 something that I keep . I just throw it 38:18.538 --> 38:20.093 in the office it's always a 38:20.093 --> 38:19.909 conversation piece and it's always a 38:19.909 --> 38:22.459 good reminder of , of some of the good 38:22.459 --> 38:24.570 things and and bad things that happen 38:24.570 --> 38:26.570 and , and I , and I really , I mean 38:26.570 --> 38:28.792 it's always nice to have . I mean , not 38:28.792 --> 38:28.179 a lot of people have something like 38:28.179 --> 38:30.401 that proof positive that they can trust 38:30.401 --> 38:32.600 their equipment that's for sure . Even 38:32.600 --> 38:34.822 from the back glass , I mean , that's , 38:34.822 --> 38:36.989 can you see me , Sergeant Crane ? He's 38:36.989 --> 38:38.822 probably gonna kill me right now 38:38.822 --> 38:40.989 because so many fingers I'm holding up 38:40.989 --> 38:43.211 or one . Well , the , the neat thing is 38:43.211 --> 38:45.044 it's not even cracked . It's not 38:45.044 --> 38:47.156 anything on the backside , yeah , and 38:47.156 --> 38:49.378 it , it took , it took some , some hard 38:49.378 --> 38:51.600 hits , and it's heavy . It's probably , 38:51.600 --> 38:53.489 I don't know , 60 pounds . Oh , I 38:53.489 --> 38:53.330 guarantee it . I mean that thing is 38:53.330 --> 38:55.386 built right there . Like it's just , 38:55.386 --> 38:57.608 that's , that's wild though that that's 38:57.608 --> 38:59.441 what's , you know , stopped from 38:59.441 --> 39:01.663 basically taking your leg . 100 years , 39:01.663 --> 39:01.560 yeah , and that , that this right here 39:01.560 --> 39:04.379 is a , is a key reason of at least in 39:04.379 --> 39:06.580 the MP world when you dismount , shut 39:06.580 --> 39:08.899 the door behind you . We don't , we 39:08.899 --> 39:11.121 don't wanna let that thing open because 39:11.121 --> 39:13.010 rounds will go in there and start 39:13.010 --> 39:12.739 bouncing all over the place , but a 39:12.739 --> 39:14.906 good TTP is if you dismount , shut the 39:14.906 --> 39:16.961 door , shut the door , for goodness' 39:16.961 --> 39:19.370 sakes . There you go . All right , so 39:20.429 --> 39:22.596 building into that , let's get in . So 39:22.596 --> 39:24.596 y'all , you're there in Iraq before 39:24.596 --> 39:27.169 even the Raven 4-2 incident . Y'all had 39:27.169 --> 39:29.447 already kind of got in some firefights . 39:29.447 --> 39:31.558 We , we typically , yeah , these were 39:31.558 --> 39:33.558 the ones that you see , uh , that , 39:33.558 --> 39:35.669 that typically happened . Obviously , 39:35.669 --> 39:37.447 the , you know , the March 20th 39:37.447 --> 39:39.613 incident was an , an outlier , but for 39:39.613 --> 39:41.558 the most part , most of the squads 39:41.558 --> 39:43.725 would have , uh , really compact small 39:43.725 --> 39:45.891 arms engagements of a few minutes at a 39:45.891 --> 39:48.113 time , uh . While we're doing our route 39:48.113 --> 39:50.540 recons and and and clearance and convoy 39:50.540 --> 39:53.719 patrols . And , uh , January 29th it 39:53.719 --> 39:56.320 actually , uh , I know that Sergeant I , 39:56.399 --> 39:58.510 we're not gonna go into it deep , but 39:58.510 --> 40:00.732 he would talk about the three routes we 40:00.732 --> 40:00.209 would run through the Baghdad area . 40:00.389 --> 40:02.500 This one also happened to be out on , 40:02.500 --> 40:04.722 uh , the eastern route on Route Detroit 40:04.800 --> 40:08.780 and um . Uh , we had taken a complex 40:08.780 --> 40:11.560 attack of , of an IED going off and 40:11.560 --> 40:13.760 some , uh , small arms fire from some 40:13.760 --> 40:16.093 gentlemen in a little construction area , 40:16.093 --> 40:19.709 gentleman , and , uh , yeah , and , 40:19.719 --> 40:22.399 uh , there was a BMW there and a little 40:22.399 --> 40:26.129 building . And some really good AAR 40:26.129 --> 40:29.030 things occurred at that point and 40:29.729 --> 40:32.939 during that time . We realized that I 40:32.939 --> 40:36.100 couldn't get to uh well well a target a 40:36.100 --> 40:38.459 bad guy that I wanted to get to with uh 40:38.459 --> 40:41.870 my gun and uh decided that that BMW 40:41.870 --> 40:45.620 needed to be disabled so at 40:45.620 --> 40:48.709 that time . Our team leader was in the , 40:48.719 --> 40:51.510 the rear passenger seat . Uh , our 40:51.510 --> 40:53.732 platoon sergeant was with us that day . 40:53.732 --> 40:55.954 He had ridden out with us and he was in 40:55.954 --> 40:59.479 our TC seat and uh . I decided to yell 40:59.479 --> 41:01.701 down during the firefight , give me the 41:01.701 --> 41:04.939 AT4 because I'm tired of this . 41:05.100 --> 41:08.280 Eventually it's just enough . So 41:08.280 --> 41:10.502 January 29th he's like , Are you sure ? 41:10.502 --> 41:13.070 I said , I said what I said . So he 41:13.070 --> 41:16.709 hands up the AT-4 . Uh , and 41:17.090 --> 41:19.312 I remember very specifically holding it 41:19.312 --> 41:21.534 exactly the way you're supposed to hold 41:21.534 --> 41:23.590 it , going through the checks to get 41:23.590 --> 41:23.449 everything ready , pulling the pins , 41:23.810 --> 41:26.250 popping the rear sight , trying to pop 41:26.250 --> 41:28.583 the front sight , and I couldn't get it , 41:28.583 --> 41:30.806 couldn't get it , trying to pop it 2 or 41:30.806 --> 41:32.972 3 times , and I'm sitting here getting 41:32.972 --> 41:35.083 shot at the entire time because we're 41:35.083 --> 41:37.139 exposed up in the gun and uh at that 41:37.139 --> 41:40.850 time I kind of said screw it , so raise 41:40.850 --> 41:43.889 it with the one side that I had aim and . 41:44.610 --> 41:46.332 This is where in the middle of 41:46.332 --> 41:49.010 everything going on , uh , it seems 41:49.010 --> 41:51.570 quiet but it's extremely loud nobody is 41:51.570 --> 41:54.090 dismounted at the time uh and 41:54.090 --> 41:56.146 everything that we were engaging was 41:56.146 --> 41:58.929 directly in front of me but what do you 41:58.929 --> 42:01.290 do is you fall back to your lowest 42:01.290 --> 42:03.610 level of training and in the middle of 42:03.610 --> 42:06.209 everything I still screamed back blast 42:06.209 --> 42:09.649 area clear over my right side to 42:09.649 --> 42:12.330 nobody but it's just part of the 42:12.330 --> 42:14.780 training and it was muscle memory . And 42:14.780 --> 42:16.780 as I was coming back around , I was 42:16.780 --> 42:20.770 like that was stupid . Fire and uh 42:21.570 --> 42:23.840 miss because I didn't have my second 42:23.840 --> 42:27.409 sight and uh that that was looked that 42:27.409 --> 42:30.250 was frowned upon in the future you know 42:30.250 --> 42:32.610 because we're not out here to to to 42:33.090 --> 42:35.146 engage inroad waste and abuse but it 42:35.146 --> 42:37.257 was the best opportunity I had at the 42:37.257 --> 42:40.129 time so dump that disposable thing um . 42:41.330 --> 42:43.489 We had changed directions within the 42:43.489 --> 42:45.600 engagement area a couple times and it 42:45.600 --> 42:47.489 was before we had the crank style 42:47.489 --> 42:49.711 turrets or even the motorized turrets . 42:49.711 --> 42:52.110 This was early on so we had handles 42:52.110 --> 42:54.110 that we would unlock the turret and 42:54.110 --> 42:56.620 drag this heavy cast iron thing around , 42:57.000 --> 42:58.889 uh , because some of our up armor 42:58.889 --> 43:01.056 hadn't quite been developed as well as 43:01.056 --> 43:03.167 it should have been . So every time , 43:03.167 --> 43:05.222 yeah , the shield and then the , the 43:05.222 --> 43:07.444 side shields and so every time we would 43:07.444 --> 43:09.333 come around . And he would change 43:09.333 --> 43:11.444 direction . I would have to come back 43:11.444 --> 43:13.611 around with the 50 cal and uh that got 43:13.611 --> 43:15.959 tiring or frustrating , but I know that 43:15.959 --> 43:18.040 they were trying to engage uh or 43:18.040 --> 43:21.590 maneuver for a base of fire , uh . And 43:21.590 --> 43:23.812 so we always kept a secondary weapon up 43:23.812 --> 43:26.449 and I was a saw gunner . So at one of 43:26.449 --> 43:29.209 the turns , I leave my gun in place and 43:29.209 --> 43:32.760 I start engaging with my saw . And I'm 43:32.760 --> 43:35.479 not sure if it was a round or an RPG 43:35.479 --> 43:37.679 fragment or something , but I'm firing 43:37.679 --> 43:40.739 with the saw and . The gun 43:41.770 --> 43:43.937 kind of just falls apart in my hands . 43:43.969 --> 43:47.919 The handle pistol grip breaks off , and 43:47.919 --> 43:50.030 if you've ever put the 249 together , 43:50.030 --> 43:52.197 you know that there's the , the pistol 43:52.197 --> 43:54.363 grip slides up into a certain spot and 43:54.363 --> 43:54.050 there's a pin there and a pin in the 43:54.050 --> 43:56.719 rear . Well , the front pin had been 43:56.719 --> 43:58.886 destroyed and part of that little area 43:58.886 --> 44:00.997 of the gun was , was messed up and it 44:00.997 --> 44:02.997 just fall off in my hand . I'm like 44:02.997 --> 44:04.608 this . This is unfortunate . 44:06.840 --> 44:08.896 And I don't know to this day what it 44:08.896 --> 44:11.570 was , but adaptability is key , and we 44:11.570 --> 44:13.590 would stand on these turret , uh , 44:13.629 --> 44:15.851 risers that would help you raise up and 44:15.851 --> 44:18.229 lower in the turret , and in those were 44:18.679 --> 44:20.679 little pins , cotter pins that were 44:20.679 --> 44:22.590 attached to metal braiding wires 44:22.929 --> 44:26.399 attached to the truck and uh . I'll 44:26.399 --> 44:28.566 never forget , for whatever reason , I 44:28.566 --> 44:30.510 reached down , ripped one of those 44:30.510 --> 44:32.621 things off . It had broken the little 44:32.621 --> 44:35.489 wire . Put the pistol grip back in and 44:35.810 --> 44:37.889 that pin just happened to fit just 44:37.889 --> 44:40.409 right and was able to reengage and the 44:40.409 --> 44:43.610 gun fired just fine and and to this day 44:43.610 --> 44:45.810 I have no idea what made me do it , no 44:45.810 --> 44:47.699 idea what made me kind of spatial 44:47.699 --> 44:49.921 awareness thought that that pin was the 44:49.921 --> 44:51.866 right size , um , but it was funny 44:51.866 --> 44:55.090 because right before March from January 44:55.090 --> 44:57.257 to February I had to walk around Bop . 44:58.139 --> 45:00.139 Because we didn't have , uh , armor 45:00.139 --> 45:02.250 parts for that gun to fix , I would 45:02.250 --> 45:04.361 walk around and that pin was stuck in 45:04.361 --> 45:06.361 there and a little piece of braided 45:06.361 --> 45:08.417 cable was hanging off of it . Yeah , 45:08.417 --> 45:10.417 the entire time . It was wild , but 45:10.417 --> 45:10.010 that's the , I guess the adapt and 45:10.010 --> 45:12.177 overcome thing . I mean , just , it is 45:12.177 --> 45:14.121 crazy when you're in those moments 45:14.121 --> 45:16.232 though , and I don't mean to laugh at 45:16.232 --> 45:18.121 just the way you come off on some 45:18.121 --> 45:20.232 things like food , like we've all had 45:20.232 --> 45:20.010 those kind of moments , but that's like 45:20.010 --> 45:22.010 a life and death situation . You're 45:22.010 --> 45:24.177 still just like , well it , you know , 45:24.177 --> 45:26.232 you gotta be kidding . It's like how 45:26.232 --> 45:26.139 much worse can this get ? Like they're 45:26.139 --> 45:28.361 shooting the guns out of my hand . Uh , 45:28.361 --> 45:31.330 but yeah , you know , work the problem . 45:31.469 --> 45:33.739 It's the best you can do . Stay calm , 45:34.250 --> 45:36.840 not , you know , everybody says . Just 45:36.840 --> 45:38.951 don't panic , and that's hard to do . 45:40.590 --> 45:43.000 But a neat aspect is I've heard from a 45:43.000 --> 45:44.889 lot of people I've been asked the 45:44.889 --> 45:48.550 question a lot . Were you scared and uh . 45:49.260 --> 45:52.560 It seems brave to say 45:53.060 --> 45:56.959 no . And it seems disingenuous , but 45:56.959 --> 45:58.760 I would say that 46:01.179 --> 46:03.659 It's the only true way to say it 46:03.659 --> 46:06.540 because Everything that happened to us 46:06.540 --> 46:09.209 fortunately was reactive , you know , 46:09.340 --> 46:11.284 somebody would attack us or an IED 46:11.284 --> 46:13.459 would go off and in the seconds before 46:13.459 --> 46:15.459 that happens you don't realize it's 46:15.459 --> 46:17.459 about to happen , so you don't have 46:17.459 --> 46:19.515 time to build up and be feared or in 46:19.515 --> 46:21.681 fear . In the middle of it you're just 46:21.681 --> 46:24.229 reactionary , so you're focusing on 46:24.229 --> 46:26.451 training , focusing on things that have 46:26.451 --> 46:28.451 to happen and what you need to do . 46:28.451 --> 46:30.396 Fear doesn't really come into it a 46:30.396 --> 46:32.396 whole lot and then by the time it's 46:32.396 --> 46:34.507 over with , there's really nothing to 46:34.507 --> 46:33.949 be scared of , so you have a sense of 46:33.949 --> 46:36.060 relief or , you know , you're working 46:36.060 --> 46:38.227 and whatever is going on at the time . 46:38.360 --> 46:40.889 Uh , so it's not trying to be brave or 46:40.889 --> 46:43.056 put on a brave face to say no I wasn't 46:43.056 --> 46:45.770 scared , it's just it there wasn't the 46:45.770 --> 46:47.881 emotional time for it at that point , 46:48.209 --> 46:50.376 uh , so you just , it happens to you , 46:50.376 --> 46:52.542 you start reacting to it immediately , 46:52.542 --> 46:52.030 and by the time it's over with , 46:52.250 --> 46:54.194 there's nothing to be scared of it 46:54.194 --> 46:56.800 anymore , uh , but the , the , you know , 46:56.919 --> 46:59.086 tip of the spear guys that do things , 46:59.370 --> 47:01.770 uh , proactively . And engage in 47:01.770 --> 47:04.389 offense , I would , I would 100% 47:04.389 --> 47:06.500 understand , you know , yeah , it was 47:06.500 --> 47:08.722 scary because you're thinking about all 47:08.722 --> 47:08.270 the different things that can go on , 47:08.489 --> 47:10.656 but all we get a chance to do is react 47:10.656 --> 47:12.822 to stuff like that , and that was just 47:12.822 --> 47:15.045 one of those where you're just reacting 47:15.045 --> 47:17.267 this thing fell off in my hand . Well , 47:17.267 --> 47:16.729 there's a pin down there . Let me see 47:16.729 --> 47:18.896 if that fits , you know , that kind of 47:18.896 --> 47:21.062 stuff , and then you just , you know , 47:21.062 --> 47:23.285 keep going until . Sergeant 9 tells you 47:23.285 --> 47:25.618 to ceasefire . It's the best you can do . 47:25.618 --> 47:27.673 It's wild . And no , that's , that's 47:27.673 --> 47:29.896 very , that's very cool . Like , like I 47:29.896 --> 47:32.062 said , it's just that kind of reacting 47:32.062 --> 47:31.580 yourself and , and just making it 47:31.580 --> 47:33.913 happen and making a mission happen . So , 47:33.913 --> 47:36.191 but , uh , that , that is a good point . 47:36.191 --> 47:38.302 Seems like the mind's always thinking 47:38.302 --> 47:37.989 even though you don't know it . But , 47:38.310 --> 47:40.366 well , even in the first kind of , I 47:40.366 --> 47:42.421 guess , scenario of , of taking like 47:42.421 --> 47:44.421 some kind of tick or something like 47:44.421 --> 47:43.629 that , what was your , what was your 47:43.629 --> 47:45.685 first thoughts then like , oh , this 47:45.685 --> 47:47.962 shit's real , you know ? Is it , is it , 47:47.962 --> 47:50.240 was it something like that , or was it , 47:50.240 --> 47:52.879 yeah , it's . It was unique for us in 47:52.879 --> 47:56.770 the gun because An IED 47:57.310 --> 47:59.469 feels a certain way when it when it 47:59.469 --> 48:02.739 goes off . And it , it's not like these 48:02.739 --> 48:04.906 deep bellowing booms . It feels like a 48:04.906 --> 48:07.139 really , really hard clap and a bang , 48:07.159 --> 48:09.300 and it's just immediate and you don't 48:09.300 --> 48:11.560 realize it and just about every time , 48:11.939 --> 48:14.219 uh , we would have an IED engagement , 48:14.229 --> 48:16.459 it was the first reaction is always 48:16.459 --> 48:19.939 just , oh and as soon as that initial 48:19.939 --> 48:22.179 blast or whatever goes by you check 48:22.179 --> 48:24.379 real quick to make sure that you know 48:24.379 --> 48:26.379 you're OK , then you start checking 48:26.379 --> 48:28.379 your gun , your equipment and stuff 48:28.379 --> 48:28.139 like that , you start rolling through 48:28.139 --> 48:31.820 your checks . But uh An 48:31.820 --> 48:34.620 IED is not a sustained engagement . 48:34.659 --> 48:36.715 It's just a thing that happens . You 48:36.715 --> 48:38.937 react to it real quick and then move on 48:38.937 --> 48:41.270 and start doing whatever you have to do , 48:41.270 --> 48:43.437 um . But the first time something like 48:43.437 --> 48:46.840 that happened , That I very 48:46.840 --> 48:49.320 vividly remember would be uh . 48:50.780 --> 48:53.002 Uh , an IED that happened at checkpoint 48:53.002 --> 48:55.139 50 Alpha where I believe Sergeant 48:55.419 --> 48:57.586 actually told the story , so I'm Major 48:57.586 --> 48:59.752 9 . He's always gonna be Sergeant 9 to 48:59.752 --> 49:01.752 me , even to this point after , you 49:01.752 --> 49:04.679 know , 20 years . Uh , he , he would 49:04.679 --> 49:06.790 demand I call him by his first name , 49:06.790 --> 49:09.012 and that's just never gonna happen . It 49:09.012 --> 49:11.123 is crazy because I've noticed it when 49:11.123 --> 49:13.290 talking to him , which I mean . I said 49:13.290 --> 49:15.457 Timmy , that was the worst idea . No , 49:15.457 --> 49:17.623 I get it from everybody . Timmy , it , 49:17.623 --> 49:19.623 it's , but he , you could tell he's 49:19.623 --> 49:21.790 just one of those , one of those first 49:21.790 --> 49:21.389 name bases . I mean , I have only met 49:21.389 --> 49:23.389 him that one time and it was Clay , 49:23.389 --> 49:25.500 thanks for having , you know , it was 49:25.500 --> 49:27.722 like that's crazy to me , and the , the 49:27.722 --> 49:27.149 amount of respect that I have for just 49:27.149 --> 49:29.316 him as a person and a soldier and what 49:29.316 --> 49:31.427 he's done for me , uh , it'll , it'll 49:31.427 --> 49:34.510 never be anything but sarine , uh , and 49:34.510 --> 49:36.399 it's just muscle memory because I 49:36.399 --> 49:39.949 called him Sarine forever , um . But 49:39.949 --> 49:42.790 yeah , when Those sorts of things 49:42.790 --> 49:46.379 happen , you just kind of . Roll with 49:46.379 --> 49:50.300 it and I very vividly remember that IED 49:50.300 --> 49:54.239 going off . And the one he talked about . 49:55.330 --> 49:57.386 He said that we were around it twice 49:57.386 --> 49:59.552 because we would patrol a certain area 49:59.929 --> 50:01.873 uh and came back to it and what he 50:01.873 --> 50:03.985 doesn't tell you is what he tells the 50:03.985 --> 50:06.760 gunners and stuff to do . And uh the 50:06.760 --> 50:09.239 TTP is to protect us as much as you can 50:09.239 --> 50:11.128 because you don't wanna have them 50:11.128 --> 50:13.510 exposed during a blast uh so he's like , 50:13.520 --> 50:15.742 hey , get down in the gun . He happened 50:15.742 --> 50:17.853 to be in my truck that day . It seems 50:17.853 --> 50:19.964 like he's bad luck because every time 50:19.964 --> 50:22.187 he was in my truck something bad seemed 50:22.187 --> 50:24.353 to happen so y'all don't ride to lunch 50:24.353 --> 50:26.576 right , yeah , no , and I was always in 50:26.576 --> 50:26.469 the lead truck . We would always rotate 50:26.469 --> 50:28.525 our trucks and anytime something bad 50:28.525 --> 50:30.691 happened I was always the first one to 50:30.691 --> 50:32.747 catch it , um , so thanks for that , 50:32.747 --> 50:34.969 but , uh , he would tell me to get down 50:34.969 --> 50:37.025 out of the gun . But what he doesn't 50:37.025 --> 50:38.913 say is , hey , get up against the 50:38.913 --> 50:40.969 window and take a look at it and see 50:40.969 --> 50:40.090 what it looks like , you know , see , 50:40.219 --> 50:42.275 see if you can see anything . And so 50:42.275 --> 50:44.275 I'm down there like a child peeking 50:44.275 --> 50:46.497 through a window in a Christmas display 50:46.497 --> 50:50.010 and , uh , about that time it goes off 50:50.010 --> 50:51.954 and it's , it's just a feeling you 50:51.954 --> 50:54.169 never forget and I'm like , OK , you 50:54.169 --> 50:56.489 know , it was play and it was training 50:56.489 --> 50:58.378 up to this point , but people are 50:58.378 --> 51:00.600 really trying to kill us and , and that 51:00.600 --> 51:02.767 makes you focus , it makes you be more 51:02.767 --> 51:04.933 serious , it makes you . Uh , not take 51:04.933 --> 51:07.100 it more seriously , but makes you , it 51:07.100 --> 51:09.156 made me mad and , uh , that's just a 51:09.156 --> 51:11.267 human emotional response . It made me 51:11.267 --> 51:13.378 mad . It didn't make me scared . It , 51:13.378 --> 51:15.322 it really me off that somebody was 51:15.322 --> 51:17.322 trying to do that to us , um , as I 51:17.322 --> 51:19.378 grew older , you know , I realized . 51:20.830 --> 51:22.997 They were the anti-Iraqi forces . They 51:22.997 --> 51:25.163 were trying to do the things that they 51:25.163 --> 51:27.497 were doing and , and they were negative , 51:27.497 --> 51:29.497 uh , but I couldn't say that if Red 51:29.497 --> 51:31.663 Dawn happened again we wouldn't do the 51:31.663 --> 51:33.608 same things as soldiers . We would 51:33.608 --> 51:33.399 protect our ground doing what we 51:33.399 --> 51:35.290 thought was right , so , uh . 51:36.780 --> 51:39.060 99% of the people that we engaged with 51:39.060 --> 51:41.060 when we were in Iraq were trying to 51:41.060 --> 51:43.116 live their lives . They did not care 51:43.116 --> 51:45.171 about us one way or the other , uh , 51:45.171 --> 51:44.739 and it was a small percentage that 51:44.739 --> 51:47.739 really gave , uh , the , the global war 51:47.739 --> 51:49.739 on terrorism in Iraq a , a bad name 51:49.739 --> 51:51.739 because they were doing things that 51:51.739 --> 51:53.850 were , you know , anti-government and 51:53.850 --> 51:56.340 anti-American , uh , but for the most 51:56.340 --> 51:58.673 part those people were , were fantastic , 51:58.673 --> 52:00.989 um . But we would do the same thing 52:00.989 --> 52:03.211 because you protect the ground you live 52:03.211 --> 52:05.378 on and so I get it . I , I empathize , 52:05.750 --> 52:08.330 uh , but you know . You gotta protect 52:08.330 --> 52:10.330 your life and you gotta protect the 52:10.330 --> 52:12.386 lives of those around you too , so I 52:12.386 --> 52:14.386 get that too . I mean , I know what 52:14.386 --> 52:14.209 you're saying , like all those feelings 52:14.209 --> 52:16.431 and emotions , but I mean that for what 52:16.431 --> 52:18.376 y'all were just kind of constantly 52:18.376 --> 52:20.431 getting into , it's just crazy , you 52:20.431 --> 52:19.689 know , I it's just like it seemed like 52:19.689 --> 52:22.479 from the rip too . So , um , but let's 52:22.479 --> 52:24.812 go into the , the Ravenport too . I , I , 52:24.812 --> 52:26.979 I know like I said , Star Major 9 kind 52:26.979 --> 52:28.868 of told the story , but from your 52:28.868 --> 52:30.812 perspective , I mean , you got hit 52:30.812 --> 52:32.646 right from the rip . I did so my 52:32.646 --> 52:34.812 perspective was really , really , uh , 52:34.812 --> 52:36.923 I had a narrow focus . I was the lead 52:36.923 --> 52:40.909 vehicle . And we would 52:40.909 --> 52:42.949 typically shadow convoys . We would 52:42.949 --> 52:45.116 clear an area before the convoy window 52:45.116 --> 52:47.227 opened to try to , you know , because 52:47.227 --> 52:49.171 we wanna take any of the bad stuff 52:49.171 --> 52:51.282 going on , whether it's IEDs or small 52:51.282 --> 52:51.270 arms fire or anything like that because 52:51.270 --> 52:53.350 we're equipped and prepared to deal 52:53.350 --> 52:56.179 with that sort of scenario , um , so 52:56.179 --> 52:58.346 the idea is to clear that route , take 52:58.346 --> 53:00.568 on anything that's going on that way we 53:00.568 --> 53:02.512 know by the time the convoy window 53:02.512 --> 53:04.401 opens up that we can just kind of 53:04.401 --> 53:06.568 cruise through . Get behind and shadow 53:06.568 --> 53:08.623 a convoy as it goes through and make 53:08.623 --> 53:08.260 sure that they make through our sector 53:08.560 --> 53:12.360 clear , uh . As I was told 53:12.360 --> 53:14.699 because I was just a gunner , yeah , so 53:14.699 --> 53:16.699 here's the , here's the game plan , 53:16.699 --> 53:19.889 yeah , so I'm up in the gun . And uh we 53:19.889 --> 53:21.833 get behind the convoy after we had 53:21.833 --> 53:23.945 stopped and spoken to him a few times 53:23.945 --> 53:23.449 we're like hey you're at the top of 53:23.449 --> 53:25.671 ours we'll we'll follow you through all 53:25.671 --> 53:27.838 the way to the end of our area and and 53:27.838 --> 53:29.893 let you get through um and they were 53:29.893 --> 53:32.010 probably . 0.5 mile , 3/4 of a mile 53:32.010 --> 53:34.889 ahead of us and I see smoke . 53:35.760 --> 53:39.260 Uh And the , the 53:39.260 --> 53:41.371 vehicles start shifting to the left . 53:41.371 --> 53:43.427 They start moving really hard to the 53:43.427 --> 53:45.649 left , you know , the semis were moving 53:45.649 --> 53:47.760 left and right . Um , and then I hear 53:47.760 --> 53:50.209 the , the really , really specific 53:50.209 --> 53:52.669 sound of gunfire from that distance , 53:52.689 --> 53:55.489 and it sounds like crackles . And uh 53:56.449 --> 53:58.639 Sergeant 9 had already seemed to have 53:58.899 --> 54:00.788 noticed what was going on , but I 54:00.788 --> 54:02.621 yelled down on the gun , They're 54:02.621 --> 54:04.899 getting hit , they're getting hit . Go , 54:04.899 --> 54:07.290 go , go . And go , you know , full red 54:07.290 --> 54:11.229 on 50 cal and We could tell based 54:11.229 --> 54:13.590 off of who we could see in the , the 54:13.590 --> 54:16.030 field to the right and the vehicles 54:16.030 --> 54:18.197 that were moving to the left where the 54:18.197 --> 54:20.590 kill zone was and so our driver pushed 54:20.590 --> 54:23.760 us . Right where we needed to be , but 54:23.760 --> 54:25.927 it was the worst spot . It was between 54:25.927 --> 54:28.038 us and the convoy they were attacking 54:28.038 --> 54:30.360 because you want to draw fire , uh , to 54:30.360 --> 54:32.582 take it off TCN third country nationals 54:32.582 --> 54:34.804 that haven't done anything to anybody , 54:34.804 --> 54:37.139 um , so shift the gun to the right . 54:37.790 --> 54:41.149 And see . Way more 54:42.669 --> 54:45.949 Targets or people that I thought it it 54:46.370 --> 54:49.239 was . Realistic . I was like there's no 54:49.239 --> 54:51.919 way it's that many , uh , kind of 54:51.919 --> 54:54.030 caught you off guard . It did because 54:54.030 --> 54:56.879 you , you , there was a big ditch next 54:56.879 --> 54:59.101 to the , a canal that was right next to 54:59.101 --> 55:01.379 the road that ran parallel to the road , 55:01.379 --> 55:03.657 and very initially all I could see was , 55:03.657 --> 55:05.823 you know , flashes of heads and things 55:05.823 --> 55:07.879 like that , but they were popping up 55:07.879 --> 55:09.935 like whack a mole , and they were up 55:09.935 --> 55:12.268 and down and I'm like that's a lot , uh , 55:12.268 --> 55:14.435 but we started engaging targets , uh , 55:14.435 --> 55:14.239 because we could see they were clearly 55:14.239 --> 55:17.149 engaging us . Uh , Sarna says to make 55:17.149 --> 55:19.205 the right turn . I can't hear any of 55:19.205 --> 55:22.040 that , but , uh , I just trust that he 55:22.040 --> 55:24.260 knows what he's doing . Because I'm , 55:24.340 --> 55:26.229 I'm busy doing what I'm doing and 55:26.229 --> 55:28.451 everybody has a job as soon as we start 55:28.451 --> 55:30.507 to make the turn , the vehicle slows 55:30.507 --> 55:32.784 down just enough to make the turn , uh , 55:32.784 --> 55:34.840 I look to the right a little bit and 55:34.840 --> 55:37.080 the lights go out . And what had 55:37.080 --> 55:39.750 happened was the chicken shield or the 55:39.750 --> 55:43.360 front shield to the top of the gun when 55:43.360 --> 55:45.879 it's over the front of the vehicle . It 55:45.879 --> 55:48.157 is fine , but as it turns to the right , 55:48.157 --> 55:50.101 it sticks out over the side of the 55:50.101 --> 55:52.469 vehicle and when the when the RPG had 55:52.469 --> 55:55.080 struck the side of the vehicle . It 55:55.080 --> 55:57.260 funneled some of the explosion up . 55:58.389 --> 56:01.699 And into the gun with me and the 56:01.699 --> 56:05.560 concussion itself just Put me out and 56:05.560 --> 56:08.479 uh do you do you remember anything 56:08.479 --> 56:10.646 before you woke like how you got there 56:10.646 --> 56:12.812 because he said you went into the back 56:12.812 --> 56:12.780 of the vehicle right ? You went down 56:12.780 --> 56:14.947 there . I don't remember being I don't 56:14.947 --> 56:16.840 remember going from A to B . uh I 56:16.840 --> 56:19.909 remember being at A and then being mad 56:19.909 --> 56:21.798 at Sergeant Nine because he tells 56:21.798 --> 56:23.909 something different . Well , we won't 56:23.909 --> 56:26.709 get into that , but , uh , but he , 56:26.719 --> 56:28.775 we're gonna both of y'all , he did , 56:28.775 --> 56:32.639 yeah , we can have a , uh , he said . I 56:32.639 --> 56:35.669 remember him doing exactly what he was 56:35.669 --> 56:39.070 supposed to do , which was . The gun is 56:39.070 --> 56:41.237 down . I gotta get up in the gun . The 56:41.237 --> 56:44.600 gun has got to be up and to do that I 56:44.600 --> 56:48.110 was in the way . So I was woken 56:48.449 --> 56:50.560 by him to like kicking me or stepping 56:50.560 --> 56:52.616 on me to get me out of the way and I 56:52.616 --> 56:55.090 woke up mad . I was like , I'm fine . 56:55.129 --> 56:59.129 I'm fine , get off me . So uh 56:59.129 --> 57:01.351 I get that he's like , well then get up 57:01.351 --> 57:03.370 there then . I'm like , my bad . So 57:03.370 --> 57:05.426 then we get back up in the gun and I 57:05.426 --> 57:07.759 just got blown up . Yeah , no , no , no , 57:07.759 --> 57:07.489 no , no , he's , I was like , I'm fine . 57:07.530 --> 57:09.752 I'm good . I , I'm , I'm good . Get off 57:09.752 --> 57:11.863 me . I remember saying get off me and 57:11.863 --> 57:13.919 he'll never admit . But he was doing 57:13.919 --> 57:16.086 what he was supposed to do and it woke 57:16.086 --> 57:18.308 me up enough to to put me back up there 57:18.308 --> 57:20.810 uh . We see the same line of cars that 57:20.810 --> 57:24.409 he saw , uh , drove down really far 57:24.409 --> 57:26.242 enough that we could get all the 57:26.242 --> 57:28.409 vehicles in the same route that , uh , 57:28.409 --> 57:30.689 didn't , um , spaces spaces tight 57:30.689 --> 57:32.800 enough they wouldn't make two targets 57:32.800 --> 57:34.856 out of one or one yeah , two targets 57:34.856 --> 57:37.000 into one . Um . 57:38.790 --> 57:40.901 And at that point the the rest of the 57:40.901 --> 57:44.129 firefight really started . It was 57:44.669 --> 57:46.891 seemed like it went by in a blink of an 57:46.891 --> 57:49.113 eye , but after they , we looked at the 57:49.113 --> 57:49.060 timelines and everything , it ended up 57:49.060 --> 57:51.004 being a , a lot longer than we all 57:51.004 --> 57:54.669 anticipated . Uh , Sergeant I and , 57:54.679 --> 57:58.209 uh , the driver pulling had dismounted . 57:59.729 --> 58:02.959 And uh Continue their fights where I'm 58:02.959 --> 58:05.070 engaging targets over the top of them 58:05.199 --> 58:07.310 because they're taking short term the 58:07.310 --> 58:09.477 50 m targets that we talk about or the 58:09.477 --> 58:11.899 in their instance the 5 or 6 m targets 58:12.260 --> 58:14.899 um and then we're providing over fire 58:15.080 --> 58:18.739 for areas on the orchard . Specialist 58:18.739 --> 58:20.979 Hanes was in a rough spot . Their 58:20.979 --> 58:23.090 vehicle parked almost parallel to the 58:23.090 --> 58:25.257 main canal where all the people were , 58:25.257 --> 58:29.219 and he was . Uh Laying it 58:29.219 --> 58:31.163 down , you know , and , and really 58:31.163 --> 58:32.939 doing that and so we had the 58:32.939 --> 58:35.810 opportunity to when the guys in . 58:36.709 --> 58:40.360 That tunnel or the the God , the 58:40.360 --> 58:42.527 viaduct or whatever it was , the great 58:42.527 --> 58:44.719 big ditch were , yeah , they were 58:44.719 --> 58:46.886 having a bad day , uh , they would try 58:46.886 --> 58:48.959 to come out over the top and , and 58:48.959 --> 58:50.903 fight from the top . Well , that's 58:50.903 --> 58:53.126 where myself and Specialist Sardonz had 58:53.126 --> 58:55.459 the opportunity to , to neutralize that , 58:55.479 --> 58:57.919 uh , and after a while you get really 58:57.919 --> 59:00.030 comfortable in your equipment and you 59:00.030 --> 59:02.086 start feeling really good about your 59:02.086 --> 59:04.363 positioning and what you're doing , uh , 59:04.363 --> 59:07.500 one TTP that we . Engaged was our first 59:07.500 --> 59:10.620 can of ammo as the 50 cal gunner we 59:10.620 --> 59:13.540 would always empty out a Mark 19 can , 59:13.820 --> 59:16.620 which is the big 48 can , and it had a 59:16.620 --> 59:19.139 lot of space , more , much more than 59:19.139 --> 59:21.770 the 100 round cans . So throughout the 59:21.770 --> 59:23.992 year before the very first mission what 59:23.992 --> 59:26.103 we would do is link a bunch of 50 cal 59:26.780 --> 59:29.002 cans together and then load it in there 59:29.002 --> 59:31.409 so you've got a big starting starting 59:31.409 --> 59:33.949 point before you've got to reload . Um , 59:34.389 --> 59:36.500 and I realized that I'd , I'd emptied 59:36.500 --> 59:39.149 that . Relatively soon , even with 59:39.530 --> 59:42.129 fairly decent 35 2nd bursts and 59:42.129 --> 59:44.185 re-engaging my weapon onto different 59:44.185 --> 59:47.040 targets . Uh , I was like , wow , we 59:47.040 --> 59:49.096 gotta do an ammo change . I was like 59:49.159 --> 59:51.326 this is , this is a lot of ammo , uh , 59:51.326 --> 59:54.520 so we do ammo changes , re rack , um , 59:54.800 --> 59:56.959 and then you start , you know , on a 59:56.959 --> 01:00:00.199 butterfly trigger , you , you start to 01:00:00.199 --> 01:00:02.255 feel pretty good and it's about that 01:00:02.255 --> 01:00:05.629 time I'm looking like this . With my 01:00:05.629 --> 01:00:07.840 elbows out and I start hearing dink 01:00:07.840 --> 01:00:11.610 dink and the the zip and snap of of 01:00:11.610 --> 01:00:13.777 gunfire , but it is not coming from in 01:00:13.777 --> 01:00:16.570 front of us it's coming from . A , uh , 01:00:17.050 --> 01:00:19.106 like a , a raised berm behind us and 01:00:19.106 --> 01:00:21.699 then a house that was behind us and , 01:00:21.709 --> 01:00:23.820 uh , when you realize that you're not 01:00:23.820 --> 01:00:26.042 covered as well from the back you start 01:00:26.042 --> 01:00:27.987 to think skinny real quick and you 01:00:27.987 --> 01:00:30.042 start getting in there like this I'm 01:00:30.042 --> 01:00:29.709 gonna get as small as I can get yeah 01:00:29.899 --> 01:00:33.270 yep , uh , our vehicle's damaged . I'm 01:00:33.270 --> 01:00:35.429 stuck where I'm at . Sergeant I had 01:00:35.429 --> 01:00:37.485 come back one more time , uh , or he 01:00:37.485 --> 01:00:39.707 had come back a couple times to to grab 01:00:39.707 --> 01:00:42.929 a bandolier of ammo and . You know , he 01:00:42.929 --> 01:00:45.151 would communicate whatever he could and 01:00:45.151 --> 01:00:47.485 it was , it was mostly what we're doing . 01:00:47.485 --> 01:00:49.540 He's letting me know what he's doing 01:00:49.540 --> 01:00:51.707 clear and concise communications still 01:00:51.707 --> 01:00:55.189 worked , um . But at a certain point I 01:00:55.189 --> 01:00:57.189 had kind of cleared my sector or my 01:00:57.189 --> 01:00:59.290 little field of fire because we had 01:00:59.290 --> 01:01:02.070 interlocking field of fires , uh , and 01:01:02.370 --> 01:01:04.370 it was time to move on to something 01:01:04.370 --> 01:01:07.679 else . That house was still a problem , 01:01:07.800 --> 01:01:09.800 and this is farther on down the the 01:01:09.800 --> 01:01:12.022 firefight . It was almost to the end of 01:01:12.022 --> 01:01:14.300 it , but the house was still a problem . 01:01:14.300 --> 01:01:16.467 And I couldn't get a good shot at it , 01:01:16.467 --> 01:01:18.578 uh . And so Sergeant I comes back one 01:01:18.578 --> 01:01:20.411 more time and he's talking about 01:01:20.411 --> 01:01:22.300 killing the FPCB2 and starting to 01:01:22.300 --> 01:01:24.300 destroy all the SI because we still 01:01:24.300 --> 01:01:26.709 have , you know , things to do , uh , 01:01:27.149 --> 01:01:30.449 but at that time . My ear pro 01:01:30.449 --> 01:01:33.570 was gone somewhere . It , it had fallen 01:01:33.929 --> 01:01:37.120 out and uh in order for us to use Earro 01:01:37.120 --> 01:01:39.120 up the gun , it made it really hard 01:01:39.120 --> 01:01:41.176 because we wanted to be able to hear 01:01:41.176 --> 01:01:43.287 everything that's going on outside of 01:01:43.287 --> 01:01:45.453 the truck . Uh , but Sergeant I always 01:01:45.453 --> 01:01:47.453 kept his ear pro right in the bands 01:01:47.453 --> 01:01:49.750 inside of his helmet . He had kept an 01:01:49.750 --> 01:01:52.179 extra set . And he came back to the 01:01:52.179 --> 01:01:53.939 truck one more time and I had 01:01:53.939 --> 01:01:56.161 self-determined that we're going to AT4 01:01:56.161 --> 01:02:00.090 again . And I yelled down into 01:02:00.090 --> 01:02:02.257 him through the through the top of the 01:02:02.257 --> 01:02:04.312 turret . Now , give me one of your , 01:02:04.312 --> 01:02:06.423 give me , give me your earplugs , and 01:02:06.423 --> 01:02:08.423 he's like , what ? I was like , you 01:02:08.423 --> 01:02:10.701 heard me , and he sticks it , you know , 01:02:10.701 --> 01:02:12.646 blindly just sticks his head up in 01:02:12.646 --> 01:02:14.812 there , you know , he's offering it to 01:02:14.812 --> 01:02:16.868 me , grab one and he runs back off , 01:02:16.868 --> 01:02:18.979 didn't question it . He knew if I was 01:02:18.979 --> 01:02:18.510 asking for it , it was for a reason . 01:02:19.850 --> 01:02:22.072 Put the ear pro back in because the one 01:02:22.072 --> 01:02:24.128 in January I kind of lost my hearing 01:02:24.128 --> 01:02:26.350 for a couple of days it came back but I 01:02:26.350 --> 01:02:28.406 didn't wanna experience that again . 01:02:28.406 --> 01:02:30.889 Fire the AT-4 . Uh , Mike fires his 01:02:30.889 --> 01:02:34.889 AT-4 , and , uh , we get to a point 01:02:34.889 --> 01:02:38.229 where just in case . And that scenario 01:02:38.229 --> 01:02:42.159 is done . I dumped the AT4 and uh I'm 01:02:42.159 --> 01:02:44.381 right here in front of all the vehicles 01:02:44.381 --> 01:02:47.239 that were open and ready to escape and 01:02:47.239 --> 01:02:49.295 uh I had cleared my sector of what I 01:02:49.295 --> 01:02:51.517 could see and I was like , well none of 01:02:51.517 --> 01:02:53.683 these guys are getting away so I start 01:02:53.683 --> 01:02:56.179 unloading on engine blocks so I disable 01:02:56.199 --> 01:02:59.320 every vehicle there um to make sure 01:02:59.320 --> 01:03:01.487 that they couldn't get done . What was 01:03:01.487 --> 01:03:05.439 great was the the fact that . My barrel 01:03:05.439 --> 01:03:08.580 got so hot . That at the end of the 01:03:08.580 --> 01:03:12.489 firefight it had started to Heat 01:03:12.489 --> 01:03:14.545 makes metal expand and it started to 01:03:14.545 --> 01:03:17.229 droop and it came back , but . We never 01:03:17.229 --> 01:03:19.709 misfired because of the , the status 01:03:19.709 --> 01:03:21.709 that he made us keep our weapons in 01:03:21.709 --> 01:03:23.931 because they when we were a gunner that 01:03:23.931 --> 01:03:25.987 was all that mattered and uh we kept 01:03:25.987 --> 01:03:28.042 our weapons as clean as possible and 01:03:28.042 --> 01:03:30.265 god forbid in in the rainy season if he 01:03:30.265 --> 01:03:32.209 had rust on it because I , I'm not 01:03:32.209 --> 01:03:34.431 saying he'll make you carry your barrel 01:03:34.431 --> 01:03:36.487 around with you everywhere you go if 01:03:36.487 --> 01:03:38.709 you have to clean rust off the tip yeah 01:03:38.709 --> 01:03:40.709 yeah but . You may have to clear it 01:03:40.709 --> 01:03:42.820 going into the chow hall and it looks 01:03:42.820 --> 01:03:42.389 really funny when you look down the 01:03:42.389 --> 01:03:45.290 tube of a 50 cal barrel and say clear , 01:03:46.030 --> 01:03:49.110 uh , but the weapon never jammed we 01:03:49.110 --> 01:03:51.277 were confident in what we were doing , 01:03:51.350 --> 01:03:54.709 uh , unloaded all of the . The 01:03:55.780 --> 01:03:57.558 remainder of that I thought was 01:03:57.558 --> 01:03:59.780 necessary into the engine blocks called 01:03:59.780 --> 01:04:02.340 ceasefire . My vehicle is out there 01:04:02.340 --> 01:04:04.620 alone and it's a , it's a scary spot to 01:04:04.620 --> 01:04:07.199 be in . You feel really alone because 01:04:07.860 --> 01:04:10.027 your comms are , are down in the truck 01:04:10.027 --> 01:04:12.138 and you don't want to give up on your 01:04:12.138 --> 01:04:14.729 gun . The . Vehicles that were still 01:04:14.729 --> 01:04:17.370 with the squad are a few 100 m behind 01:04:17.370 --> 01:04:20.620 us . Sergeant I and and Hester and Moe 01:04:20.620 --> 01:04:23.800 and everybody had moved down uh towards 01:04:23.800 --> 01:04:26.429 the the main engagement and I was like 01:04:26.429 --> 01:04:28.969 well I'm not staying here so I dropped 01:04:28.969 --> 01:04:31.136 down in the vehicle and I was like the 01:04:31.136 --> 01:04:33.302 vehicle's already busted so I throw it 01:04:33.302 --> 01:04:35.358 in reverse and just limp my way back 01:04:35.358 --> 01:04:37.469 there to kind of consolidate a little 01:04:37.469 --> 01:04:40.020 bit , get back up in the gun , and uh 01:04:40.020 --> 01:04:42.131 see that Sergeant Nine has has called 01:04:42.131 --> 01:04:44.020 ceasefire after all the different 01:04:44.020 --> 01:04:47.060 things that had gone on , uh . So we 01:04:47.060 --> 01:04:48.838 left somebody up in the gun . I 01:04:48.838 --> 01:04:50.949 dismounted . And get down to check on 01:04:50.949 --> 01:04:53.116 him , and he's already started working 01:04:53.116 --> 01:04:55.171 cavacs and medevacs and coordinating 01:04:55.171 --> 01:04:58.370 those things . Um And he comes to me 01:04:58.370 --> 01:05:00.537 and he's like , and I , I do have some 01:05:00.537 --> 01:05:02.850 blood on me from , from being injured 01:05:02.850 --> 01:05:05.139 and some shrapnel concussion stuff , 01:05:05.810 --> 01:05:07.977 and he's like , Where are you shot ? I 01:05:07.977 --> 01:05:10.199 was like , Where are you shot ? And I'm 01:05:10.199 --> 01:05:10.110 like , I don't , I don't think I'm shot 01:05:10.110 --> 01:05:12.979 like through and through anywhere . Uh , 01:05:13.360 --> 01:05:15.582 and he's like , what did you need the , 01:05:15.582 --> 01:05:19.169 the ear pro for ? I said Because I 01:05:19.169 --> 01:05:21.169 didn't wanna lose my hearing when I 01:05:21.169 --> 01:05:22.947 shot the AT4 . He thought I was 01:05:22.947 --> 01:05:25.169 plugging a bullet hole or something and 01:05:25.169 --> 01:05:27.391 being all John Rambo . It's like , no , 01:05:27.391 --> 01:05:26.689 no , no , no , my just my ears are 01:05:26.689 --> 01:05:28.939 sensitive , and I learned from my 01:05:28.939 --> 01:05:31.219 mistake the first time . Adaptability 01:05:31.219 --> 01:05:33.163 and learning from mistakes is , is 01:05:33.163 --> 01:05:35.820 critical , and he rolls his eyes like 01:05:35.820 --> 01:05:37.931 I've never seen before in my life and 01:05:37.931 --> 01:05:39.987 then we continue on with , uh , uh , 01:05:40.020 --> 01:05:42.131 securing the area for the rest of the 01:05:42.131 --> 01:05:44.187 day because that was a long day that 01:05:44.187 --> 01:05:46.464 happened early in the morning and , uh , 01:05:46.464 --> 01:05:46.340 we didn't get to clear until well after 01:05:46.340 --> 01:05:48.507 dark that night . That's crazy , yep . 01:05:49.320 --> 01:05:51.653 Well , I'm , I thank you for sharing it . 01:05:51.653 --> 01:05:53.820 Um , but let's take one more break and 01:05:53.820 --> 01:05:56.042 we'll kind of round out . I mean , it's 01:05:56.042 --> 01:05:55.959 a lot to take in with the firefight . 01:05:56.080 --> 01:05:58.191 So let's , uh , we'll , we'll kind of 01:05:58.191 --> 01:06:00.247 hone in on what kind of the back end 01:06:00.247 --> 01:06:02.413 was you for , uh , Raven for too , and 01:06:02.413 --> 01:06:04.580 then we'll , we'll kind of close out . 01:06:04.580 --> 01:06:03.639 Sounds good . All right . 01:06:15.090 --> 01:06:17.146 Welcome back to the G3P . We're here 01:06:17.146 --> 01:06:19.479 with Sergeant Cooper . We've heard , uh , 01:06:19.479 --> 01:06:21.534 a lot about you today , even through 01:06:21.534 --> 01:06:23.368 the , the scenarios we were just 01:06:23.368 --> 01:06:25.368 talking about with the , the combat 01:06:25.368 --> 01:06:27.312 situations . But before we kind of 01:06:27.312 --> 01:06:29.534 close out , I wanna ask about that kind 01:06:29.534 --> 01:06:31.368 of that final situation you were 01:06:31.368 --> 01:06:33.312 talking about . Um , I know you're 01:06:33.312 --> 01:06:35.312 talking about Star Major 9 and then 01:06:35.312 --> 01:06:34.820 they kind of going out and doing some 01:06:34.820 --> 01:06:36.820 clearing and everybody just kind of 01:06:36.820 --> 01:06:39.153 seemed like they were in different , uh , 01:06:39.153 --> 01:06:41.042 locations of the , of the fight . 01:06:41.042 --> 01:06:43.042 Loneliness . Did it feel lonely out 01:06:43.042 --> 01:06:45.098 there ? I mean , I know , I , I know 01:06:45.098 --> 01:06:47.153 you said it's like a , it was a long 01:06:47.153 --> 01:06:47.070 time , but not , but y'all kind of all 01:06:47.070 --> 01:06:49.310 broke off and , and to be out there 01:06:49.310 --> 01:06:51.421 just kind of slinging lead and trying 01:06:51.421 --> 01:06:53.477 to do whatever you gotta do for your 01:06:53.477 --> 01:06:52.770 survivability , what was the feeling , 01:06:52.830 --> 01:06:54.941 I guess ? I mean , I thought that was 01:06:54.941 --> 01:06:57.108 one of the words we had kind of used , 01:06:57.108 --> 01:06:59.274 so yeah , absolutely , it , it , it is 01:06:59.274 --> 01:07:01.330 a solitary feeling . Uh , I , I know 01:07:01.330 --> 01:07:03.330 that my closest , you know , battle 01:07:03.330 --> 01:07:05.989 buddy was gonna be Ordonez , and he was 01:07:05.989 --> 01:07:09.379 in the gun , uh . Far enough that I 01:07:09.379 --> 01:07:11.209 could yell at him and he could 01:07:11.209 --> 01:07:13.265 theoretically hear me if there if it 01:07:13.265 --> 01:07:17.010 was over gunfire or not , um , but it 01:07:17.010 --> 01:07:20.050 felt like as a gunner as that E4 you're 01:07:20.050 --> 01:07:22.106 on an island you felt like you're on 01:07:22.106 --> 01:07:24.050 your own and you're not you you've 01:07:24.050 --> 01:07:25.883 always got your team and they're 01:07:25.883 --> 01:07:28.106 working towards one goal , but you feel 01:07:28.106 --> 01:07:30.106 like I'm up here decision making on 01:07:30.106 --> 01:07:33.629 myself as an 1819 year old and uh . You 01:07:33.629 --> 01:07:35.740 know , trying to do the best that you 01:07:35.740 --> 01:07:37.962 possibly can , focusing on the training 01:07:37.962 --> 01:07:40.018 that you've been given , but at some 01:07:40.018 --> 01:07:42.185 point you're like , You know , even if 01:07:42.185 --> 01:07:44.240 you get to a point where you realize 01:07:44.240 --> 01:07:46.462 your , uh , squad leader is telling you 01:07:46.462 --> 01:07:48.629 to or talking about destroying FPCB2 , 01:07:48.629 --> 01:07:50.685 you kind of , you don't really think 01:07:50.685 --> 01:07:52.851 about that , but , uh . You , you just 01:07:53.179 --> 01:07:56.159 realize it might be . Uh , uh , a 01:07:56.159 --> 01:07:58.492 chance to try to do whatever you can to , 01:07:58.492 --> 01:08:00.770 to save yourself , which is saving the , 01:08:00.770 --> 01:08:02.992 the squad at the same time , you know , 01:08:02.992 --> 01:08:05.159 just doing your job up until you can't 01:08:05.159 --> 01:08:07.437 do your job anymore , um , but it , it , 01:08:07.437 --> 01:08:09.326 it , there were definitely lonely 01:08:09.326 --> 01:08:11.326 feelings and it was great , great , 01:08:11.326 --> 01:08:13.520 great to know that , uh , when it was 01:08:13.520 --> 01:08:16.720 over we got to , you know , reconcile 01:08:16.720 --> 01:08:20.330 and get back together and , uh . Get 01:08:20.330 --> 01:08:22.163 the family back in the same room 01:08:22.163 --> 01:08:24.330 because they , you know , just because 01:08:24.330 --> 01:08:26.890 a firefight's over just like anything , 01:08:27.049 --> 01:08:29.271 you know , when the main event finishes 01:08:29.271 --> 01:08:31.382 there's still a lot of stuff that has 01:08:31.382 --> 01:08:35.148 to happen and we had . It was a great 01:08:35.148 --> 01:08:38.959 adventure in . Utilizing all the 01:08:38.959 --> 01:08:41.839 training we've been given because every 01:08:41.839 --> 01:08:43.728 time you think about having to do 01:08:43.728 --> 01:08:46.040 non-line medevac training , being able 01:08:46.040 --> 01:08:48.096 to do it and being able to call in a 01:08:48.096 --> 01:08:50.259 bird and pop smoke or multiple birds 01:08:50.600 --> 01:08:52.822 and call smoke and have them land where 01:08:52.822 --> 01:08:54.822 you need to making sure you got the 01:08:54.822 --> 01:08:57.939 grid right , uh , was , was an awesome 01:08:57.939 --> 01:09:00.050 experience to get to see it obviously 01:09:00.050 --> 01:09:02.279 was in a bad scenario and it sucks that 01:09:02.279 --> 01:09:04.446 so many people lost their lives and so 01:09:04.446 --> 01:09:06.668 many of our comrades got , uh , injured 01:09:06.668 --> 01:09:08.835 and . Especially Sam Rivera , Haynes , 01:09:08.835 --> 01:09:10.890 and , and Mac , uh , you hate to see 01:09:10.890 --> 01:09:13.223 that anybody gets hurt , but , you know , 01:09:13.223 --> 01:09:15.899 to understand that all these . Areas of 01:09:15.899 --> 01:09:17.955 training that we go through that are 01:09:17.955 --> 01:09:19.955 just basic army warrior tasks . Can 01:09:19.955 --> 01:09:22.177 have to be implemented at the drop of a 01:09:22.177 --> 01:09:24.066 hat . You never know which weapon 01:09:24.066 --> 01:09:26.232 system you're gonna have to use . Uh , 01:09:26.232 --> 01:09:28.343 you never know when you're gonna have 01:09:28.343 --> 01:09:30.566 to do CLS and we had the opportunity to 01:09:30.566 --> 01:09:32.899 try to , uh , render aid to some of the , 01:09:32.899 --> 01:09:34.955 you know , that were pretty , pretty 01:09:34.955 --> 01:09:36.955 badly wounded , but , you know , we 01:09:36.955 --> 01:09:39.177 would stick IVs and I and , and bandage 01:09:39.177 --> 01:09:41.177 and try to do what you can . We put 01:09:41.177 --> 01:09:43.232 them on birds and , and medevac them 01:09:43.232 --> 01:09:45.455 out and not just our guys , everybody , 01:09:45.455 --> 01:09:47.732 um , and then you go through different , 01:09:47.909 --> 01:09:50.479 uh . We would call it civil disturbance 01:09:50.479 --> 01:09:52.646 training because after a while a crowd 01:09:52.646 --> 01:09:54.812 will will gather and you've gotta make 01:09:54.812 --> 01:09:56.868 sure that you're doing crowd control 01:09:56.868 --> 01:09:56.729 and things like that and all that 01:09:56.729 --> 01:09:58.785 training that you go through uh on a 01:09:58.785 --> 01:10:00.729 weekly or daily basis even at some 01:10:00.729 --> 01:10:02.562 random armor around the state of 01:10:02.562 --> 01:10:04.709 Kentucky all come together and really 01:10:04.720 --> 01:10:07.850 really gets utilized for the the 01:10:07.850 --> 01:10:11.319 overall goal and that's . Uh , a 01:10:11.319 --> 01:10:13.720 satisfying feeling , you know , at that 01:10:13.720 --> 01:10:16.180 point when you realize all that stuff 01:10:16.180 --> 01:10:19.709 was not , was not for naught . To be 01:10:19.709 --> 01:10:21.876 able to say that that training was for 01:10:21.876 --> 01:10:23.987 a purpose and you actually got to use 01:10:23.987 --> 01:10:26.569 it uh was really really satisfying . 01:10:26.720 --> 01:10:28.776 It's not something I would ever hope 01:10:28.776 --> 01:10:31.359 anybody ever has to do or use , but to 01:10:31.359 --> 01:10:33.581 know that it works and to know that you 01:10:33.581 --> 01:10:35.748 will fall back on it and you will know 01:10:35.748 --> 01:10:37.915 what you're doing , um , you will know 01:10:37.915 --> 01:10:39.970 how to do random evidence collection 01:10:39.970 --> 01:10:42.303 when you're gathering up stuff and , uh . 01:10:43.310 --> 01:10:45.299 Whether it's as a military police 01:10:45.299 --> 01:10:47.521 investigator that I went to later , you 01:10:47.521 --> 01:10:49.299 know , utilizing interviews and 01:10:49.299 --> 01:10:51.521 interrogation techniques on a gentleman 01:10:51.521 --> 01:10:53.632 that , that came out unscathed , uh , 01:10:53.950 --> 01:10:56.172 how to do detainee operations , all the 01:10:56.172 --> 01:10:59.450 things that MPs do . We were in a 01:10:59.450 --> 01:11:02.100 unique and fortunate opportunity and 01:11:02.100 --> 01:11:04.479 spot to get to do all those at one time 01:11:04.479 --> 01:11:08.220 in one day and uh and and 01:11:08.620 --> 01:11:11.220 make it out successfully and I 01:11:11.580 --> 01:11:14.009 100% I know we're not gonna get out of 01:11:14.009 --> 01:11:16.580 here without . Uh , I don't wanna get 01:11:16.580 --> 01:11:19.180 out of here without saying that it 01:11:19.180 --> 01:11:23.020 wasn't . Just myself and the 01:11:23.020 --> 01:11:25.131 team and the squad , it was everybody 01:11:25.131 --> 01:11:27.242 that trained us , even from the , the 01:11:27.242 --> 01:11:29.298 goobers that we fought with at First 01:11:29.298 --> 01:11:31.353 Army during mope site and everything 01:11:31.353 --> 01:11:33.576 that we had led up to to that point for 01:11:33.779 --> 01:11:37.009 Specialist Pulle , Shambone , Odonez , 01:11:37.689 --> 01:11:40.779 Haynes , Mac Rivera , Specialist Mike , 01:11:40.859 --> 01:11:43.310 thank God he was there that day , uh , 01:11:43.859 --> 01:11:47.620 Hester Morris , Sergeant 9 . Uh , 01:11:47.990 --> 01:11:50.046 even through our company command and 01:11:50.046 --> 01:11:52.212 the platoon sergeants that gave us the 01:11:52.212 --> 01:11:52.029 autonomy to , to run missions the way 01:11:52.029 --> 01:11:54.196 that we saw was going to be successful 01:11:54.430 --> 01:11:57.629 was . It , it , it all comes together 01:11:57.629 --> 01:11:59.740 and it's because of them , because of 01:11:59.740 --> 01:12:01.879 their dedication to it , uh , because 01:12:01.879 --> 01:12:05.600 of Sarnan's willingness to , to . 01:12:06.870 --> 01:12:08.981 Do the hard right over the easy wrong 01:12:08.981 --> 01:12:10.981 and training on things that weren't 01:12:10.981 --> 01:12:13.148 necessarily in our wheelhouse , but to 01:12:13.148 --> 01:12:15.500 do them anyway , um . It made that day 01:12:15.500 --> 01:12:17.640 successful . It didn't make it fun , 01:12:17.859 --> 01:12:19.581 but it made it adventurous and 01:12:19.581 --> 01:12:21.581 something that you , you would talk 01:12:21.581 --> 01:12:25.560 about , um . After that , you know , 01:12:25.680 --> 01:12:27.902 we actually had the opportunity to , to 01:12:27.902 --> 01:12:30.600 go back with , uh , Sarna and , and the 01:12:30.600 --> 01:12:32.720 team to , to Fort Linenwood and , you 01:12:32.720 --> 01:12:35.080 know , discuss AAR comments and 01:12:35.080 --> 01:12:37.247 doctrine and how that can affect , you 01:12:37.247 --> 01:12:39.524 know , MP operations in the future and , 01:12:39.524 --> 01:12:41.691 and , and I think we were able to , to 01:12:41.691 --> 01:12:43.802 gain a lot from that engagement . And 01:12:43.802 --> 01:12:47.029 uh as an E4 moving up into E5 and E6 01:12:47.029 --> 01:12:49.140 and being able to use that experience 01:12:49.729 --> 01:12:53.259 to help train other soldiers . Uh , has 01:12:53.259 --> 01:12:55.220 served me as much as it has served 01:12:55.220 --> 01:12:57.620 others . It's like even a therapeutic 01:12:57.620 --> 01:12:59.676 thing , be like , hey , listen , you 01:12:59.676 --> 01:13:01.787 know , getting it out , being able to 01:13:01.787 --> 01:13:04.120 talk about it , and , and being able to , 01:13:04.120 --> 01:13:06.120 to deal with it , uh , while making 01:13:06.120 --> 01:13:08.231 your soldiers around you better . Has 01:13:08.231 --> 01:13:11.740 always been . Uh , a great goal of mine 01:13:11.740 --> 01:13:13.907 and , and one I've been able to , to , 01:13:14.060 --> 01:13:16.227 to , you know , see through throughout 01:13:16.227 --> 01:13:18.504 my career and it's been great . I mean , 01:13:18.504 --> 01:13:20.727 it's , uh , I thank you for sharing all 01:13:20.727 --> 01:13:22.838 that . It's , I know sometimes it can 01:13:22.838 --> 01:13:22.740 be tough too , so , but some of the 01:13:22.740 --> 01:13:24.796 things that I just from hearing that 01:13:24.796 --> 01:13:26.629 was , it was amazing that you're 01:13:26.629 --> 01:13:28.573 talking about just the basic skill 01:13:28.573 --> 01:13:30.684 level , you know , warrior tasks that 01:13:30.684 --> 01:13:30.379 you do around the armory . I mean , it 01:13:30.379 --> 01:13:32.609 just shows , I mean it pays off to , to 01:13:32.609 --> 01:13:34.831 get those muscle memories going even if 01:13:34.831 --> 01:13:36.998 it's loading the radio or whatever . I 01:13:36.998 --> 01:13:36.740 know we've talked about many things , 01:13:36.819 --> 01:13:39.569 but . Between that and then also after 01:13:39.569 --> 01:13:41.680 the whole , whole incident that y'all 01:13:41.680 --> 01:13:43.791 got to go back and kind of build some 01:13:43.791 --> 01:13:46.013 TTPs , it seems like and people hearing 01:13:46.013 --> 01:13:48.013 you and this work , this didn't and 01:13:48.013 --> 01:13:50.236 kind of do different doctrine and , and 01:13:50.236 --> 01:13:52.347 moving in the right direction of this 01:13:52.347 --> 01:13:51.770 is what's happened , you know , this is , 01:13:51.890 --> 01:13:53.946 and I think it's something that will 01:13:53.946 --> 01:13:56.112 always occur because we're so adaptive 01:13:56.112 --> 01:13:56.049 in the wars we're fighting now , so . 01:13:56.479 --> 01:13:58.590 Um , but no , that , that's amazing . 01:13:58.590 --> 01:14:00.646 Uh , uh , like I said , once again , 01:14:00.646 --> 01:14:02.701 thank you for sharing the story . It 01:14:02.701 --> 01:14:04.979 was very , I'm sure there's more to it . 01:14:04.979 --> 01:14:07.090 I would love to sit down with you and 01:14:07.090 --> 01:14:06.939 we'll talk about everything , but , uh , 01:14:07.020 --> 01:14:09.187 for today , um , before you do get out 01:14:09.187 --> 01:14:11.409 of here , I'd like to give you a gift , 01:14:11.580 --> 01:14:13.913 something we like to do here on the G3P . 01:14:13.913 --> 01:14:15.858 Uh , I will say this before I pull 01:14:15.858 --> 01:14:18.080 yours out . I didn't get you anything . 01:14:18.080 --> 01:14:17.879 No , you don't have to . You don't have . 01:14:18.060 --> 01:14:20.116 I should have . I got it , no , give 01:14:20.116 --> 01:14:22.338 you a tic tc like in Home Alone . You'd 01:14:22.338 --> 01:14:24.338 be like , we'll get a fist , a fist 01:14:24.338 --> 01:14:26.227 bump . The first two I've kind of 01:14:26.227 --> 01:14:28.338 tailored the , the , the thing that I 01:14:28.338 --> 01:14:30.338 did for a gift , but this one I had 01:14:30.338 --> 01:14:32.504 bought it , so I'm , I'm cheapskate on 01:14:32.504 --> 01:14:34.671 this one . I bought off Amazon . I was 01:14:34.671 --> 01:14:34.490 gonna to doctor something up . It was 01:14:34.490 --> 01:14:36.546 so kick when I got it . I was like I 01:14:36.546 --> 01:14:38.768 didn't really do anything to it , but I 01:14:38.768 --> 01:14:40.934 think you'll enjoy , especially in the 01:14:40.934 --> 01:14:40.810 time of year we're in . I was like he 01:14:40.810 --> 01:14:43.370 just needs to get him this big old 01:14:43.370 --> 01:14:47.270 raven . Blanket . Now I want to like 01:14:47.270 --> 01:14:49.390 put a 4-2 on it or something , but I 01:14:49.390 --> 01:14:51.390 think you're , I'll tell you what , 01:14:51.390 --> 01:14:53.446 Crane , are you getting this ? Let's 01:14:53.446 --> 01:14:55.446 hold it out like this . Can you see 01:14:55.446 --> 01:14:57.501 that ? I mean , that's kick . That's 01:14:57.501 --> 01:14:59.557 beautiful , yeah , and now I've only 01:14:59.557 --> 01:14:59.479 used it twice because I was like it 01:14:59.479 --> 01:15:01.590 does feel good , so you'll smell me a 01:15:01.590 --> 01:15:03.757 little bit , but it's all good . But I 01:15:03.757 --> 01:15:05.812 did on the tag somewhere . I , I did 01:15:05.812 --> 01:15:07.923 put RG3P in the date that you were on 01:15:07.923 --> 01:15:10.589 here and uh . Well , um , I hope you 01:15:10.770 --> 01:15:12.881 can put that somewhere or hang it and 01:15:12.881 --> 01:15:15.048 always remember this , uh , but we use 01:15:15.048 --> 01:15:16.881 it in good health , but yeah , I 01:15:16.881 --> 01:15:16.620 couldn't do anything to that one . That 01:15:16.620 --> 01:15:18.787 way it felt good . It's a cool blanket 01:15:18.787 --> 01:15:20.953 and hopefully , you know , the raven , 01:15:20.953 --> 01:15:23.120 hey , no problem , no problem at all . 01:15:23.120 --> 01:15:25.120 And , uh , well , Sergeant Cooper , 01:15:25.120 --> 01:15:25.089 thank you for your time . Thank you for 01:15:25.089 --> 01:15:27.450 your , your story being here with us 01:15:27.450 --> 01:15:29.617 today . It , it means a lot . I know , 01:15:29.617 --> 01:15:31.839 uh . There , there's a lot more to talk 01:15:31.839 --> 01:15:33.839 about , but I think , literally , I 01:15:33.839 --> 01:15:35.894 think squad leaders , team leaders , 01:15:35.894 --> 01:15:38.117 anybody listening can take some tactics 01:15:38.117 --> 01:15:37.310 from , from you and your , your 01:15:37.310 --> 01:15:39.199 platoons and , and , and all your 01:15:39.199 --> 01:15:41.143 stories and , and see that , hey , 01:15:41.143 --> 01:15:43.199 utilize your training , utilize your 01:15:43.199 --> 01:15:45.310 time , be successful . I mean , we're 01:15:45.310 --> 01:15:47.532 the best , you know , fighting warriors 01:15:47.532 --> 01:15:47.189 out there . So let's , let's make it 01:15:47.189 --> 01:15:49.356 happen . Let's win the , uh , uh , the 01:15:49.356 --> 01:15:51.578 nation's wars . And so I appreciate you 01:15:51.578 --> 01:15:53.745 being here today . And with that being 01:15:53.745 --> 01:15:56.180 said , um , enjoy life , be healthy , 01:15:56.350 --> 01:15:58.406 stay lethal . Hope to see you on the 01:15:58.406 --> 01:16:01.859 next episode . G3P out does that sound 01:16:01.859 --> 01:16:04.439 good ? I loved it . It was fantastic . 01:16:04.700 --> 01:16:06.922 Don't ever change . Don't ever change . 01:16:16.330 --> 01:16:18.108 Thank you for joining us on the 01:16:18.108 --> 01:16:20.163 Kentucky National Guard G3 podcast , 01:16:20.163 --> 01:16:22.052 where we bring you the voices and 01:16:22.052 --> 01:16:23.941 stories behind the mission . Stay 01:16:23.941 --> 01:16:26.279 connected , stay ready , and we'll see 01:16:26.279 --> 01:16:27.669 you on the next episode .