The salient theme of this podcast episode revolves around the experiences of female veterans, with a particular focus on the journey of Julia, an Army veteran who navigates her service and subsequent challenges with resilience and determination. Throughout our discussion, we delve into the complexities of her military career, touching upon her motivations for enlisting, the unique dynamics faced by women in combat roles, and the profound impact of her experiences on her personal life and family. Julia candidly shares her struggles with PTSD, the importance of seeking help, and her commitment to supporting fellow veterans through various initiatives. In addition, we explore the significance of community and connection among veterans, emphasizing the necessity of creating spaces where their voices can be heard and valued. This episode serves as an enlightening narrative that not only highlights the challenges faced by female veterans but also celebrates their strength and contributions to the military and society at large.

Takeaways:

• The podcast serves as a vital platform, fostering connections among veterans, supporters, and first responders, emphasizing collective resilience.
• Chef JB Brown elaborates on his culinary endeavors for the 250th birthday celebration of the United States, highlighting the significance of such events.
• Julia, a female veteran, shares her journey towards recognizing her service and the challenges faced by women in the military community.
• The discussion touches upon the importance of acknowledging PTSD among veterans, particularly highlighting the unique struggles of female veterans.
• The episode underscores the necessity of providing support networks for veterans, fostering community engagement and personal growth.
• The speakers advocate for open dialogue regarding mental health issues, emphasizing the importance of resilience and self-care among veterans.

Co-Host & Production Team

Host: Aaron Q. Seibert https://linktr.ee/aqseibert

Producer: Brian Colburn https://linktr.ee/Bcolburn

Hey, welcome to Combat Vet Vision.

This is a platform for our veterans, Combat vets, sponsor supporters, volunteers, first responders.

You know, we really like to talk about things.

And we got Chef back.

Chef JB Brown on in.

In the house.

In the house today.

Yes, indeed.

Yeah.

You've been super busy lately.

Oh, it's been absolutely crazy busy.

And so Chef's got a lot to talk about.

Yeah.

When it comes time for his time, we're gonna throw a lot at you.

Yes.

And we have a.

You know, obviously, the 4th of July is right around the corner.

Right around the corner.

200.

250Th birthday.

Birthday.

And this one, I'm.

I'm cooking for the founders of the VTRC here up in Cold Creek, 60 miles away.

I'll be talking about the menu at the end, so you'll mouth the water then, not now.

Yeah, but whatever you're doing on the 4th of July, I hope it's a good one.

And, you know, I'm gonna be up with Chef on this.

This cook, so it's really good.

Hey, we got a great show for you tonight for today.

And, and, and I got.

I got one of my biggest fans that is always watching the show, making comments, doing some really incredible things.

You know, she's.

She's a female veteran, army veteran.

And the reason why, you know, I usually don't say, you know, female veteran or something like that.

I really just say veteran.

But females have a hard time sometimes, and.

And across the veteran community of thinking of themselves as veterans.

Yeah.

And that's something I want to highlight only because I. I don't want them to have to feel that way, and I think that's super important.

No, no, I think Julie's going to talk about that a little bit, along with a whole many.

All kinds of stuff.

United States army vet and mechanic and heavy equipment operator.

Yeah, operator and.

And, you know, rescuer.

So.

Yeah.

Julia, how you doing?

Hi.

Very happy to be here.

Thanks for having me.

Hey, you betcha.

Thanks for being here.

Yeah, we're looking forward to your story.

I mean, because, you know, you got a lot going on and, and you've.

You've known me now for about five years, and, and we've.

We've been in groups together.

You know, you've helped a lot of veterans along your path, too, as well as yourself and your family.

And it's.

I think it's really.

It's going to be a great story.

So talk about why you wanted to join the service and your childhood.

Where'd you grow Up.

And what's going on with you?

Discipline.

I was raised in a small town in a valley of California, Patterson.

And so I graduated from Patterson High in May of 97, and in the same month I turned 18.

I was first runner up in a beauty contest there.

I was prom queen.

And I physically left the home I grew up in and never went back.

I went to college, the California State University, Stanislaus.

And I ended up smoking and joking and having a good time at college, and I was on academic probation, and I just figured, you know, I needed some discipline in my life.

I've never had my dad, my mom never really disciplined me.

And so I figured, either jail or like, the military, you know, I didn't.

I didn't want to end up in the worst case scenario.

So I lost, I think, like, 30, 35 pounds, and I went into the army.

Wow.

And, and, and did you.

Did you make it through college at that time or did you have to come back to it?

What was the deal?

What.

Wow.

Okay.

And so you joined the army when?

What, what you're.

Wow.

Wow.

I was in deception.

Yeah.

They didn't even tell us if you could believe it.

Like, I want to say, you were.

In boot camp when it happened, right?

They don't.

Yeah, they don't let anybody know what's going on in boot camp.

Yeah.

Wow.

And.

And what motivated you to take the pathway you did in the Army?

And what.

What was the inspiration?

What was the pathway for you?

I think once I, like, I got there because I needed discipline, and I just knew that I was kind of on my own in life, you know, Like.

Like, I just didn't really have a lot of people behind me.

Like, I had family and they were supportive enough, but, like, you know, I was homeless at one point in time, trying to look for somewhere to live, you know, after the army, and no one would take me in.

And I had, you know, a daughter that was months old at the time.

And so I just had to quickly learn that, like, if I didn't find a way to build myself up, I wasn't going to go far.

And, like, nothing against my hometown, you know, I love it and I'm very thankful for it, but, like, I just knew that there Was no future for me there.

I knew that I had to figure out a way to get out and, and do more.

And then once I went into active duty and I got to my duty station and I was a part of my motor pool, like I just felt a part of the team and it actually made me volunteer to go out of Iraq with them because I was stop loss and my two year contract was coming to an end and I asked my sergeant major if I could have eye surgery because I had glasses at the time.

And I told them basically like, let me have my eye surgery and I'll volunteer to go on deployment and then I'll come back.

Because I also didn't want my motor pool going without me.

You know, I don't want like a new person coming in with them that hasn't been trained or doesn't know how to, you know, do things.

And so it all worked out.

Wow.

And did you go when you, when you signed up, you signed up to be with, with motor T or doing something with being.

I signed up as a mechanic.

Yeah, I signed up as a mechanic.

And then when we were finishing up ait they were asking for volunteers to go ahead and take the additional skill set of like Hotel 8 identifier which basically allows you to operate the record.

And I had two which ended up being like my brothers, but two army brothers, you know, that we met in basic and we all kind of just looked at each other and we thought, well, if you're gonna go, I'll go and if you're gonna go, I'll go.

And like one of us said would go.

So all of us went.

And we didn't realize that set us up to stay together because we ended up graduating, you know, the ASI course together.

And then we were stationed, like two of us were in the same unit, we just were in different companies.

And then the third one was down the street, like two blocks at MI unit.

Wow.

And, and, and what was your motivation to be a mechanic?

I mean out of you went to school.

What, what, what, what, what?

Yeah, Beauty queen to a mechanic, you know.

Well, remember I told you I have to kind of, I have to just consider that it's just me, you know, like in life.

And the recruiter, I don't know why he said this because I had like a 122 GT score, but he said your choices are you could be a cook, a veterinarian or a mechanic.

And I thought, well, I can go to a vet, like if I need help with my dog or my pet.

I can go to a restaurant, you know, it's easy enough to hit a drive through.

But if I'm like, broken down or I need, you know, have some kind of an emergency with my vehicle, like, I need to be mobile and I need to be safe, you know, like, especially if it's in the middle of the night or so I just figured a mechanic.

My brother was a mechanic, you know, and I don't know, I just kind of felt like as a female, it was a safer choice.

Wow, that's an incredible, you know, story, because I know.

I know you.

You have a lot of cars that you brought, brought from California to Texas and it was.

And one of.

And one of them required a lot of maintenance along that path.

We'll get into that too.

But the record, you know, talk about the record.

This is.

This is.

Is this the tank wrecker?

The.

The crazy beast situation?

What?

It's the one that is very similar to the Hemet.

It had a tow bar in the back.

It had a crane on the top, and it also had, like a ladder that I had to pull out and drop down in order to, like, climb up there and, you know, like to prepare the.

The crane or anything going on.

What I didn't realize until, like, after the fact, you know, there's almost like no one trained in it, you know what I'm saying?

Like, of my whole company, it was just me.

And then, like I told you, my brother from basic, it was just him and his whole company.

And then you got like, the mechanics, you know.

So, like, I did mechanic stuff, but, like, what took priority was the wrecker because there wasn't anybody else trained in it, you know, like, even my supervisor was like, show me how to do this and that.

And, you know, because he had to know how to be able to supervise me, you know, with our missions and stuff.

Because when we convoyed from Kuwait to Iraq, There was like 97 vehicles in our convoy.

And they didn't tell me until, like the brief right before, when we're pretty much already the chalk is all, you know, set up, that I was the only recovery.

Like, that was it.

I was the whole recovery plan.

Me and my little nco, you know, I was like, maybe a year or two older than him.

He was a tiny little Dominican dude.

And between the two of us, you know, like, he's the one that set out the plan.

And he gave the other vehicles, like, toe straps and tow bars and stuff like that, because he was trying to explain to them, like, unless something is like blown up or it was serious, you know, we weren't gonna go ahead and take up the record.

And they put us at the end of the convoy.

Like, at first we ended up with.

Because they only had three on that convoy, and the third one was behind us.

But then as soon as we had our first stop where somebody broke down, because that was the whole plan, right.

Is like, I'm in the back, so I'll pass them, and they'll keep going.

They didn't stop.

The convoy kept going.

And so we're left, and, you know, there's not a lot of signs out there, like roads or directions.

So it was pretty stressful.

But, I mean, we totally did it.

So I'm glad they had faith in me and my ncl.

Wow.

You.

You ate a lot of dust if you were at the end.

Yeah, definitely.

I know the.

The.

The.

You know, I know that path, but, you know, it.

It's so cool.

I. I. I have always, you know, admired you knowing that you were, like, the recovery vehicle.

And I.

Because.

Because.

Thank you.

When did you.

When did you do this?

When.

What I didn't realize is when I went advon, right?

So I'm advanced party, so, like, my unit's not there yet, so I got to be attached to another unit.

You know, half the people in that convoy weren't even our vehicle, and there were people rolling out with flat tires.

I mean, they had the junkiest.

It made me happy for my motorbowl and thankful because I was like, these people were tore up.

Like, I'm surprised we made it, honestly.

Well, you know, I. I just.

And every.

Every vehicle had a tow bar on it at that point.

I mean, it was like, you have the triangle tow bar, and your vehicles in.

Is in charge of the vehicle behind you.

But when you have other via.

You know, there was some army convoys that would try to migrate with our convoy, and I was always confused as to why that was.

I was like, hey, man, you can't integrate one convoy into another because you lose responsibility of the vehicle.

So it's super nutty.

But these tow bars and this towing system Became such an.

And they were heavy too.

It was like hook the thing to the front and you know, hook another one to the front and then the two of them together finally hook onto a point.

But for your vehicle, this is a cool thing.

So I'm just, you know, a lot of people may not know how important that a recovery vehicle in, in Iraq would be, but you can't have anybody standing by, you know.

And these, these vehicles that we fell on, my first, my first roll out there, when we got going, I was missing 12 teeth off the, off my flywheel.

So sometimes when I engage that starter, it'd be like.

And I'd have to get out and manually roll the freaking flywheel over.

And then I could close the hood real quick.

So I, I developed this really cool system to do that.

But you know, that was, that was the second one.

The third.

The second time I went.

Every one of them was broken.

20 Years old.

Yeah.

For, for a platoon size element to roll with five vehicles, they were all broken.

It was super nutty, but it's so cool.

Julia, continue your story tell.

You know, we had a bunch of people.

I mean, it just reminds me like we had a lot of vehicles like you' that they didn't even have doors.

So you're just rolling out and you're just a visual target for whoever is passing by.

And then other people, like, like a lot.

I would say at least half of them had canvas doors.

Yeah, canvas doors.

That was canvas.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead.

We had our motor pool vehicle that like my, my handy NCO dude, you know, he was good at making friends.

And so we went and we used the scrap from the welders.

They weren't even our people, you know what I'm saying?

He just went and made friends and he took me and we up armored our motor pool vehicle.

But then what, what ended up happening quickly, right, is the command overtook it.

So whenever they left the fob, they would go ahead and take it.

Which I guess makes sense.

But like, if we would have known that, we probably would have up armored their vehicle too, you know, with like no skill set, no, you know, no supplies, nothing.

So I get it.

No, that's, that's awesome.

And you were out There for a year?

Yes.

Yeah.

Thirteen and a half months.

Yeah.

And you volunteered to go, you know, extend your contract, continue out there.

And what.

What happened when you got back?

What.

What was.

You know, how.

Was.

How was life when you got back?

So I felt like.

Like an earthquake, like the.

The ground was just falling out from underneath me because I knew that soon I was going to get out, because that's all I signed up for.

Right.

Was I extended for the deployment?

And I'm getting out.

So remember, I have my two brothers, you know, from.

From the army, and.

And oddly enough, they deployed as well, and we were all in Baghdad, so we all, like, got to see each other.

If it wasn't every week.

It was every other week.

You know, we.

We got to switch stories because we're doing the same thing.

Right.

We each have a record.

And I was the first one of the three to get out.

And it was that same time again, where we all kind of pointed at each other, said, why are you going to stay?

Are you going to go back home?

What are you going to do?

And.

And one of them was staying in Texas.

They both were from New New York, and I was from California, and I had nobody and nowhere to stay and no income, so I had to leave Texas.

I didn't want to, but I had to.

You know, I went back to California because at least I had family or friends or, you know, something to go start off of.

Yeah, yeah.

And so I left, and that's how we stayed.

You know, that.

That one ended up in Texas, and that's why I moved to Texas, because I was like, well, at least I'm a day's drive from him, or, you know, because Texas is big.

And then the.

The third one, he ended up going back to New York, and he stayed in New York, and I'm trying to recruit him and get him back to go to Texas, but, yeah, we haven't seen each other really since, you know, it's been like 20 years.

Yeah.

Wow.

And so when you got back to California, what'd you end up doing?

I went straight into the reserves, so, like, whatever the last day was of my contract for active duty, I was already signed in to a contract again for the reserves the next day.

And that started off in California, and I didn't want to have sweat and dirt and, you know, cleaning my hands with brake cleaner anymore.

And so I switched out to paralegal.

It was Like, Groundhog Day every day, really.

It was boring deployment for a year, and that's what I did.

I stayed.

I stayed in California in a reserve unit until I got out.

Wow.

And you.

And.

And.

And then what did you end up doing?

Well, that was the big question mark, you know what I'm saying?

Because I actually had asked my commander, like, hey, I get it, you know, like, you need to have deployable soldiers.

And I was pregnant, and I just.

Remember I mentioned I don't have anybody.

There's not mom, dad, and uncle.

Is not somebody going to take care of my kid for me to be able to deploy.

And so I had to get out, and I just kind of asked them for, like, a favorable, you know, chapter, you know what I'm saying?

That way I can get my benefits and stuff.

And, yeah, you know, he agreed, and he let me out.

And then I was just lost.

You know, I.

That was around the time when I was about homeless, and I just didn't really.

I was looking for somewhere for me and my daughter to stay, and I ended up figuring it out, but it was, like, really challenging because it was forced, you know what I'm saying?

It was like a friend from the Reserves who decided to take me in, but she didn't have any kids, and so I knew she wouldn't be able to relate to that.

And she had a dog.

And I kept telling her, like, I just feel like it's not smart for me to have, like, crawling baby in diapers around a dog, you know?

And her dog ended up biting my daughter in the face.

And I had.

Boy, when I tell you I didn't spend one more night in that place, I literally left that night to go, like, stay with a friend on her couch.

And then the next day, I reconnected with another friend from high school, which, again, had been, like, 20 years at that point.

I had seen her talk, you know, we hadn't.

We fell out of touch, and she let me stay there with my daughter, and she went with me the next day to go get all my things from that apartment and stuff them all in, you know, her vehicle and my vehicle and go stay with her for a few months until I found a place.

Yeah.

And.

And I know how important your kids are to you, and that's such an important thing.

And that's the whole reason you ended up leaving California and getting to Texas and doing all this stuff.

But hey, in between though, you.

You went through a lot of different courses.

College, right.

Still doing some college stuff.

And you, you started to kind of deal with the effects of leaving the Army, PTSD side of things and getting involved in some groups that before you met me, you.

You were talking about them.

And if you could elaborate on some of that things, you also got into some non profit stuff yourself to help veterans and doing some things.

So, yeah.

Yeah, talk about some of that.

So at that time frame, I didn't really realize that I had ptsd.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm like, I had a domestic violence issue before I was a mom, you know, I had a dui.

Like, all these things were lining up and I was just kind of like, I feel like this is a little like out of my personality, you know?

Like, I just.

I don't feel like I'm that much of like a troublemaker or anything.

And I don't know how or what, but I did start putting the symptoms together and saying, you know what?

Like, I think the army changed me, you know, Like.

Like, I'm not gonna say I was an angel going into, but I was like, I'm pretty sure I'm different now, you know.

And so then I had ended up going into the VA there in California to a.

A PTSD group, and I was pregnant with my second child at this point.

Right.

And let me ask you a question.

How.

How long from your departure from the military career to getting to the VA and getting some help and what pushed you?

So figure two years.

So it depends on where you count, if you count end active duty or end of reserves.

But that did you start long.

Yeah, just life, Just living life, you.

Know, and just raw dogging it, not knowing what's going on.

That's it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So finally when I found myself in the PTSD group, I was looking around and like, I finally fit in somewhere.

Like, I know it's super weird because there's like, you know, 30, 40 men physically in this group every Friday, but I was like, they accept me.

Like, I can talk to them openly.

Like, they were so vulnerable and honest, and I was just amazed.

And I felt great because I was like, I'm not, like, as crazy as I thought.

Like, I thought, girl, your whole life's gonna go down the tubes if you don't, like, you know, pull your big girl panties up and figure it out.

And the PTSD group, it gave me a Northman.

It helped me figure out.

And.

And when you're talking about, like, the training and stuff I did on my own, so.

Well, along these lines, I'm still figuring out that I have PTSD or whatever.

Right.

I still don't really get what's going on.

I just knew that I was rough around the edges, and my goal was to be the best mom I could, so I was like, let me soften myself up.

And so the whole pregnancy, I went to school, and I got certified as a life coach, a holistic health practitioner, a behavioral therapist, and a clinical hypnotherapist.

And I can't say that I've ever felt more purpose and more blessed in my life than when I was working there.

Right.

That's such an.

You know, that's such a big thing.

And then what.

What was it that kind of, you know, you ended up losing touch with your group or some of your groups just didn't feel the same after that, or you.

What.

What did you end up doing?

Well, you gotta figure, like, I had to physically leave California, you know what I'm saying?

Because all those.

All those breadcrumbs were left.

California.

Yeah.

Yes, yes.

And you know what?

I still, when I can, because they haven't kicked me out yet.

You know what I'm saying of that.

That group that I was going to in.

In Modesto and, you know, the va and so I go virtually whenever I can every Friday still, you know.

Yeah.

Then.

And then you ended up finding my group through some contacts.

I was so thankful for that.

Yes.

And I still am.

Yeah.

It's such an amazing thing.

And you started coming to my group from time to time, but I think your life got so much better in Cal.

In.

In Texas, that you.

You kind of found that you really don't need the group all the time.

You still come once in a while, but you're.

You're more in tune with your family and getting things, you know, you're you're making, you're making your life the way that you want it.

We finally made a routine.

Like, you know, because you've been deployed, right?

So, you know, on deployment, let's say that three, four month mark and you're like, all right, incoming, you know, and you know, everything kind of fell in, you know, you got, let's say, whatever you need in the mail.

Like I was getting creatine at the time.

You know, you have your routine, you know, and that's what finally happened here is like my kids ended up wanting being homeschooled because I had them pretty much in private school up to this point, you know, up to this year.

And they also asked me to leave my job because I had just got a job, I'd got my CDL and I was a school bus driver.

And I explained to them, like, hey, I left my job because you guys want me, you know, to homeschool you.

But I actually just got like a better job and you know, I go to orientation tomorrow, but it's like full time hours and it's better pay and we could probably even purchase second home, you know, but they would be home alone and have 11 year old and an 8 year old and they were not trying to be home alone.

But they also don't want to see mom stressed because they know mom has PTSD and they know when mom is laying around the house, I'm a lot more chill than when we're, you know, I gotta go to work and I'm trying to get out the door and you know, you gotta feed my son and you know, so that's how we ended up doing is now we finally have our routine and it's very chill and I'm very thankful.

Yeah.

Would you say that going through all these different modalities, you know, getting your college and all these different cool things that are supportive to your, your, your PTSD and then being part of these groups gave you the perspective to be a better mom for your kids and maybe offers such a better impact because you have grabbed a hold of your life and gone in these directions.

Correct?

Talk, talk about, talk about your, your mindset on how you feel about taking on these challenges, talking to the kids about your PTSD in a proper manner.

Yeah,.

I, I feel like I never would have did it on my own.

I feel like the way that life just kind of forced me to go here and there.

I had to figure out the symptoms that I had ptsd.

I had to figure out like you're saying, hey, I have Kids now, how am I going to integrate that with, without negatively affecting them?

You know, so I'm just as open and honest with them as I can be.

And like, sometimes I'm talking to them and I'm crying and my daughter is just laughing because she's like, it's not a big deal, mom.

But I'm trying to explain to her because there's stuff going on right now, and it's been for decades, right, where the VA won't fess up and they won't admit that, you know, females are having fertility issues.

You know, there's females that can't have babies, there's females that didn't even deploy, that were just in the motor pool, that, you know, we're surrounded by chemicals.

And now they're, they're one kid that they were able to have, can't have kids either, you know, And I'm trying to explain to my kids, like it's all gravy right now, but like, later on you're gonna realize and put two to two together.

Like the military affected your mom and, and it's gonna have an effect on you as well.

Even though you're not in the military, even though you're, you're, you're, you know, you're just kids and it's serious to me, you know, and like I said, my daughter laughs it out, but she's 11, you know, so like, how do you, how do you talk about these big, you know, life changing things like 11 year olds?

So.

But I just, I try to honestly treat every day like I might not be here tomorrow.

And so if I can just plant that little seed and let her know, like, hey, when you turn 18, like, you can go to college, you know, or like you have these benefits for mom or, you know, I try to at least let her know little things because like, my son's 8 and he don't get it.

My son is just, he's Spider man right now.

You know, he's parkouring off everything.

So I try to do little things every day to like, you know, let them know your mom is different.

You know, I, I'm not gonna look like all the other parents at school.

I'm never gonna act like any of the other parent because how many combat parents are out there?

You know, like, not a whole lot.

Yeah.

Let alone, let alone combat female, you know, and, and I don't mean to refer to that as that.

Right.

But can you talk to me a little bit about, you know, when you go to group, you, you, you pull Yourself off camera.

And because, you know, the female dynamic changes something.

But can you talk about being a female veteran and what that, what that should mean to all the female veterans out there?

And, you know, why is it so important to kind of, you know, you got your T shirt on right now.

Calvary.

Calvary shirt.

So it's so rad to see, like, you know, representing.

And is it, is it, is it, is it hard for you to show your patriotism as a veteran?

And I, I guess I can kind of relate it to ptsd, you know, that, that time frame I explained to you, where I didn't know I had ptsd.

So I'm trying to figure it out.

And meanwhile, while I'm figuring out, I gotta be comfortable with acknowledging that I'm a veteran.

I gotta be comfortable with acknowledging I've been to combat because I just try to stuff it away, right?

Like, if it's in the corner, then it don't affect me.

And that's kind of how it is for me with being a female veteran, because it's like when I have to take my mind there and remember, you were there, you did this.

Things happen to you.

I have to remember being in the DEFAC on deployment and men sitting across, like, tables away and eating like this, staring at me.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, how uncomfortable are you think I didn't take, like, for the whole Kuwait deployment to play back to my house, you know, to my hooch where I was at, like, you know, so things like that.

And then once I figured out I'm a veteran and, hey, I can use, you know, the VA and which took years, right, to even be comfortable, to say, hey, maybe, maybe I should be checked on my doctor or whatever.

Like, people always assuming or like, like, I went in there a few times with my daughter's father, and he's a gang member, so he has, I mean, tatted up whole forearms of, you know, X4 and this and that.

And they would look at him and be like, okay, sir, what are we seeing you for today?

And.

And I'm like, I'm the better.

I, I, you know, he's not, he's not here for anything besides support.

And, and it's hard to get.

And I don't want to fight for acknowledgment.

Like, I, I'm very happy being in the background, but I also had to look on the other side of it because I'm over here, and I had to look over there and be like, I'm a female.

Let's Say, in that.

That group, you know, one of, like, 40 people a week in that group, I'm the only female.

I don't want to have any negative effect on the group.

I also don't want to bring any attention to myself in the group.

So I'm wearing, like, T shirts like this, or, you know, covering up or, like, have the hair, you know, like in a mom bun or, you know, no makeup.

Like, this is just for y' all today.

I don't.

I don't ever look like this because I don't.

I don't want the attention.

I want to blend in.

Even though I get it.

I stick out, but it's hard.

Like, I. I can't really express to you honestly that I've dealt with it, come to terms with it, built on it, anything, really.

Like, I still kind of stuff it a lot in the background.

You know, that's really too bad that you have to do that.

But that is the dynamic.

You know, I know we try to make everybody so equal, but you can't do that when you got women and men together and the tractions kind of kick in.

And like you said, they're sitting there at the chow hall just looking at you because there's no women in military.

It just isn't.

We didn't have women in combat for the longest time because it creates a whole different dynamic.

And you're so good at not wanting to create that dynamic.

It's sad that you have to do that.

And it's always been sad for me when you come to group and you're like, off.

Off screen.

But I understand why you do it, and I appreciate you for acknowledging and understanding the dynamic and change, and you don't want to change that dynamic.

And it just.

It just happens.

And they, you know, big thanks for talking about that issue because so many cool issues about you.

And thanks for coming on the show and doing this.

And what else do you got to talk about?

What else.

What else do you want to talk about?

I just.

I just wanted to talk about resiliency in general because, like, I figured, like, the target audience here, right, is military men.

Like, that's going to be a majority of your viewers.

And what can we all relate to?

Even though I'm not a military man, you know, we might have come from various backgrounds growing up, we had to figure out, you know, when we were young, a lot of us probably enlisted in our early 20s.

We had to get our footing, you know, so to say, in the world and figure out who we are and what we're about and let the military build us up.

But then we all got out and we all had to figure out, what do I want to do from here?

You know, I'm not gonna be in an Abrams tank every Friday at the motor pool or, you know, like, what am I gonna fill my days with?

You know, and then a lot of them had to be comfortable with even saying I might have a disability, I might need some VA money every month.

And.

And that takes a whole other, you know, leaving your comfort zone.

Yeah.

And that's what I wanted to talk about is just resiliency.

Like, I know it's hard.

I know sometimes just to get out of bed.

It's like, man, I'll just roll over and stay asleep.

Especially if you don't have people depending on you.

You don't have a family, you don't have kids, you're just by yourself.

Like, I get it.

It's hard, but like, you can do it.

And there is another side of it where it's not roses and you know, it's not all dandy and perfect, but like, it gets better.

You get to manage it.

You get to figure out what your ways of.

You know, maybe I want to go exercise today or maybe I want to meditate or like, maybe I want to open my mind and do some hypnotherapy today and just see what that's all about.

Like, you know, just.

Just to be open, you know, I get it.

It's hard and like, just get yourself out of bed and do it, you know?

Yeah.

Thank.

Thanks for sharing this and thanks for sharing everything.

You know, you got just a couple more minutes.

I want to, you know, if you want to get a hold of Julia, you can definitely do it through me.

Yeah, she's very private and everything, but she's.

She.

She still wants to help out.

You know, I'm gonna have her boss on from your non profit on at some point.

I'll reach out to him.

Looking forward to talking to him.

And this is the non profit.

She co started and made this happen for veterans and, and even, even being on the show, you know, this becomes a record of support for our veterans no matter where they're at.

I think anybody should, should be here to, to listen to it.

And I think thanks for sharing the female dynamic and your thought process on what you go through and why you're this way and that way.

And I think it's super imperative that we talk about it and, and make it.

Yeah.

Make others understand.

Because honestly, somebody.

Somebody's Somebody.

Yeah.

And somebody's waiting around for 50 years until they get to the VA. Yeah, I'm not saying.

I'm not pointing at any buddy right now.

But, you know.

Yeah, but you didn't.

You didn't go back to the VA and get your full benefits till when?

Oh, yeah, not.

I.

41 Years.

41 Years.

I tried and denied three times before I finally figured out how to do it right.

But, you know, Julia, one thing that I applaud you.

You know, one thing for our listeners, you know, when you're in a combat zone or in a different country, the bullets that come whizzing by, they don't go, well, she's a female.

We got to go to a male.

We're all in the same boat, you know, and, and, you know, I applaud that you showed a lot of honesty and, and, and drive in overcoming some of the things that you've had.

I've had issues in my life.

I know how that is.

And, you know, one of the best things we can do is, is give to other people of our time and our energy and our knowledge, and that way, it makes us feel better, and that's what it's about.

I want to feel good.

I want to have a good time.

You know, it definitely.

Life is not dress rehearsal.

If, yeah, if you want to give any other information or how to get a hold of you, you can, you can do that.

But again, you can get a hold of her through me.

And that's.

It's.

Usually I like to filter it, and she likes the filtering, I'm sure.

Yeah.

Yeah, I, I just have an email if you, you know, if anybody would like to reach out directly, but they can certainly anytime, you know, reach me through you.

It's julia.

Like, it feels light.

It feels like a big weight off my chest to just even be acknowledged, like, just to hang out and be like, we're veterans.

What's up?

I hope you're doing good, you know, because it's, you know, the camaraderie.

There's nothing to it, man.

There's nothing you could compare it to.

Nothing.

Yeah, it's really cool to come on the show and hang out, too.

Like, Like, I, I usually, you know, I, I spend all my time talking to a lot of veterans, and I haven't talked to you in a long time, but I talk, you know, I see your text from time to time and, and I'm glad that you like everything.

And I'm always trying to say something to you like, hi, thanks a lot.

But, you know, we haven't talked in a long time, and it's great to have on the show to refresh my memory of your service, because I can't keep everybody's service in my head, but I do keep a lot of people's services in my head, and I try to honor them through a lot of different things.

You're.

You're going to be honored on the golf tournament that's coming up on the 30th through Graystar.

I didn't even ask you before I sent this thing to you and said, hey, here you go.

I want to put this thing together.

And you're just one of those.

On the 19 holes, there's one for every hole.

19 Different vets that I had to think about, and it was quite a process, and I'm glad that you're one of them.

And, you know, thanks for being part of the warrior group for the PTSD foundation of America and all the, all the warrior groups you did through the VA and all the support networks that you put together.

And part of, you know, you're kind of in the background, but you're also, you're also brave enough to come and show yourself and say, thanks, keep doing what you're doing.

You inspire me.

So thanks for being an inspiration for me and everything.

So.

And thanks for sharing.

This has been a really fun show for me because the female vets are kind of left in the background, and I would love to have more females on, on, on the, on the show, but obviously, you know, it's like 90 to 90 to 10.

You know, it might be 10 females in the military at this point.

You can find them.

Yeah.

Let alone combat vets.

And it's just an honor to have you here, Julia.

But until next time.

Hey, and you feel free to come on the show anytime.

When we got these 10 minute segments, if you're getting involved in something or you want to bring something up and you feel like, hey, I need to give a refresher on this.

You want to say your voice could be heard here in that 10 minute segment or a whole nother podcast if we want to do that.

All right, we'll talk to you soon.

Take care.

Yeah, thank you.

Hey, we're gonna just transition into Chef JB's kitchen right now.

Then we'll get into the 10 minute segment and just kind of, kind of throwing some things out there that we'll, we'll kind of brainstorm on.

Chef jb, how you doing, brother?

Oh, I'm doing good, man.

We're in.

Chef, how are you doing?

I'm good.

I had a lot of time with chef last week because he was so busy he needed my help.

Yeah, I had to have somebody help transport some students.

I work with St. Jude's Ranch.

I oversee a program and we're doing a little catering.

So we were doing United Way and the catering.

Chef, you gave me some food to take home.

I, I still got some in the fridge, but it's awesome.

Thank you, thank you.

You know, God blessed me very much with my passion of food.

And like Julia, I had to find my way and thank God I did it at an early age that I got some stature before I actually semi retired.

And you know, my sister said, well, you're retired.

When's it going to be enough?

And I said, oh, it's okay.

God will tell me, you know, when it's enough.

He'll let me know.

Yeah.

The adventure continues.

Yeah.

Oh, and you and I, we're taking another adventure with the big smoker.

We have a trailer smoker right now.

It's on the back, right now on.

The back of his truck out in the parking lot.

And we've got to go 60 miles away to Cold Creek where we're going to be celebrating the fourth of July.

One of the co founders here at the Veterans Transition Resource center, it lives up there in a log cabin off the grid.

And he has about a hundred and some people coming and we have a fish fry and I, I get the smoker running.

I'm gonna do some pulled pork, but we have lobster, crab legs, shrimp, alligator tail, fried alligator.

We got jambalaya, just gumbo, rice and beans and people bring stuff.

I mean it's, it's just a great time.

This is our sixth annual that we started and it's on every fourth and it's kind of like his birthday is pretty close.

So we kind of do his birthday.

Well, it's in August, but we kind of do his, his birthday and the 4th of July at the same time and 250 years.

Can you believe that?

That's amazing.

It is amazing that you know, most civilizations don't last over two, two centuries, let alone two and a half.

And starting towards our third century now of, of getting ready to expand and you know, and free, you know, we're still Free.

And I think this shows about that, the freedom, you know, the fourth of July, you know, I, I here in Las Vegas, all the casinos have set up a time so that once it starts, it's going to go for like a long time.

The fireworks.

And if you've ever been in Vegas on the 4th of July or New Year's Eve, they put on a show.

I mean a lot of expenses going into the fireworks.

They fire them off, the, the buildings, the tall buildings here in the casino.

And if you, and there's.

They shut the road off completely.

Oh yeah.

And you can only walk, walk in the streets this.

And the streets will be packed.

Yeah.

Like New York.

It's going to look like New York City.

There's usually right around a million people here for the fourth of July.

Where I live is right at the base of Sunrise Mountain.

So I kind of drive up to Hollywood area and overlooks the whole city so I can see all the fireworks.

Without getting in the crowd.

Yeah, without getting in the crowd.

That's it.

You know, you talk about, we talk about PTSC on this show, you know, and, and I didn't really realize how much I have it.

You have it.

A lot of people have it.

Most military people have it, A lot of civilians have it and they don't even know it.

But now that I'm growing older, I, I'll get in the crowd.

I was downtown two weeks ago down on Fremont Street Experience and it wasn't even real busy and I was feeling like, oh, it's time to go home.

I didn't want to just hang out like I, I used to.

And I used to do like com decks for.

At the Sans Expo and Convention Center.

I opened it, I'd have 500,000 people there in a week.

I mean, I dealt with crowds every single day.

But I was younger and, and now that I'm getting older, it's like you can't keep your head spinning fast enough to make sure you're okay, you know, and it's just the way it is.

But that's right, it, it requires a lot of energy to expel, you know, to stay hyper vigilant and be on the alert.

Yes.

You know, you start to notice it, especially now as we get older.

Yeah.

And you think now, wait till you're 70.

Right.

It's like, you know, and, but one thing getting back, we did a lot of catering this week.

One of our good friends is married to Gretchen and one of the clerks there at the Justice Regional center here in Las Vegas, which is Our county courthouse.

They were retiring, Steve and Donna, and they both work with, with a group on the honor flight and we've done, I've done the honor flight for the last five years.

When I first met them, I said, well, we can get the Eagles.

And I knew the Eagles.

I do a lot of stuff for them out there and if it's a non profit, then they usually give me their banquet facilities and their kitchen for, for, you know, just giving back to the community and they know that I take good care of it.

So five years ago they were doing it out in a parking lot at, at a Harley Davidson dealer and they had to rent chairs and tables and, and equipment to cook the pancakes on.

And once I took it over, we do it at the Eagles.

Everything's there.

I have a full kitchen there.

So that's coming up in November is our second one this year.

I try to do it twice a year for them.

They go twice a year.

So I try to do a, of.

Piece.

Pancakes for Patriots breakfast.

And I do pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, I know, bacon, sausage and turkey sausage.

And then I do like toppings for the pancakes.

I do a blueberry topping and a strawberry topping with, with whipped cream.

And you know, we just put on a really good breakfast and sometimes we have as many as 500 show up.

So.

But it's great.

I mean, you know, there isn't once that I don't do that, that I don't feel wonderful all day.

You know, I kind of leave.

I don't even touch the ground leaving.

It just, you know, the rewards are, you know, giving back.

And, and you know, Julia was talking how, you know, what do we do in life, how we get out of the military and we don't know which way to go and thank God.

I, I apprenticed under a chef who said, you know, we belong to the Chef's association and you know, either you're taker in life or you're a giver.

And if you're a giver in life, you need to join the acf, American Culinary Federation and you're going to be a junior chef and we do things for the community and give back our time.

That was 52 years ago.

And you know, I've just always been in that frame of mind that, you know, it's important to give back, you know, and, and it's important.

It's like doing this podcast, you know, we, we try to give back to veterans and, and Julia today to show that we care and that we'd like to do the Whole story, you know, the full story.

And people are important to us.

I know you.

We've talked an awful lot today.

We're going to go driving for an hour with the smoker to get it up to Cold Creek so we can have one heck of a great party and have lots of fun.

And this show is lots of fun.

So if you're a veteran, a woman veteran, a male veteran, and you like to be on our show, please get a hold of Chief and, and we'll probably put you on.

You know, we.

Every Tuesday we're here at 1 o'.

Clock.

We're on a lot of different formats because our buddy.

I'd like to put a shout out to Brian.

He's our behind the scenes guy.

He runs our podcasts and puts us on all these platforms and, and gets us out there so he makes us look good and sound good.

So, Brian, thank you very much for being there for us because this certainly wouldn't happen if it wasn't for you.

Exactly.

Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna drop into Feed Drops here real quick.

Yeah.

Before we do, I just want to put a shout out to Brad Fight.

Thanks for popping on here and throwing the, the kudos up there, man.

It was really good to hear from you.

Combat.

That combat vet, purple art recipient, musician, does a whole bunch of other things.

Incredible, incredible people.

Thanks for, thanks for watching my podcast and with Chef, you know, we're co hosting this thing together and making it happen.

I want to say thanks to the PTSD foundation of America.

Warrior built all the, all the non profits that I'm, that I'm part of my podcast.

Brian Colburn, stitchradio.com and I want to put a quick shout out to Vet Talks.

Vet Talks is be here in Las Vegas.

I'm going to be talking there on the 17th of August, I believe with Mike Deleon from Recon Chief.

And he'll.

He'll be up there and I think, you know, it's going to be a cool deal too.

I got a pot.

I got the 30th of this month, July.

On 30th of July I have a golf tournament in Southern California with Graystar and doing some things with that and Chef, any.

Any other words from you before we give it to Feed Drops?

No, let's get into Feed Drops.

All right.

Hey, Brian.

Brian, come on deck.

And this is Feed Drops.

Feed Drops is Brian's deal.

He did this cool thing.

This is Free Drops on.

On Combat Bed Vision.

Feed Drops is his podcast where he kind of evaluates podcasts, so that you.

You get the scoop of how well this podcast did today.

And Brian and he gives us some pointers, so we're gonna always try to make improvements, and that's an awesome deal.

Brad.

Good to see you, brother.

Hey, I want to put you on the show sometime.

Thanks for showing up.

He's putting it out there.

He wants to come up there and put some crayons on the smoker.

Yeah, there you go.

I know how he eats them.

Exactly.

Go ahead, brother.

We need the crayons.

The red ones.

They taste best.

Oh, man, I'm scared of you guys.

Good.

Good today.

And it's awesome to have the female vets on.

And it's.

I was in when there were no females in, you know, in.

In our infantry battalions, and I remember when we came back from Japan, we were checking rifles into the armory, and you know how there's always a century there asking for ID and it was a female.

And I was like, where.

Where did we get a female to stand guard at our armory?

But, hey, we don't have to if she is.

So we were grateful.

But, yeah, it is such an, you know, awesome opportunity.

And the awkwardness that she spoke of.

I re.

We got kicked off Kadina.

We, you know, when we were.

We were overseas, we would go down to Kadina to see females that weren't Japanese because, you know, o' Brien is.

A Marine, just so, you know.

And Marines were usually the reason why Navy corpsman didn't get to go to Kadina sometimes because it was secured for about a month, they got kicked out of there.

Marines be like, hey, you guys can't come back for about a month.

Yeah, yeah, sorry about that, guys.

But, you know, what are you gonna do?

You know, we were on Camp Schwab and.

And nothing.

Hey, men will be men, man.

When we were in Fuji, you know, it was.

What.

What was the.

What was that can.

Anyway, it doesn't matter.

But, yeah, there weren't a lot of females to.

To talk with or.

Or engage with at all.

So I definitely understand that awkwardness more so now in my older age with a.

A daughter of my own, I can definitely sense how uncomfortable that must have been.

But it's good to hear that side.

Of the coin, man.

It's good to hear these stories, and hopefully it can adjust some attitudes of those that are still serving.

And I think it does make it.

Not as uncomfortable as it can be.

And all in all, man, I mean, same.

Same things I'm going to tell you guys.

Write out a Few questions go back and forth between Chef and Chief.

Let's make it a little more dynamic.

That would be awesome for the show.

But things went smooth.

You guys sound great.

There was zero static.

I don't know if you bought some shielding for the cables or, or whatnot.

Chief.

I. I made sure that the cables were not close to each other.

I kind of mapped out the cables differently and I.

Very cool.

Dropped the.

This, this cable, you know, the, the microphone cable down.

And yeah, I did some micromanagement.

Simple little things improve audio quality.

And, you know, if you don't know, you don't know.

And, you know, that's why we do feed drops.

And it's.

It's little things like that that increase the audio quality.

It increases the listener or viewership for your audience.

Because most people I know, if audio is bad, I bounce out.

Yeah, we all do.

Yeah.

I just can't.

I can't.

I mean, in my ears, probably a little more attuned than most doing what I do for as long as I have, but great show.

And, and Chef, we missed you last week.

I was actually there at the vtrc.

Got to see the place.

Yeah, that's what I heard.

It was crazy busy last week.

I'm sure it was, man.

It's just too much sometimes, especially as I get older.

I mean, and.

And I'm working with students, 18 to 22 year olds, development.

I don't know if Chief told you, but we went down the strip mall there a little bit and dined at the.

The pub there.

The Village Inn.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Village Inn.

Yeah.

It's not a bad place.

They have fish and chips.

Pretty reasonable.

That's what.

Yeah, that's their number one thing.

And it's.

It's not bad and it's not expensive and.

Yeah.

And the root beer.

The root beer,.

Yeah.

Nutty.

Mighty tasty.

But great location.

You guys are doing great work.

I anticipate being there a little more frequently with my travels, so it'll be good, too.

Good.

And I'm looking forward to feeding you.

It'll be the first time I get to feed you.

Second.

Second time.

Yeah.

You took us to the.

Oh, yeah.

But I didn't.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I'm gonna be cooking this, so that'll be good.

I'm actually the chef for the day,.

So that'll be good, man.

That'll be good.

But great show, guys.

Same.

Same critique as before.

And I know it's going to take some adjustment some time, but I'm gonna pop off.

Appreciate you guys.

Appreciate you allowing me to come on and.

And critique.

Yes.

Thanks, Brian.

We look forward to seeing you this weekend.

Yep.

We'll see you soon, boys.

Thanks.

All right.

Hey, awesome, awesome time here at the show.

I mean, I really enjoy having the guests and to just find their pathway, look at it and, and be able to just enjoy it and sponsor.

Sponsor them through it and, and help them along the way.

Yeah, there's so many cool things.

We're at the, the Veterans Transition Resource center right here at the studio.

That's where we're at.

We do a lot of things here and as well as all the things that I'm doing with Warrior Built PTSD foundation, so many other things.

But it's all to help the veterans in certain ways and directions, job opportunities to know, get them the.

The right support that they need.

It's up to you.

You as a veteran, you'll keep.

Be involved in your life, be.

Be engaged in it.

And there's so many different things that we all need to do and improve on, including myself that will make.

Make things better.

And I think we can do it together.

We, we.

We do it better together.

Yes.

And also if you need to collaborate with a Veterans group of 501c3, we're here for you.

And we love to collaborate with other groups, even if they're a 501C3, just to be out there and together, you know, more hands, easier work.

Resource Center.

The Veterans Transition Resource Center.

It.

Yeah, we, we definitely need to be.

Not just for veterans, for their families,.

Their wives and first responders as well.

Yeah.

First responders, please.

So until next time, thanks for being here.

We'll see you later.

Strength and honor out.

And bon.

Bon appetit from Chef.

Bon appetit.

The only way and we need nothing more.

The only way Together forever.

That's for sure.