Group helps veterans adjust to life after service: Weapons and Warfare

[RYAN ROBERTSON]  

HELLO AND WELCOME TO THIS EDITION OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE. FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M YOUR HOST, RYAN ROBERTSON….AND GOOD NEWS GUYS, MY VOICE IS BACK. HAZAH! 

JUST AHEAD IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, WE EXPLORE THE QUESTION OF ‘WHAT’S NEXT?’ FOR SOON-TO-BE VETERANS THAT ARE SEPARATING FROM SERVICE, AND WHY ONE GROUP IS MAKING IT THEIR MISSION TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER. AND FROM JETPACKS TO A NEW JET-POWERED AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE, WHY THE MAKER OF OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK HAS HIS EYES ON THE SKIES.

BUT FIRST LET’S GET INTO SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED. 

THE PENTAGON ANNOUNCING THE TEMPORARY PIER, BUILT TO HELP GET HUMANITARIAN AID INTO GAZA, WILL HAVE SOME SERIOUS PROTECTION IN THE FORM OF NAVY WARSHIPS. MEETING WITH THE PRESS MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER WAS LIGHT ON SPECIFICS, BUT DID CONFIRM A PLAN WAS IN PLACE. 

REPORTER:

“On the pier. Can you say whether any U.S. Naval vessels are going to be providing security to the operation?

[Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary] 

There — there will be.

REPORTER

They will be. Can you go into any detail?

GEN. RYDER:

And I’m not going to go into the specifics, for OPSEC reasons. But as you know, we do have naval vessels, destroyers in the region that can provide assistance.

REPORTER

OK. And then slightly similarly, has any determined that — any determination been made as to the USS Eisenhower and whether she’ll be extending in CENTCOM?

GEN. RYDER:

Yeah, as I’m sure you can appreciate. I’m not going to get into talking about future ship movements and deployments. So, we have updates, we’ll certainly let you know.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE GENERAL RYDER WASN’T AT LIBERTY TO SHARE, ACCORDING TO A REPORT ON MILITARY DOT COM A NAVY OFFICIAL TOLD THEM TWO NAVY DESTROYERS WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO THE MISSION. 

THE PIER IS PART OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S $320 MILLION EFFORT TO OPEN A SEA ROUTE TO GET HUMANITARIAN AID INTO GAZA. 

IF YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE SHOW FOR A WHILE YOU’LL KNOW WE’VE COVERED THE U.S. MILITARY’S CONCERNS ABOUT NOT ONLY THEIR BUDGET, BUT OUR COUNTRY’S ABILITY TO KEEP PACE WITH OUR NEAR PEER ADVERSARIES IN TERMS OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION.

IT’S A CONCERN THAT HAS THE ATTENTION OF THE DEPUTY COMMANDER OF U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND, LT. GEN. STEVEN BASHAM. DURING A RECENT LIVESTREAM EVENT FOR NATO, THE GENERAL RECOGNIZED CURRENT LIMITATIONS, BUT ADDED A SHIFT IS ALREADY STARTING TO TAKE PLACE.

[Lt. Gen. Steven Basham, Dep. Commander of U.S. European Command]

“When we look at the defense industrial base from the West and like-minded nations, it might take a little bit longer for that defense industrial base, and you’ve heard a lot of discussion about how, do we accelerate the Western defense industrial base? Make no mistake, it’s picking up speed. It will continue to accelerate past the capability of Russia.”

[Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary] 

THE GENERAL WENT ON TO SAY THAT AS LONG AS RUSSIA IS MIRED IN THEIR ILLEGAL INVASION OF UKRAINE, THE U.S. CAN USE THAT TIME TO GET PRODUCTION WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE. 

HERE’S SOME NEW MATH FOR YOU; WHEN DOES B-2, MINUS ONE, EQUAL 19? 

THE ANSWER, WHEN THE AIR FORCE DECIDES TO SCRAP A DAMAGED B-2 BOMBER AND REDUCES THE FLEET TO 19. 

THAT’S THE LATEST WORD OUT OF A FORCE STRUCTURE REPORT RELEASED BY THE AIR FORCE IN APRIL. THE DECISION COMES LESS THAN TWO YEARS AFTER A B-2 AT WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE IN MISSOURI WAS FORCED TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING FOLLOWING AN IN-FLIGHT MALFUNCTION AND SUBSEQUENT FIRE. THAT INCIDENT BLOCKED THE RUNWAY FOR A WEEK, AND LED TO A SIX-MONTH GROUNDING OF ALL B-2s. 

WITH THE B-21 RAIDER STEALTH BOMBER SET TO REPLACE THE B-2 AND THE B-1, THE AIR FORCE DID THE MATH AND DETERMINED IT WAS BETTER TO SCRAP THE DAMAGED JET THAN TO TRY AND REPAIR IT.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

EVERY YEAR MORE THAN 200,000 MEN AND WOMEN LEAVE ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY SERVICE AND RE-ENTER CIVILIAN LIFE. THAT NUMBER, FROM THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, IS ABOUT EQUAL TO THE POPULATIONS OF CITIES LIKE OXNARD, CALIFORNIA, AMARILLO, TEXAS OR TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA.  

WHILE MOST MAKE THE MOVE WITHOUT ISSUE, THAT’S NOT TRUE FOR EVERYONE. SOME, FOR A VARIETY OF FACTORS, FACE CHALLENGES FOR WHICH THEY MAY NOT BE PREPARED. FORTUNATELY FOR THOSE SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN, MARINES, AND GUARDIANS, THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES TO HELP. 

[Flo Gronberg]

“I don’t blame the military for not providing me with, you know, the perfect transition plan.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHEN FLORENT GROBERG LEFT THE ARMY IN 2015 IT WASN’T HOW HE PLANNED LEAVING A CAREER HE LOVED. 

[Flo Gronberg]

“I never served with the idea of like, hey, you need to invest in me in transition me out. Now. I also never expected to leave the military because of injuries. So to me, it was my whole plan and roadmap was thrown way off, specifically, because my career was shortened by many years.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FLORENT, OR FLO AS HIS FRIENDS CALL HIM, WAS IN NEED OF A NEW ROADMAP, A PLAN FOR STARTING HIS LIFE’S NEXT CHAPTER. 

[FLORENT]

“I needed to find what my next passion would be. And so for that, Warrior’s Ethos, came in at the perfect time because I could relate to their people.”

[Jared Shephard, Founder/Director, Warriors Ethos]

“The idea is, you know, if you raise your right hand and you take an oath to serve the country, that shouldn’t be the best thing you ever do. Right, you should be able to build upon what you do in the military and become successful in whatever you do after the military, whether it’s four years later, or 40 years later, right? We want people to go be successful, outside of the military”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

STARTED IN 2011 BY JARED SHEPARD, HIMSELF AN ARMY VETERAN, WARRIORS ETHOS HAS HELPED ROUGHLY 2,000 SERVICE MEMBERS TAKE THOSE FIRST STEPS OUT OF UNIFORM. 

FOR GROBERG HIS CIRCUMSTANCES WEREN’T ALL THAT DIFFERENT FROM THOSE THAT HAD LEANED ON WARRIORS ETHOS BEFORE HIM. 

WITH ONE NOTABLE EXCEPTION. 

[NAT SOUND]

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by an act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863 has awarded on behalf of Congress, the Medal of Honor to Captain Florent A. Groberg… {pause for applause}”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR HIS ACTIONS, IN TRYING TO STOP A SUICIDE BOMBER WHILE ESCORTING A GROUP OF COALITION AND AFGHAN LEADERS IN THE KUNAR PROVINCE OF AFGHANISTAN, CAPTAIN GROBERG RECEIVED THE MEDAL OF HONOR. HE WAS ALSO MEDICALLY RETIRED BECAUSE OF THE INJURIES HE SUFFERED TRYING TO SAVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS. IT ALL ADDED UP TO A MAN LEFT WONDERING WHAT WAS NEXT. 

[Captain Florent Groberg, U.S. Army (Ret). Medal of Honor Recipient]

“Receiving the Medal of Honor, is probably the least expected thing you could ever have in your career. First of all, you don’t serve for medals. And you sure as heck do not want to serve and be singled out and highlighted as anything other than a service member, or veteran. So when I received the medal, and it highlighted me, it was a tough pill to swallow specifically, because four individuals didn’t come home. Command Seargent Major Griffin, Majors Gray and Kennedy, and Ragaei Abdelfattah. And also had a whole other team that is some incredible heroic things as well, if you want to call it that, on that day, you know, it’s just a tough day.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

RECOGNIZING THAT KIND OF INNER STRUGGLE IS INGRAINED IN THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE BEHIND WARRIORS ETHOS. 

[Jared Shephard, Founder/Director, Warriors Ethos]

“If you look at all the bad things you ever hear about veterans, you know, homeless, unemployment, divorce, whatever else happens to be suicide, those are all failures in transition. Those are all the that veteran did not successfully get traction and whatever they were doing next, and thus, they lost their way. So we kind of figured you know, what we can we can put a dent in all of that, by just helping guys and gals be more successful, be more prepared to get out of the military and go do whatever they’re gonna go do next.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SHEPARD’S GROUP RECOMMENDS SERVICE MEMBERS START MAKING THEIR TRANSITION PLANS WELL BEFORE ACTUALLY SEPARATING. IT’S A PROCESS GROBERG FOUND PARTICULARLY HELPFUL. 

[Captain Florent Groberg, U.S. Army (Ret). Medal of Honor Recipient]

“Warriors Ethos pushed me in a way that wasn’t off-putting. They knew that I had a need and a requirement, I just did not potentially know how to accurately express it at the time. They also understood what type of help I was seeking. And to put a plan together, and we adjusted the plan when things didn’t work out the way I wanted it, or the way they perceived it. In the end, we found a winning solution organically. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

A 2019 STUDY BY PEW RESEARCH REVEALED ONE IN FOUR VETERANS, POST 9/11, SAID READJUSTING TO CIVILIAN LIFE WAS AT LEAST SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT. 

THAT ADDS UP TO ABOUT 50,000 VETERANS EVERY YEAR NEEDING WHAT GROUPS LIKE WARRIORS ETHOS DOES FOR SERVICE MEMBERS.

[Jared Shephard, Founder/Director, Warriors Ethos]

“One of the things that we help you do is we walk you through how to plan. That plan is multiple things that include your spouse, that includes your family, it’s a financial plan, it’s a business plan, it’s a, what do you want to do next plan, right, and all those things come into play.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR GROBERG THE CATALYST WAS A NETWORKING EVENT. A DINNER, HE ADMITTED HE HAD NO INTEREST IN ATTENDING.  

[Captain Florent Groberg, U.S. Army (Ret). Medal of Honor Recipient]

“They pushed me to go to that dinner, I really wasn’t interested at first because like, I have no association with this, and they said, No, trust me, there’s gonna be some key people that you might want to meet. That led to giving me more self confidence. And then who led to different careers later on with Boeing, Microsoft, and now in the private equity side.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR SHEPHARD THE IDEAL OUTCOME IS ONE WHERE WARRIORS ETHOS IS NO LONGER NEEDED. 

[Jared Shephard, Founder/Director, Warriors Ethos]

“I mean, the perfect world for me would be is that the military gets so good at transitioning its service members that I can turn this off, I would, I would love that.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE THE MILITARY ISN’T THERE YET, SHEPHARD ACKNOWLEDGES THEY ARE MAKING IMPROVEMENTS. BUT FOR NOW, HIS MISSION CONTINUES.

IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO COULD BENEFIT BY CONNECTING WITH WARRIORS ETHOS, OR IF YOU WANT TO JOIN THEIR EFFORTS, YOU CAN CONNECT WITH THEM AT THE ADDRESS ON YOUR SCREEN, WARRIORS ETHOS DOT ORG.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND WHILE YOU MAY NOT KNOW THE NAME MAYMAN AEROSPACE, YOU MIGHT VERY WELL KNOW THE MAN THE COMPANY IS NAMED FOR. 

THIS IS DAVID MAYMAN, AND THIS IS HIM EXPERIENCING THE WORLD, AND THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, WEARING A JETPACK.

MAYMAN’S  INTEREST IN VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING TECHNOLOGY SPAWNED A NEW PURSUIT. ONE WITH NATIONAL DEFENSE IN MIND. 

THIS IS THE RAZOR P100, AN AUTONOMOUS  HIGH SPEED VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING AIR UTILITY VEHICLE.

FOR THE ACRONYM FANS, IT’S AN HSV-TOL AUV. 

EQUIPPED WITH MAYMAN’S SKYFIELD AI-CONTROLLED NAVIGATION SYSTEM, THE GOAL IS TO DELIVER COST FRIENDLY, MULTI-PURPOSE VEHICLES TO THE DOD THAT WILL FIT INTO BATTLE PLANS FOR WHATEVER POTENTIAL CONFLICTS IN WHICH AMERICA MIGHT BECOME INVOLVED. 

[Mladen Zdero, Government Relations Manager, Mayman Aerospace]

“What sets us apart from all the other drones in industry right now is the fact that we use jet propulsion. And what that allows us to do is fly speeds up to Mach point seven, five or  about 550 miles and hours, which we’re estimating right now. It allows us to carry a significant amount of weight. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

RIGHT NOW THAT WEIGHT IS RATED AT A HUNDRED POUNDS, WITH PLANS TO BUILD VARIANTS CAPABLE OF CARRYING 500 TO 1,000 POUNDS, MAKING THE RAZOR AN OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR LOGISTICS. 

BUT MAYMAN AEROSPACE’S VISION DOESN’T END THERE. THEY SEE A FUTURE WITH RAZORS BUILT FOR THE INTELLIGENCE SET, CAPABLE OF SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE. THERE ARE ALSO PLANS TO MAKE THE RAZOR A  FORCE EXTENDER BY MAKING IT AN AIRBORNE MUNITIONS MULE.

ALREADY UNDER CONTRACT TO THE D-O-D FOR $3.25 MILLION, MLADEN ZDERO, MAYMAN’S GOVERNMENT RELATIONS MANAGER TOLD US THERE ARE EYES ON THE RAZOR AS A CANDIDATE FOR THE REPLICATOR INITIATIVE. 

[Mladen Zdero, Government Relations Manager, Mayman Aerospace]

“And that’s exactly what why the government is so interested in this with the ability to have such a highly capable platform at a very low low cost. So if it gets shot down or or for whatever reason crashes on the first mission…

…the way we’re creating it’s going to be simple to rebuild and resupply these units with this aircraft at a very reasonable price for the government.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ANOTHER OF THE RAZOR’S MAIN SELLING POINTS, IS THE ABILITY TO TAKE-OFF AND LAND VERTICALLY, MAKING IT RUNWAY INDEPENDENT. IN FACT, ZDERO SAYS SCENARIOS HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED ABOUT IT TAKING-OFF FROM THE BED OF A MOVING TRUCK, BEING DROPPED FROM ANOTHER AIRCRAFT, OR EVEN LAUNCHING FROM A PLATFORM AT SEA.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME TO WIND THINGS DOWN HERE ON WEAPONS AND WARFARE…FOR MY WRAP THIS WEEK…I’M GOING TO KEEP THE FOCUS ON SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES…

BECAUSE THERE WAS A RECENT ANOMALY IN THE GLOBAL SOF COMMUNITY… 

AN OFFICIAL SAID SOMETHING ABOUT ONE OF ITS MISSIONS. 

SO, IN LAST WEEK’S EPISODE WE HEARD FROM THE MAN WHO RUNS US SOCOM…OR SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND…GENERAL BRYAN FENTON. 

WELL, HE MADE SOME MORE HEADLINES THIS PAST WEEK WHEN HE TOLD AN ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER THE GLOBAL SOF COMMUNITY WAS LEARNING A LOT FROM THE BRITISH SOF UNITS CURRENTLY OPERATING IN UKRAINE…. 

LIKE HOW 12-PERSON DETACHMENTS COULD  FACE FORCES THEY AREN’T EQUIPPED TO HANDLE–AND MAY NEED TO DRAW ON THE EXPERTISE OF AIR FORCE PILOTS, NAVY SHIP DRIVERS OR CRYPTOLOGISTS WHILE DOWN RANGE. 

THE BRITS AREN’T SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT THE GENERAL’S COMMENTS–

NOR SHOULD WE EXPECT THEM TO…USUALLY IT’S SORT OF PAR FOR THE COURSE TO NOT TALK ABOUT SOF MISSIONS AND DEPLOYMENTS…

KIND OF BLOWS UP THE SECRET AND STEALTH PART OF THEIR JOB.

NOW…I’M GOING TO LET YOU ALL IN ON KIND OF THE BIGGEST SECRET THAT EVERYONE KNOWS BUT ISN’T TALKING ABOUT….THERE ARE SPECIAL OPERATORS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN UKRAINE….

REMEMBER JACK TEXEIRA…THE AIRMEN WHO DUMPED A BUNCH OF TOP SECRET DOCUMENTS ON AN INTERNET CHAT BOARD. 

WELL, IN HIS EFFORTS TO LOOK COOL TO HIS VIRTUAL FRIENDS…HE LEAKED DOCUMENTS SHOWING THE UK HAD 50 OPERATORS IN UKRAINE—LATVIA HAD 17, FRANCE 15, THE US 14 AND THE NETHERLANDS 1. YEAH…I DON’T KNOW… MAYBE HE’S LIKE THAT DUDE FROM SISU. 

IN ANY EVENT…EVERY DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OF SAID COUNTRY OF COURSE DENIED THE VALIDITY OF THE REPORT…WHICH AGAIN, NO SURPRISE….AND THE WHITE HOUSE MAINTAINS THERE ARE NO AMERICAN BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN UKRAINE. 

BUT THE GENERAL’S COMMENTS ARE DEFINITELY RAISING EYEBROWS…

BECAUSE RUSSIA IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO POINT THE FINGER AT NATO NATIONS AS JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR ACTIONS…WHICH AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDES A THREE DAY SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION THAT’S CURRENTLY WELL INTO ITS THIRD YEAR. 

FENTON’S COMMENTS ARE ALSO CONFIRMATION NATO NATIONS ARE THAT MUCH CLOSER TO ACTUALLY BEING A PART OF THIS WAR. FRANCE FLOATED THE IDEA A FEW TIMES OF SENDING IN TROOPS TO HELP SECURE UKRAINE’S DEFENSIVE LINES…

AND EVEN THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF–GENERAL C-Q BROWN SAID AT THIS POINT–IT APPEARS INEVITABLE NATO WILL HAVE TO SEND IN SOME TROOPS TO HELP TRAIN UKRAINE’S BELEAGUERED FORCES. 

YOU’VE HEARD ME SAY ON THIS SHOW SEVERAL TIMES THE U-S NEEDS TO STANDY BY ITS COMMITMENTS AND HELP UKRAINE WIN THE WAR…AND THAT FAILURE IN UKRAINE MEANS US TROOPS WILL BE PUT IN DANGER. 

WELL, THAT’S WHY SOF OPERATORS ARE IN UKRAINE–TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN. 

GENERAL FENTON MIGHT HAVE SAID THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD–BUT WE ALL NEED TO BE LISTENING. 

AND OF COURSE, WE ARE ALWAYS HERE TO LISTEN TO YOU AS WELL. IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE SHOW OR WANT TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS… YOU CAN DO SO BELOW…OR BE EMAILING US AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE AT S-A-N DOT COM. 

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER AND GRAPHICS DESIGNER DAKOTA PITEO…I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS…SIGNING OFF.