Speaker 1: If it doesn't work, you're just not using enough. You're
Speaker 1: listening to Software Bradio Special Operations, Military news and straight
Speaker 1: talk with the guys and the community. And hello and everyone,
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Software Bradio, Software Bradio on Time on Target.
Speaker 1: You know, we have a great podcast lined up for
Speaker 1: you folks. Here today we have General Donald Bold Duke
Speaker 1: with us. The general spent believable with thirty three years
Speaker 1: in uniform for the United States Army. He actually rose
Speaker 1: from a private. He enlisted in initially as a private,
Speaker 1: worked his way up to become a general. Um served
Speaker 1: in Afghanistan, served in a bunch of different places, ended
Speaker 1: up in Africa with Africa, and later UH commanded Special
Speaker 1: Operations Command Africa's so h he has a wealth of experience.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk to him about a bunch of this stuff.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk to him about his military career, and
Speaker 1: we're also going to talk to the general today because
Speaker 1: he's running for senator in the great state of New Hampshire,
Speaker 1: where I looked for a very very short while. But
Speaker 1: we're wishing the best for him up there. He's running
Speaker 1: against Jean Shaheen in the upcoming election, which should be
Speaker 1: an interesting one, and we're gonna talk to him about
Speaker 1: all this. But before we get any further, we want
Speaker 1: to welcome to general General Boulder, thank you very much
Speaker 1: for taking the time with us this morning. We really
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Well, Steve, thank you very much. It's great
Speaker 1: to be on. I really appreciate the opportunity, and I
Speaker 1: just want to give a shout out to all your
Speaker 1: listeners and thank them as well. Yeah, we have a
Speaker 1: lot of listeners that end readers for our site that
Speaker 1: you know, very much interested in military affairs. So I'm
Speaker 1: sure most of them are, you know, well versed in
Speaker 1: who you are. But don't talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: your military career because that's, you know, shapes for all
Speaker 1: of us who spent so many years in the military.
Speaker 1: You spend a lot more time than I did in uniform,
Speaker 1: but you know, it shapes who we are, and so
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about it. You initially enlisted
Speaker 1: out of the Laconia in New Hampshire as a as
Speaker 1: a private. I did, um, you know what an opportunity
Speaker 1: I had to grow up here in the in in Laconia,
Speaker 1: New Hampshire and be raised in the family um that
Speaker 1: I uh was born into, you know not. You know,
Speaker 1: that's one choice we don't get. But I got lucky
Speaker 1: and got one into a family that believes in service,
Speaker 1: believes in hard work and focus and never quitting. And
Speaker 1: I got a whole bunch of that working on our
Speaker 1: family farm. And it's really driven me to want to
Speaker 1: be the best I possibly can be and to serve others. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so I joined right out of high school. Wasn't
Speaker 1: an option for Baltock mails in my family. My grandfather
Speaker 1: made it a requirement for all Baltock Mails to serve
Speaker 1: in the military. Excuse me, so uh. When I went
Speaker 1: into the recruiter, he opened up the desk drawer, took
Speaker 1: out all the Baltock names in in in the Lakes
Speaker 1: Region area and said which one of you? I said,
Speaker 1: I'm done, and he scratched my name off and brought
Speaker 1: me over, took my test, and next thing I know,
Speaker 1: I was on my way. I'll signed up on my
Speaker 1: way from my first active duty stint and you know, uh,
Speaker 1: serving as a private and a sergeant and then having
Speaker 1: the opportunity to go through r OTC and becoming a
Speaker 1: second lieutenant and then working with all the great people
Speaker 1: that I had the opportunity to work with in my career. Um,
Speaker 1: it's something that I look back on and I cherished
Speaker 1: to this day. UM. My only regret is, like probably
Speaker 1: you and many others, I wish I was still serving.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's it. I mean, you know, there wasn't a
Speaker 1: day go by. I don't think that all of us
Speaker 1: wish we could turn that clock back and start it
Speaker 1: and do it all over again. You know, but yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: that would be nice. Did you know it wouldn't be life?
Speaker 1: You know, it would be nice to turn that clock
Speaker 1: back and still know what you know today. Well, you know.
Speaker 1: And on another note, I was, you know, I was
Speaker 1: checking out your website for and we'll get into the
Speaker 1: election here shortly, but I was checking out your website
Speaker 1: some of your fireside chats that you do, and I
Speaker 1: was like, well, the general still looks like he could
Speaker 1: pass selection, so a lot of the rest of us.
Speaker 1: I yes, I'm waiting. You know, there's a part of
Speaker 1: me in the back of my brain it says, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm I'm waiting for someone to call me
Speaker 1: up and say, hey, we need you, we need you back,
Speaker 1: we need we need we need uh your involvement. Uh,
Speaker 1: so I want to stay ready for that day. Yeah.
Speaker 1: A quick funny story here. Um. You know, I was
Speaker 1: working as a journalist for a small town newspaper and
Speaker 1: my chief of police was a guy from the range
Speaker 1: of Battalion and they had a hostage situation and they
Speaker 1: had a uh the SWAT team come out. And so
Speaker 1: I got a call that from the death sergeant saying, hey,
Speaker 1: the chief, they have the swat team out. They need
Speaker 1: you to uput the you know, he gave me this address.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, you, why do you need me? So
Speaker 1: I pulled up there and you know, the swat teams
Speaker 1: all there. So they escorted me in and I said
Speaker 1: to the chief, I don't have any of my gear anymore.
Speaker 1: You know, you need me to be the first guy
Speaker 1: in the stack here or what? And he was laughing.
Speaker 1: He was like no, but you know that you know
Speaker 1: the rules of engagement, how it all works. And this
Speaker 1: guy wanted to speak to a member of the press,
Speaker 1: so they got him to stand down. But it was
Speaker 1: funny because it's like, you know, you you start seeing
Speaker 1: all the guys with all their gear on, even the police,
Speaker 1: but you know they wear so much military stuff these days,
Speaker 1: and and it's like, man, I kind of missed this stuff,
Speaker 1: but I'm getting too old for it. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, you do you know when you see our
Speaker 1: service members leaving, uh, and particularly when they're leaving, you're like, jeez,
Speaker 1: I feel I feel bad staying back, right, Um, But
Speaker 1: I'm glad we have those young men and women out
Speaker 1: there willing to go. There's not many of them in
Speaker 1: this country that are willing to make that sacrifice, and
Speaker 1: we see that in the less than one percent serve
Speaker 1: And so it does my heart good to know that
Speaker 1: there's people out there that are's still gonna move to
Speaker 1: the sound of the gun and and serve our country
Speaker 1: in that way. But I sure do wish that I
Speaker 1: could pick up a rifle and stand a post with him,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Yeah? Same here. Um, So
Speaker 1: what year did you go through SP training? So? I
Speaker 1: went through Special Forces training from nine two to three
Speaker 1: and that included selection, uh, the Infantry Officer Advanced Course UH,
Speaker 1: and then the Q course and language school. So you know,
Speaker 1: it was a let's see, started in basically February and
Speaker 1: went all the way through and got to fifth group
Speaker 1: in September of Yeah, yeah, okay, because I didn't know
Speaker 1: if I was working out at Selection when you had
Speaker 1: come through, and uh, I was. I was just curious
Speaker 1: about the dates there. But I was already gone. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was already gone by then. I was actually that
Speaker 1: was a year that that time frame. I was down
Speaker 1: in Columbia. So we probably passed each other in the
Speaker 1: night somewhere, but yeah, we probably did. You know, I
Speaker 1: really like uh, you know, I mean, I mean I
Speaker 1: thought Selection was awesome, right, it was, you know, it
Speaker 1: was a good smoke show, and you know, just the
Speaker 1: professionalism of the n c O s out there and
Speaker 1: and that, hey, you know, the balance between working with
Speaker 1: a team and then individual effort and and and so on.
Speaker 1: I I don't know what Selection is like today, but
Speaker 1: I do know that when I went through it in
Speaker 1: two I thought it was a quality smoke show and
Speaker 1: did what it was supposed to do. Yeah, and I've
Speaker 1: heard it's still pretty much the same. I spoke with
Speaker 1: a couple of guys who have worked out there and
Speaker 1: not too distant past, and uh, they were telling me
Speaker 1: that much of it is, you know, they've changed a
Speaker 1: little bit, how they how how they grade the candidates
Speaker 1: out there. But it's pretty much the same, the same
Speaker 1: scenarios out there, and it does it does exactly what
Speaker 1: you needed to do. And you learn a lot about
Speaker 1: people by watching them out there. And as a cadre, remember,
Speaker 1: I mean, you see it all. So some of the
Speaker 1: stuff I only imagine that view the outside like that,
Speaker 1: it's gotta be hilarious and something, and sometimes sometimes it is.
Speaker 1: I mean, because the candidates, I mean, you know, they
Speaker 1: know they're always being assessed, and sometimes you know, and
Speaker 1: it happens. I mean, you're carrying like some telephone pull
Speaker 1: on your back, and you know, guy'll trip and fall
Speaker 1: and he'll cuss and then he'll look at the cad remember, like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I cussed and I'm not supposed to.
Speaker 1: I'm like, and you know, you're not supposed to come
Speaker 1: out of a role. But a couple of times I said, hey,
Speaker 1: you know you've all in a telephone pole hit you
Speaker 1: in the back of the head. You're okay to cuss? Okay,
Speaker 1: that's right, right, you know if you didn't, yeah, because
Speaker 1: you know, as you know, all of us from the Northeast,
Speaker 1: I mean, we have a colorful way. Well let's put
Speaker 1: it that way of expressing ourselves, so I would have
Speaker 1: done they do. We're different. Um. I've had to explain
Speaker 1: that to a couple of people. You know, Um, listen,
Speaker 1: I'm from New Hampshire, I'm from the northeast. You know,
Speaker 1: we're direct. Uh. You know, we get to the point quickly. Uh.
Speaker 1: It can look like abruptness, but it's really not. It's
Speaker 1: just the way we are. So you know, no disrespect intended. Right. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, that's the wonderful thing about America is you know, regionally, Um,
Speaker 1: we're so different. But the beautiful thing about America, and
Speaker 1: unfortunately I'm afraid we're getting away from it now, is
Speaker 1: the fact that at the end of the day, we're
Speaker 1: all Americans. So we can bring young men and women
Speaker 1: from California, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Florida, you know,
Speaker 1: all over the place, bring him together, put him in
Speaker 1: a in a in a training environment, and you know,
Speaker 1: they become one unit. They become Americans and it's a
Speaker 1: wonderful thing. And uh, you know it, it's really kind
Speaker 1: of a quintessential uh, you know idea of e pluribus unum, right. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you see it in the military and it's it's
Speaker 1: it's it's really an amazing thing. Yeah, And you know
Speaker 1: it's funny because like you know, we you know, SF
Speaker 1: we're always working with you know, uh, foreign allies and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And you can always tell which some of the our
Speaker 1: allies that did speak some English, who the guys were
Speaker 1: that were before you. That's right. When I was down
Speaker 1: in Colombia, there was a Colombian captain that we were
Speaker 1: working with. And the guy that was down there before
Speaker 1: us was he grew up between Lawrence, Massachusetts and Salem,
Speaker 1: New Hampshire, so he was right there on the mass
Speaker 1: New Hampshire border. And this Colombian captain, you know, come
Speaker 1: up to me one morning and when we first got
Speaker 1: there and he started talking with this New England that
Speaker 1: that just blew me away. And I was like, so,
Speaker 1: who was this guy was here before us? And he
Speaker 1: told me and I started laughing, and I was like, wow,
Speaker 1: this guy sounds like he's from Boston, right. It is
Speaker 1: that way too. You know. We saw it out in
Speaker 1: Afghanistan at the different fire bases. You know, uh, you
Speaker 1: could guess who was there before you bake up some
Speaker 1: of the praises that the Afghans learned, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But and the speaking of Afghanistan, I wanted to get
Speaker 1: into this because you spend quite a bit of time there,
Speaker 1: and I thought I read somewhere that between two thousand
Speaker 1: and one, in two thousand and thirteen years spent sixty
Speaker 1: six months in combat. I did. Yeah, that is an
Speaker 1: incredible amount of time there. And um, you know, while
Speaker 1: you were there, you were there in the initial h
Speaker 1: when the invasion of the initial SF guys went in,
Speaker 1: you were in southern Afghanistan and yes, to the Washington Post,
Speaker 1: you were a horse soldier. I can't believe I read
Speaker 1: that somewhere, but you know, it's yeah, that's what it is,
Speaker 1: you know. But you're also wounded when two thousand poond
Speaker 1: Bong inadvertently dropped on your guys. And can you talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about that. Yeah, that was That was
Speaker 1: an interesting few days that we had there. It was
Speaker 1: constant firefights over three days, three or four days. We
Speaker 1: had the past. We were right at the pass where
Speaker 1: you know, the show Eallycott area about you know, uh
Speaker 1: twenty miles um uh north of Kandahar City and you
Speaker 1: had to go through a pass in order h you know,
Speaker 1: to open up, and it was a straight shot right
Speaker 1: in the Candahar. And of course Candahar was still being
Speaker 1: held by the Taliban at the time. Um harmond cars
Speaker 1: I was with us uh and you know he was
Speaker 1: talking constantly with the Taliban there to try and you know,
Speaker 1: get a peaceful surrender. Um. And we had made our
Speaker 1: march from Taran Cout down and picking up people as
Speaker 1: we went along the way, Cause I was very good
Speaker 1: at dealing with the outside press, do only with the
Speaker 1: the the Taliban, Um, excuse me, dealing with the village
Speaker 1: elders and tribal elders and getting people to switch sides. Um.
Speaker 1: And our force just built and built and built and built.
Speaker 1: You know, we had probably you know, nineteen hundred or
Speaker 1: so um Afghans um just waiting to move with us
Speaker 1: down to Candahar and secure Kandahar. And and you know
Speaker 1: we only we started with a handful up in up
Speaker 1: in Uh up in terran Cout. So you know, it
Speaker 1: was an amazing thing. I called it mud Hut diplomacy
Speaker 1: and uh, you know it worked because we let the
Speaker 1: Afghans make it work, and we supported them the best
Speaker 1: way we could with air drops of equipment and so
Speaker 1: it was five December. We had about three or four
Speaker 1: days a tough fighting, um and uh using close air
Speaker 1: support you know, to hit targets that were identical fight
Speaker 1: by Afghans that were switching sides and you know, explaining
Speaker 1: the cars I are explaining you know, where these guys
Speaker 1: were on the map, inside the pass and everywhere, and
Speaker 1: so um, we recognize at some point that we needed
Speaker 1: additional help in some areas. Our CTC you know air
Speaker 1: controller was you know, I mean he was just working seven.
Speaker 1: So we asked if we could get a you know,
Speaker 1: another h air controller in. So they sent us attack
Speaker 1: P and and a few other augmentees came in. UM
Speaker 1: the evening of the of the fifth we integrated them
Speaker 1: and directed you know, everybody to do the proper hand
Speaker 1: over understand how how we uh you know, approved calls
Speaker 1: for fire and close air support and and targeting and
Speaker 1: verifying the target and so on and so forth. And UM.
Speaker 1: It was also we got a bunch of mail in,
Speaker 1: so that was really good first time the guys that
Speaker 1: got mail, so passing out mail. We were doing air
Speaker 1: strikes and you know, depending on what aircraft show up.
Speaker 1: So you have an F fifteen, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: one turn and then P fifty two another turn, and
Speaker 1: you know, so on and and they would show up,
Speaker 1: and we put them to work because there was plenty
Speaker 1: of work from the DO in that past, and we
Speaker 1: wanted to punch you that past that day. So we're
Speaker 1: putting a concervative effort, and we were getting everything planned
Speaker 1: and I'll tell you what, out of nowhere, two thousand
Speaker 1: pound bomb lands right on the forward edge of our position. UM.
Speaker 1: And I didn't know what happened at first. UM, I
Speaker 1: didn't know if it was a lucky shot, didn't know
Speaker 1: what the heck happened. UM. And it was a mess, right. Uh,
Speaker 1: we had mass cow situation. Uh. We lost all our calms,
Speaker 1: all of our weapons you know, um that we had
Speaker 1: stockpiled I got hit and so they were all cooking off.
Speaker 1: And so you had RPGs whistling around and going around,
Speaker 1: you had you had bullets cooking off, you had grenades
Speaker 1: cooking off. I mean, it was just unbelievable. Uh. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, we're trying to get people off the hill,
Speaker 1: trying to figure out our calms were down. We had
Speaker 1: to piecemeal coms together, set up a set up, a
Speaker 1: Casualty Control point, try and get accountability of everybody reported
Speaker 1: to higher headquarters. UM. We had probably two Afghans that
Speaker 1: were either killed or injured as a result of that
Speaker 1: blast radius of a two thousand pound bomb. Once we
Speaker 1: figured out what happened, and it was an unfortunate error
Speaker 1: in the attack p that took over from our CTC
Speaker 1: guy changed his batteries, didn't verify the grid location. You
Speaker 1: know those uh soft lamp systems at time reset to
Speaker 1: your I'm sorry about that, Reset to your position, UM,
Speaker 1: when you change batteries, and so you're supposed to reverify
Speaker 1: the grid and he didn't, and he sent the grid
Speaker 1: of our position up to the aircraft UM and cleared
Speaker 1: them hot to release. And you know, from there we
Speaker 1: had you know, quite a you know, quite an interesting,
Speaker 1: quite an interesting day because we had to regroup, we
Speaker 1: had to ask for replacements, We had to get UM
Speaker 1: an lz UH for METAVAC squared away. All twenty six
Speaker 1: Americans were wounded in some fashion. UM. At the end
Speaker 1: of the day, me Dave Fox, my battalion commander, um AH,
Speaker 1: Dennis bovy Uh and Sardan Smith. The COMMO guys stayed
Speaker 1: on the ground. We were the only ones from the
Speaker 1: original that stayed on the ground. Everybody else was META
Speaker 1: backed out, Meta back to medical UH and we just
Speaker 1: stayed there because there was there was no way we
Speaker 1: could leave, even with our injuries, because um, there was
Speaker 1: no continuity. We just couldn't abandoned Harmard cars I h
Speaker 1: and his agency partners, his handlers. Thank goodness, he wasn't hurt, um,
Speaker 1: But we had to continue the mission. We got replacements in,
Speaker 1: we got the wounded out, we got the situation under control,
Speaker 1: and and we moved forward. And on the on the
Speaker 1: eighth of December, we took can of our city, and
Speaker 1: we took it without having a fire shot. They gave up.
Speaker 1: We occupied Mullah Omar's headquarters and began setting up operations
Speaker 1: to take over southern Afghanistan. And that's what we did.
Speaker 1: And we used the Afghanis to do that, because you know,
Speaker 1: it was only about at that that point in time,
Speaker 1: probably about you know, thirty five of us on the
Speaker 1: ground for all of southern Afghanistan. So we we did
Speaker 1: it the Afghan way, and it was very successful. And
Speaker 1: I was convinced that by March of two thousand two
Speaker 1: we could have ended our military mission, continued diplomatic and
Speaker 1: economic support, and I believe Afghanistan would be a whole
Speaker 1: hell of a lot better today than it is if
Speaker 1: we had just accepted the fact that our military mission
Speaker 1: was pretty much over and let the Afghans, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: uh run the show, put their government back together, help
Speaker 1: him economically, help them diplomatically. Uh. And but we didn't.
Speaker 1: We just continued to escalate, right, continued to build up,
Speaker 1: continue to put more force structure there, built stuff that
Speaker 1: they couldn't really um, you know, a police in a
Speaker 1: military uh that they couldn't uh you know, sustain or
Speaker 1: maintain even to this day they can't put in a government. Uh.
Speaker 1: And and then bringing the international community to the extent
Speaker 1: that it became overwhelming uh and then back off of
Speaker 1: what we were doing because we started the Iraq war. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that gave the Taliban and Alcade an opportunity to research,
Speaker 1: and they did, and by two thousand five, we were
Speaker 1: we were back where we were in two thousand one,
Speaker 1: except they were smarter, better organized, better equipped, uh and
Speaker 1: more determined uh and uh. From there two thousand five
Speaker 1: to two thousand nine, it was a poor policy, poor strategy,
Speaker 1: poor operational approach, a recognition that it wasn't an insurgency,
Speaker 1: that we weren't fighting an insurgency, and we were and
Speaker 1: you know, the soft guys on the ground at least,
Speaker 1: I know, I was a tiring commanded during that time frame. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know a corn during that during that time
Speaker 1: frame and um, I you know, up to two thousand ten,
Speaker 1: and I was like, uh, this is just a bad strategy.
Speaker 1: The Crystal came in with some different ideas about a
Speaker 1: comprehensive plan between UH and two thousand and ten, which
Speaker 1: I completely agreed with and so did a lot of
Speaker 1: other people. So we worked hard to put village stability
Speaker 1: operations in Afghan local police program at bottom up program
Speaker 1: in play, and from two thousand ten to two thousand thirteen,
Speaker 1: middle of two thousand thirteen, we completely reversed the security
Speaker 1: situation there where almost nine of Afghanistan belonged to the Afghans.
Speaker 1: The Afghan local police were local Arbakai controlled by the
Speaker 1: Afghan government, which was something that cars I wanted to happen.
Speaker 1: And uh, we had the lowest casualty rates uh uh
Speaker 1: in Afghanistan at that time. UH, and it was we
Speaker 1: needed a few more years to solidify it. And all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, I'm getting ready to leave on my
Speaker 1: last tour there in the middle of thirteen, and the
Speaker 1: Obama administration, Susan Rice and the rest of them want
Speaker 1: to change the strategy and want to take I want
Speaker 1: to terminate the bottom up strategy and go to a
Speaker 1: top down thing and reduce forces. And our generals weren't
Speaker 1: pushing back hard enough. So I've pushed back. And from
Speaker 1: my I was told not to push back, but I
Speaker 1: just couldn't because I just couldn't not push back because
Speaker 1: it was a bad call and someone needed to say something.
Speaker 1: And UM, instead of going back to Afghanistan for another
Speaker 1: tour after that at a different level of responsibility, UM,
Speaker 1: I went to Africa and I spent four years in Africa.
Speaker 1: And you know, we can get into Africa's issues later
Speaker 1: if you'd like. But um, changing that strategy completely reversed
Speaker 1: the security situation in favor of the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Speaker 1: Al Qaeda researched and then Isis joined the fight, and
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen we had the highest level of US
Speaker 1: casualties that we've that we've had since the beginning of
Speaker 1: that war. And we're in the mess that we're in
Speaker 1: right now. So um, very unfortunate. But that was my
Speaker 1: experience there. Uh. I'll tell you what though, Our men
Speaker 1: and women did everything we asked them to do, and
Speaker 1: they did it, uh, with honor, they did it with integrity,
Speaker 1: they did it with character, and they did it very
Speaker 1: very well no matter what it was, even when they
Speaker 1: thought it wasn't working, they made it work in spite
Speaker 1: of the policy, in spite of the strategy, and in
Speaker 1: spite of US generals who just couldn't figure out how
Speaker 1: to convince the politicians back in Washington, d C. To
Speaker 1: fight this war the right way. Yeah, and uh, that's
Speaker 1: always seems to be a common problem with the American military.
Speaker 1: We have politicians that are trying to run a war
Speaker 1: from Washington, d C. And they have no concept of
Speaker 1: what you're looking at on the ground. But again, we
Speaker 1: could probably spend days talking about that. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: gave you a long answer, but you know, it was
Speaker 1: you know, some time to cover there, and I like
Speaker 1: to explain it because a lot of people just don't
Speaker 1: understand it, right, don't understand those key points in time,
Speaker 1: you know, in two thousand one, two thousand five to nine,
Speaker 1: and then ten to thirteen and then now you know
Speaker 1: now thirteen to you know to twenty uh. And there
Speaker 1: was some decisions made that we're just unfortunate. Uh and uh,
Speaker 1: but our guys knew they were unfortunate. Our guys and
Speaker 1: gals on the ground knew the right thing to do. Um.
Speaker 1: And it was you know, the generals, we didn't push
Speaker 1: hard enough. We didn't stand our ground like we should
Speaker 1: have against you know, not to be disrespectful, but just
Speaker 1: to say, hey, listen, UH, this isn't the right thing
Speaker 1: to do, and it's not the right thing to do
Speaker 1: for the following reasons. Um. And uh. We you know,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, we went along with it. Uh. And
Speaker 1: it was it's unfortunate. Yeah. And I wanted to talk
Speaker 1: to you about Africa because that seems to be like
Speaker 1: an area that a lot of people in the United
Speaker 1: States don't realize the amount of violence that's going on
Speaker 1: there right now. And we do have a not as
Speaker 1: deep as the Middle East, but we do have a
Speaker 1: deep involvement in Africa, and I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people don't realize that American troops have probably been in
Speaker 1: combat and probably a dozen countries in the continent of
Speaker 1: Africa in the last decade or so. Oh, absolutely true statement.
Speaker 1: They are doing the same things there that we do
Speaker 1: in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or any other place in the world.
Speaker 1: Our Special Operation UH forces are doing their combat missions there,
Speaker 1: and they're doing it through within by our UM you know,
Speaker 1: our partners there UH. And we're fighting terrorist organizations that
Speaker 1: are destabilizing Africa, destabilizing and and and doing negative things
Speaker 1: to you know, UH, Europe, the levant Middle East, UM
Speaker 1: into Afghanistan. Most of the foreign fighters come out of
Speaker 1: North Africa. And when you look at East Africa, you've
Speaker 1: got al Shabab and ISIS Somalia. You go up north
Speaker 1: and you've got Isis al Qaeda their affiliates. You go
Speaker 1: around to the west and now you've got Isis al
Speaker 1: Qaeda UH more affiliates. As you go across the Sahel,
Speaker 1: it's the same. You hit the Lake Chad Basin area,
Speaker 1: which consists of Nijare, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and you got
Speaker 1: um uh Isis West Africa, and then you've got Boca, Haram,
Speaker 1: Boka Haram um. At least while I was there, and
Speaker 1: I haven't seen it change much most deadliest violent extremist
Speaker 1: organization in the world. They kill more than all of
Speaker 1: them put together. Um. And they do it in Nigeria,
Speaker 1: and they do it in no surrounding countries that I
Speaker 1: just named. And so once again, our strategy UM is
Speaker 1: a piecemeal strategy. It's not based off of a regional strategy.
Speaker 1: We don't have an outside in, inside out, very good strategy.
Speaker 1: Our diplomacy isn't good. We put inexperienced senior officers in
Speaker 1: US Africa from the four star down. They don't never
Speaker 1: even served in Africa, never even served in Africa. I
Speaker 1: don't really even understand the African continent. Uh. And you
Speaker 1: know they're expected to uh you know, figure out Africa
Speaker 1: while while they're on the runt. And um. It just
Speaker 1: begs to how we prepare our general officers to serve
Speaker 1: in the different combatant commands that we have. In the
Speaker 1: experiences that they have, uh, you know that lend themselves
Speaker 1: to be able to understand what's going on in their
Speaker 1: theater of operations. Violent extremist organizations in Africa are the
Speaker 1: biggest destabilizing factor uh. And they control ungoverned areas and
Speaker 1: we do not have a good policy or a good
Speaker 1: strategy or operational approach UM to you know, to do that.
Speaker 1: Our guys on the ground are soft. Guys on the
Speaker 1: ground have more experience and no more than the senior
Speaker 1: officers above them, and they're not listening to UM. And
Speaker 1: my policy was while I was the South Africa Commander
Speaker 1: for twenty six months, was our guys on the ground.
Speaker 1: This is a bottom up strategy. This is bottom up driven.
Speaker 1: Our guys on the ground know what we need to
Speaker 1: do and we need to work for them to get
Speaker 1: them as many resources as they can we can get
Speaker 1: them UM to be able to do their job. They
Speaker 1: know what's going on UH. And my job is to
Speaker 1: make sure I understand what the ambassadors want us to
Speaker 1: do and what are our partner nations want us to
Speaker 1: do and integrate that into a system in which our
Speaker 1: guys can work through with and by our partners UH
Speaker 1: and get the job done. And we have never successfully
Speaker 1: coordinated that, synchronized that, orchestrated it UM because of policies
Speaker 1: and d C, poor strab military strategy from the Pentagon
Speaker 1: and a lack of understanding of the Africaan staff and
Speaker 1: the SOCOM staff on what Africa is yeah, and you
Speaker 1: know that's again that's that seems to be an intemic
Speaker 1: problem for the entire continent with everyone that's involved there.
Speaker 1: I know, the French are heavily involved in the Sahel
Speaker 1: and they're trying to get the other European nations involved
Speaker 1: in They're they're working on that new to Cuba task force.
Speaker 1: But you know a lot of what we hear now
Speaker 1: that the US military is gearing up to a nearer
Speaker 1: competition and Africa seems to be a kind of a
Speaker 1: hot spot where our near peer potential adversaries as in
Speaker 1: China or in Russia, are both getting much more involved
Speaker 1: in the continent. Did you did you see that there? Um? Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course. The problem with our strategy is that we
Speaker 1: have two problems in this in this world to address
Speaker 1: diplomatically uh and militarily uh and economically and and you
Speaker 1: know and informationally right uh, and we're not doing it
Speaker 1: very well. We have a first world strategy that we
Speaker 1: need to combat the first world and when we're not
Speaker 1: doing that very well, and then we have a third
Speaker 1: world strategy um that eats at the underbelly that creates
Speaker 1: the instability uh that negatively impacts on your ability to
Speaker 1: focus on the first world strategy. And you've got China, Russia,
Speaker 1: North Korea, Iran our four biggest UH enemies right right now. UM,
Speaker 1: and they are our enemies. You know. China is a
Speaker 1: huge existential threat to America. Russia is just looking to
Speaker 1: climb through the back door they opened in the Crimea
Speaker 1: and in the Ukraine and come on into the rest
Speaker 1: of Europe. Uh. You know, they're expanding in the Middle
Speaker 1: East along with China. UM. Russian technology for missile in
Speaker 1: electronic warfare and air defense has surpassed hours. UM. Iran
Speaker 1: is you know, quietly moving forward, uh, you know with
Speaker 1: their nuclear plan, and North Korea is doing the same.
Speaker 1: And then we have all of them involved in large
Speaker 1: part in Afghanistan, in Syria, in Iraq, in in Africa,
Speaker 1: all over Africa. What China is doing, what russ is doing. Uh.
Speaker 1: I ran his set up mosques everywhere as covers for
Speaker 1: you know, human trafficking and weapon trafficking and trafficking of
Speaker 1: people and collecting intelligence. And you know, it's it's a mess,
Speaker 1: and we're not doing what we need to do in
Speaker 1: order to be able to mitigate that, to neutralize it. Um,
Speaker 1: and uh, we have the force structure, we have uh,
Speaker 1: the experience to do it, um, and we're not putting
Speaker 1: it together in a sound strategy and operational approach to
Speaker 1: get at it. Our navy are air force, UM. You know,
Speaker 1: they're not ready to take on a first world near
Speaker 1: competitor in a war. And you know, piece through strength,
Speaker 1: you know, Reagan said it. You know, we gotta have
Speaker 1: a strong military to back up our diplomatic efforts. And
Speaker 1: that has to be balanced inside an economy that's not
Speaker 1: gonna make us go bankrupt. Uh. And you know, right now,
Speaker 1: look what we've done to ourselves. Look what we're doing
Speaker 1: to ourselves in this country with with poor leadership um
Speaker 1: at all levels municipality, state, federal, on the COVID and
Speaker 1: this economic crisis, and this idea that we can continue
Speaker 1: to spend money at the rate we're spending money put
Speaker 1: ourselves in huge deficits and huge debt. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: we gotta you know, we need change in Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: We need people down there with some with some experience, UM,
Speaker 1: that understand how to put a strategy together, that understand
Speaker 1: foreign relations, that have seen how it works internationally, that
Speaker 1: understand UM. The you know, the idea is of of
Speaker 1: you know, a strong economy, fiscal responsibility, the safety and
Speaker 1: security of America. Look for you know, look, look, we're
Speaker 1: opening our borders. We have poor immigration laws. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: people want sanctuary cities. We're not supporting our police. We
Speaker 1: want to defund them. There's unprecedented violence in in in
Speaker 1: our major cities now, and people are destroying our history.
Speaker 1: They're destroying uh, their neighbors, homes, They're destroying you know,
Speaker 1: small businesses. This is terrible, right, Uh. And we got
Speaker 1: to get back to um. You know, we've got to
Speaker 1: get back to the idea that our declaration independence and
Speaker 1: our constitution is put together a great government. And we
Speaker 1: need to we need to take that experiment and we
Speaker 1: need to maintain it. Now. It's in danger. We gotta
Speaker 1: American socialism is setting in and we got a choice
Speaker 1: in this election, American socialism or freedom. And if we
Speaker 1: elect American socialism, Uh, And we put it in the Senate,
Speaker 1: we put it in the House of Representatives, we put
Speaker 1: it in the White House. We're gonna have to fight
Speaker 1: back to freedom. We already know. I mean, that's an outcome.
Speaker 1: And this isn't hyperbole, an exaggeration and dirka dirk a
Speaker 1: dirk or the skies falling. This is true and you
Speaker 1: can see it happening with the deterioration of our education system,
Speaker 1: the interference with our religious beliefs, um, the paralyzation of
Speaker 1: our political process. Um, it's a process driven by power
Speaker 1: and money and not character and integrity. We need some
Speaker 1: big changes, and this is a big election, more so
Speaker 1: probably than any other election, because it's about maintaining our
Speaker 1: way of life and getting back to the basics of
Speaker 1: peace through strength and making our country strong from the
Speaker 1: outside in and from the inside out. Yeah. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny because you talk about that, and
Speaker 1: I believe President Reagan said and I'm probably misquoting him
Speaker 1: exactly here, I'm on para phrase, but I thought he
Speaker 1: once said freedom is a fragile thing that's never more
Speaker 1: than one generation from extinction. And that's kind of what
Speaker 1: we're looking at in this the next couple of years.
Speaker 1: I think you almost got that verbatim, uh from Reagan.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm a big Reagan fan in that, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean he was the first president that I voted for, right,
Speaker 1: Uh and uh so uh Reagan was right. Reagan. Reagan
Speaker 1: was right about our country and about what it stands for.
Speaker 1: And if we do not preserve it, if we do
Speaker 1: not maintain it, uh, we're gonna be in big trouble.
Speaker 1: And each generation has a responsibility to move forward because
Speaker 1: the mistakes of one generation don't have to be the
Speaker 1: mistakes of the of the next generation. And and that's
Speaker 1: how we get better. We recognize our mistakes, we admit it,
Speaker 1: we hold ourselves accountable, response possible, we're transparent with the
Speaker 1: American people. We move forward. This whole idea systematic racism
Speaker 1: is dangerous. Since when does owning a home? Since one
Speaker 1: does working your butt off your whole life, buying a home,
Speaker 1: raising your family, taking care of your home. Since when
Speaker 1: is that not the American dream? And now it's being
Speaker 1: you know, characterized as part of uh, you know, white
Speaker 1: privilege or some other kind of privilege, and and being
Speaker 1: lumped into systematic racism, which doesn't exist in this country.
Speaker 1: We need a different narrative to bring people together, not
Speaker 1: divide people. Uh. And we need to talk to people
Speaker 1: like we're all Americans, not black, not white, not Asian,
Speaker 1: not Catholic, not Protestant, not Jewish, not. We are Americans,
Speaker 1: and that's what's always made this country strong. And that's
Speaker 1: why the Declaration of Independence says what it says, and
Speaker 1: that's why our constitution is designed to empower the people.
Speaker 1: And right now more and more control is going up
Speaker 1: to the government. Top down solutions don't work. Our country
Speaker 1: is strong because our communities are strong. Our communities are
Speaker 1: strong because we believe in the strength of our families,
Speaker 1: and we put people first. And if you're a public servant,
Speaker 1: you go last. And we've gotten away from that and
Speaker 1: we need to get back to it. Glad to hear
Speaker 1: you say that, because you just said what I've been
Speaker 1: saying for a long time. I'm not a politician, but
Speaker 1: you know, I admire you for saying that and and
Speaker 1: getting to this. I mean, did you ever have thoughts
Speaker 1: of running for public office as as a younger person,
Speaker 1: or that this just come about because you saw things
Speaker 1: that you weren't happy with how they're going. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: you know how this came about. Steve was my wife
Speaker 1: and I came. My wife was born in massach Use
Speaker 1: It's uh and at six months old moved to New
Speaker 1: Hampshire and she was raised here in New Hampshire. I
Speaker 1: was born and raised here, been a resident for fifty
Speaker 1: eight years and I'm fifty eight years old. Been a
Speaker 1: Republican since I was eighteen years old. And I say
Speaker 1: that because you know, when I decided to do something,
Speaker 1: you know I do. I do stuff pretty much long term, right. UH.
Speaker 1: I've been married to my wife at thirty one years.
Speaker 1: I'm very fortunate to have that, UH, to have her
Speaker 1: in my life and have my three boys and my
Speaker 1: three grandchildren and so on and so on, and come
Speaker 1: from a state that I love and had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to return and on our bucket list right to do
Speaker 1: here in New Hampshire was one first and foremost help
Speaker 1: our veterans and their families. Because I identified in the military,
Speaker 1: we were not giving our soldiers are service members the
Speaker 1: right care for their mental and physical injuries, and as
Speaker 1: a result, they were becoming veterans and dumped in a
Speaker 1: system that is very hard to work inside of. UH.
Speaker 1: And you can get frustrated and looking at the suicide
Speaker 1: rate on both active duty reserve National Guard and then
Speaker 1: thinking that was bad enough. Coming out here and seeing
Speaker 1: between two thousand and eight and two thousand and eighteen,
Speaker 1: according to a study, We've lost over sixty veterans to suicide.
Speaker 1: We've got a big problem. So my wife and I
Speaker 1: wanted to take um the fact that we had done
Speaker 1: a lot of work in South Africa UM to help
Speaker 1: our service members get diagnosed properly, get the right treatment,
Speaker 1: and build resiliency and readiness and still be able to
Speaker 1: do our job because they're still very high functioning even
Speaker 1: with PTS, t b I. UM. Our guys suffer with
Speaker 1: pain management that a lot of himself medicate for. That's
Speaker 1: not good. UH. And we were just seeing so many
Speaker 1: problems in South Africa that I said, can't be related
Speaker 1: to in discipline. We have the finest service members UH
Speaker 1: in the world. It's got to be something else. And
Speaker 1: my own experiences with PTS and t b I and
Speaker 1: pain management led me to believe that, you know, we're
Speaker 1: not approaching this right. We got all kinds of programs,
Speaker 1: but when we have the wrong approach, so we work
Speaker 1: to destigmatize it, same thing we wanted to do here uh.
Speaker 1: And by destigmatizing and understanding it, we were able to
Speaker 1: help a lot of people and a lot of families,
Speaker 1: both in South Africa and here in New Hampshire and
Speaker 1: New England and across the country. So we volunteered to
Speaker 1: sit on seven different veteran boards uh and work this
Speaker 1: issue and work at nationally UH. And I used myself
Speaker 1: as an example, because that's what leaders are supposed to do.
Speaker 1: They gotta put skin in the game. Uh. And UH
Speaker 1: if you don't, people aren't gonna follow you. They're gonna
Speaker 1: listen to your words and they're gonna say yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: But look, you know, actions are what we're looking for.
Speaker 1: And so UM, start working with our congressional leadership here
Speaker 1: in this state just kept bumping into one roadblock after another,
Speaker 1: not returning phone calls, not helping. And I said, geez,
Speaker 1: this has got to change, right UM. And if it doesn't, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we're going to just continue to to have
Speaker 1: a band aid approach. Uh. And so not this lack
Speaker 1: of constituent support and then traveling around and seeing it
Speaker 1: affecting other areas and then looking at what our country
Speaker 1: is turning into. UM, I said, you know what, share, Uh,
Speaker 1: we need to take the advice of some of the
Speaker 1: people that are telling us that we need to get
Speaker 1: back into public service and run for office. So so
Speaker 1: we did. We put together exploratory committee and looked like
Speaker 1: we could win the primary. Looks like we can, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, do the same thing in the general election
Speaker 1: against Jean Sheheen. Uh. She's been around New Hampshire politics
Speaker 1: and one capacity or another since nineteen. She was the
Speaker 1: governor for three terms. She's been a Senator for two terms. Um.
Speaker 1: I applaud her for public for her years of public service,
Speaker 1: but she hasn't done the things that New Hampshire needs
Speaker 1: her to do to warrant a third term. So UM,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw We decided to throw my name in
Speaker 1: the hat uh and see if I can go down
Speaker 1: there and serve the people of New Hampshire. Uh and
Speaker 1: change the dialogue from one of power and money, special interests,
Speaker 1: lobbyists to one of of character and integrity and selfless service. Uh.
Speaker 1: What I learned in the military, I wasn't always perfect
Speaker 1: as a leader, but perfect is not the standard. It's
Speaker 1: acknowledging you made mistakes, growing from those mistakes, being better,
Speaker 1: not making the same mistake twice, and keep holding yourself
Speaker 1: accountable and responsible to others and putting them first. Um.
Speaker 1: And I did learn that, and I did do it. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I did it up to um, you know, my
Speaker 1: general officer rank. Uh. And as a result, um it
Speaker 1: worked against me in the general officer ranks. But that's
Speaker 1: okay because as a general officer, if you can't take
Speaker 1: care of yourself, you have no business taken care of others.
Speaker 1: And generals can make things happen. Uh. Even when people
Speaker 1: don't agree with you, you can make things happen. Uh.
Speaker 1: And they may hold it against you and you may
Speaker 1: not go any further. But I wasn't doing it for
Speaker 1: upward mobility. I was doing it to help others. And
Speaker 1: you can still see. We have problems on active duty.
Speaker 1: We have problems here in the betteran world. And I
Speaker 1: want to go down there and I want to change that, uh,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna give it my best shot. Well and
Speaker 1: and again I believe for all of our listeners out there,
Speaker 1: you need to be applauded for this because you're in
Speaker 1: as far as I know, the only general officer that
Speaker 1: ever came forward to say you struggled with PTSD. That's right,
Speaker 1: and you know, and I think that's the most important thing,
Speaker 1: especially for guys. We all know how SF guys because
Speaker 1: we we we've been in the team rooms. We've been
Speaker 1: in the conference rooms with the guy. No one's gonna
Speaker 1: admit there as a problem. So we have to remove
Speaker 1: that stigma, you know, of of that and it's it's
Speaker 1: a long haul, it's really difficult. And the fact that
Speaker 1: you were able, you know, to put your own feelings,
Speaker 1: decide and come forward. And and the hardest thing for anyone,
Speaker 1: especially s F guy, because we're all that type a personality,
Speaker 1: is to admit that we have an issue. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's you know, we don't like admitting that, you know,
Speaker 1: we have an issue that maybe we can't solve all
Speaker 1: along our own. And I think that's so important today
Speaker 1: and I think that you know, again, our listeners need
Speaker 1: to know this because it's this is a real, real
Speaker 1: problem and it's not getting better. It's there's no hope
Speaker 1: on the horizon, but it's not getting better until you know,
Speaker 1: we have smart people that are working on it, but
Speaker 1: we still have a long, long way to go. So
Speaker 1: CALM just published their study on the effects of um
Speaker 1: traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress and you know
Speaker 1: poor pain management, uh, you know approaches, uh. And they
Speaker 1: found out that the reason why guys and gals and
Speaker 1: special ops aren't going for help. Is because they don't
Speaker 1: trust the chain of command. Uh. They feel they'll be stigmatized.
Speaker 1: They don't believe them. They don't see that there putting
Speaker 1: skin in the game. And it's everything that was preaching,
Speaker 1: you know, as a South Africa commander and encouraging general
Speaker 1: officers to do um. But of course when you see
Speaker 1: you know when when if you're a general officer or
Speaker 1: your subordinate of some sort and you see someone leading
Speaker 1: the way and it's gonna have a negative effect on
Speaker 1: their career, You're like, Okay, wait a minute here. You know,
Speaker 1: thank you for doing that. You are helping people. But
Speaker 1: you know, I got a family to worry about, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, I'm still in the middle of
Speaker 1: my career. Uh. You know, I'm you know, I just
Speaker 1: can't afford to do that. Uh. And that's what has
Speaker 1: to change. And even in light of that study, there
Speaker 1: are retired four stars from special operations UH and general
Speaker 1: officers in special operations right now that don't believe the study,
Speaker 1: that aren't taking it seriously. It's not that we don't
Speaker 1: have enough programs. It's not that we don't have enough money.
Speaker 1: It's not that we don't have enough experts to be
Speaker 1: able to deal with it. We have a bad approach.
Speaker 1: And all I did was put together UM a diagnosis mechanism,
Speaker 1: a therapy mechanism that was flexible, allowed them to still deploy,
Speaker 1: stay on the team, keep their clearance, not be non deployable,
Speaker 1: go out there, UH, integrate their families into their therapy
Speaker 1: because that's a huge, you know, very important thing. UH.
Speaker 1: And and what we discovered was that we had very
Speaker 1: little effect on our our readiness. We had very little
Speaker 1: effect on UH. There was only one person UM that
Speaker 1: we had to take out of UH their job because
Speaker 1: what we noticed in an m R. I was they
Speaker 1: had a tumor on their brain and that they had
Speaker 1: to go to and this was a sort of major
Speaker 1: They had to go to UH Walter read to get
Speaker 1: that out. While they were at Walter Reid, he got
Speaker 1: his hip replaced that was ten years overdue, right for replacement. UH.
Speaker 1: And he left out of there. They sent him to
Speaker 1: Swick and he's a new man. Imagine if we didn't
Speaker 1: start this program and didn't encourage them to go and
Speaker 1: he took his forty eight man company right to launch
Speaker 1: stool and put them all through our program, our three
Speaker 1: day program to get assessed. Uh, recommended for treatment, recommended
Speaker 1: for therapy, bom right, all forty eight of them. And
Speaker 1: he was the one that you know, had to get
Speaker 1: the you know, the surgery for a brain to him.
Speaker 1: But imagine if we didn't find that, then what it
Speaker 1: would be like now, you know, he might have died
Speaker 1: right or worse? Well, I don't think there's anything worse,
Speaker 1: but I mean up to that, you can have some
Speaker 1: stabilitating things happened to you. Uh, if you don't, you know,
Speaker 1: depending on where the humor is, and he wouldn't be
Speaker 1: serving today, he'd be he'd have had to have left
Speaker 1: the service. You know. The other thing we noticed that
Speaker 1: we had to ask another question. When someone got in
Speaker 1: trouble with drugs and alcohol, we had to ask you,
Speaker 1: is this in discipline or is it self medication because
Speaker 1: of a larger problem that we as leaders haven't addressed,
Speaker 1: and therefore they're staying in the fight. They got to
Speaker 1: do something, so they're self medicating somehow. And we found
Speaker 1: out that we needed to ask that question and then
Speaker 1: we needed to take the appropriate action. If it was
Speaker 1: in fact in discipline, then you were held accountable. If
Speaker 1: it wasn't. And we owed you help for a mental
Speaker 1: injury or a physical injury. We got you that help.
Speaker 1: We got you that help for your your self medication issue.
Speaker 1: Plus we got to the medical help for whatever it
Speaker 1: is you needed. Uh. And and that of ruining their
Speaker 1: career right because you know as well as I do,
Speaker 1: an alcohol incident and you're done right toast, that's it.
Speaker 1: No recovery from that. Um. And So because my big
Speaker 1: question was we got guys down on the continent for
Speaker 1: six month tours and we have problems with drugs, we
Speaker 1: have problems with alcohol. Why you can't tell me that
Speaker 1: the average s F guy can't go on a rotation
Speaker 1: for six months and not do that. Well, it's because
Speaker 1: they had underlying health issues and we had to fix those.
Speaker 1: And once we fix those, the self medication issue self corrected, right. Um.
Speaker 1: And you know it was a big that was a
Speaker 1: huge learning point for me. And when I think back
Speaker 1: two guys that I had in my previous commands in Afghanistan,
Speaker 1: and I go, you know what, that was a cry
Speaker 1: for help, and I treated it as if it was indiscipline,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, I felt bad because we're we're
Speaker 1: not doing the right thing as leaders for our mental women,
Speaker 1: and you know that's part of learning. I mean, we
Speaker 1: all make mistakes. I remember my my best battalion commander
Speaker 1: always used to say, show me somebody who never makes
Speaker 1: a mistake, and I'll show you somebody that doesn't do
Speaker 1: a damn thing all day long and exactly. And he
Speaker 1: ended up being in a group commander in seventh group,
Speaker 1: so I always thought he was he spot on, absolutely
Speaker 1: spot on. And and then you know, we were inside
Speaker 1: a system now, Steve, that won't accept mistakes, and so
Speaker 1: now people try to hide them, and senior leaders look
Speaker 1: to deflect blame on their subordinates. And you see that
Speaker 1: manifest itself in investigations where the where the geos are
Speaker 1: protecting themselves from any wrongdoing or you know, for the best,
Speaker 1: you know, so their careers aren't affected at the expense
Speaker 1: of our service members. It happened, It happened to our
Speaker 1: guys in nies are in the ambush um. It was
Speaker 1: handled poorly by SOCOM, and it was handled poorly by
Speaker 1: African It was handled poorly by d O d Um.
Speaker 1: You know, they blame the guys on the ground for
Speaker 1: the general officers both in preparing the team to go,
Speaker 1: and the in theater general officers at the at the
Speaker 1: South Africa level and the US African level not doing
Speaker 1: the right thing to make sure that if you were
Speaker 1: going to tell these guys to do that mission, they
Speaker 1: had the right resources, and then not listening to the
Speaker 1: captain on the ground when he said we shouldn't do this,
Speaker 1: I don't want to do it. You know that. That
Speaker 1: was my number one standing order was if the team
Speaker 1: said no, the answer is no, we can do it
Speaker 1: another day when we have the right resources and the
Speaker 1: team is better prepared. Because in that area and those
Speaker 1: remote areas, it's easy to get surrounded. It's easy for
Speaker 1: you know, the enemy to react to you in a
Speaker 1: way that you don't even know what the hell is
Speaker 1: happening because they blend right into the populace and the
Speaker 1: next thing you know, you're in a damn ambush like that. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so I gave the team on the ground ultimate
Speaker 1: veto power. Uh if in their assessment it was not
Speaker 1: couldn't mitigate the risk and it was not a good idea.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll we'll do a mission and fight another day. Uh.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, uh, that is the way to go.
Speaker 1: And that was the biggest error in the whole thing,
Speaker 1: was they didn't that you know, the chain of command above,
Speaker 1: didn't listen to the team. It was all about getting
Speaker 1: that h VT, you know, it was all about doing
Speaker 1: the you know, uh, the sensitive side exploitation, uh, and
Speaker 1: not about listening to that team on the ground. And
Speaker 1: they put them in our partner was in a very
Speaker 1: difficult situation, and then they blamed it on them. Wrong answer, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: So listen, I didn't make any friends in Africa or
Speaker 1: in so Calm over that I was in retirement and
Speaker 1: I was, you know, given NPR and everybody else an interview,
Speaker 1: you know, and telling them what I thought. Um. You
Speaker 1: know that the general officers, uh, you know, the so
Speaker 1: Calm commander the time was General Thomas and the uh
Speaker 1: you know, General Waldhauser, both men I respect, but they
Speaker 1: didn't handle this right period. And the proof was in
Speaker 1: the pudding, you know, the way it turned out, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: and and we lost some good people there. We lost
Speaker 1: some people. Then we didn't recognize them properly, and then
Speaker 1: we made then we and then we didn't treat their
Speaker 1: families properly, and then we didn't go back and say, listen,
Speaker 1: we made some serious mistakes in preparing this team for
Speaker 1: their mission in Africa, which is every bit a combat mission,
Speaker 1: and then in theater, we didn't do the right things
Speaker 1: to make sure the transition went well, to make sure
Speaker 1: everybody had with the uh you know, did that left
Speaker 1: seat right seat ride properly and that we had the
Speaker 1: right um, you know, monitoring of mission changes. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know on a frago at them you know, at the
Speaker 1: operations center level there in in Africa, you know, in
Speaker 1: South Africa and Africa. UM. It was it was my
Speaker 1: biggest worry. And I would tell General Thomas that before him,
Speaker 1: General to tell that, I would tell General Rodriguez, and
Speaker 1: then after General Rodriguez, General Waldhauser that this is my
Speaker 1: biggest fear. My biggest fear is sending these teams out
Speaker 1: on a mission because we think, you know, in Stuttgart,
Speaker 1: or we think back in Washing to d C, that's
Speaker 1: something is worth doing. When the guys on the ground
Speaker 1: say no, right, and we forced them to do something,
Speaker 1: that's how we are going to get in trouble. Our
Speaker 1: guys are gonna get in trouble and we're gonna lose
Speaker 1: lives or the potential of that increases exponentially because they're
Speaker 1: already under resource for what we're asking them to do. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so it happened. It happened on three October, and
Speaker 1: you know, four months after I gave up command and
Speaker 1: two days after I retired. So um, you know, having
Speaker 1: spent four years in Africa and watching you know, South
Speaker 1: Africa and all the other components operate in Africa while
Speaker 1: I was the operations officer in Africa, certainly wasn't an
Speaker 1: expert in Africa, but I had two more years experience
Speaker 1: than most of the general officers in Africa. UM, you
Speaker 1: know in africam at the time, and certainly uh in
Speaker 1: uh in so calm uh and not to be listened
Speaker 1: to um is uh you know not a good thing, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's the worst feeling for anybody, right, is right? Um?
Speaker 1: And it's not that I'm disobeying you. It's not that
Speaker 1: I don't respect your your authority. UM, It's just that
Speaker 1: I know my limitations. But I know I had guys
Speaker 1: that worked for me on the ground in or that
Speaker 1: I worked for because I like to say it that way,
Speaker 1: because that that's a different mindset when when when you
Speaker 1: work for them on the ground as opposed to them
Speaker 1: working for you. It completely changes your mindset as a
Speaker 1: higher headquarters on what your responsibilities are and what you
Speaker 1: should be paying attention to. So anyways, um uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean that was my biggest My biggest worry, uh
Speaker 1: was lack of resources. The fact that we had these
Speaker 1: guys out in these remote areas. And what gave me
Speaker 1: comfort was these guys have been on multiple rotations. They
Speaker 1: had more experience than I did, and I needed to
Speaker 1: listen to them and I can learn from them, right. Uh.
Speaker 1: And Hey, as a leader, recognizing that you're not the
Speaker 1: smartest guy in the room is a good thing. Recognizing
Speaker 1: that you don't have all the operational experience is even
Speaker 1: a better thing. Uh. But we have a lot of hubris, right.
Speaker 1: We don't want to admit that we don't know as
Speaker 1: much as our subordinates or that we're not the smartest
Speaker 1: person in the room. And and you know, one of
Speaker 1: the biggest things as a general officer that you have
Speaker 1: to do you have to realize two things. One, check
Speaker 1: your ego at the door, and remember you're appointed, not anointed,
Speaker 1: and you have to approach it that way. And that
Speaker 1: gives you the humility that you need to recognize. I
Speaker 1: gotta listen to others excellence. That's uh. You know, I
Speaker 1: know you're running short on time, but do you have
Speaker 1: a couple more minutes, because uh, I wanted to get
Speaker 1: your feelings on these upcoming elections and and what your
Speaker 1: vision is for the state of New Hampshire. Yes, um so, UH,
Speaker 1: I appreciate that opportunity. UM. You know, we're I've been
Speaker 1: uh the longest running candidate here in the state of
Speaker 1: New Hampshire running for federal office. I started fourteen months ago.
Speaker 1: We're coming up on our primary and eight September, and
Speaker 1: I've been running on the platform of people, family and mission.
Speaker 1: People are a number one asset. And we need to
Speaker 1: change the narrative in Washington, d C. From one of
Speaker 1: uh sell service to selfless service. And we need to
Speaker 1: go down there and recognized that that the position of
Speaker 1: United States Senator and that office belongs to the people
Speaker 1: of New Hampshire and not not to me. I'm borrowing
Speaker 1: it for a period of time. UM. And I believe
Speaker 1: in term limits. I believe that career politicians are the
Speaker 1: bane of our existence. Uh. And they've created a lot
Speaker 1: of problems for us, and that the political process is
Speaker 1: corrupted by power and money and that needs to change
Speaker 1: to a narrative of character and integrity and selfless service.
Speaker 1: And if we don't do that, we're gonna be in
Speaker 1: big trouble. UH. Families. Families are the cornerstone of our community,
Speaker 1: and we need to invest in everything that makes that
Speaker 1: was family strong. UH, from education to healthcare, to mental
Speaker 1: health UH, to the drug crisis, to law and order,
Speaker 1: in the protection of our and the strength of our communities,
Speaker 1: because our communities are the cornerstone of our um of
Speaker 1: our country. This bottom up approach UH, getting the federal
Speaker 1: government out of the way, creating an environment in which
Speaker 1: private industry can create jobs. Because the federal government doesn't
Speaker 1: create jobs. A lot of politicians don't know that. And
Speaker 1: when you hear one of them say I AM going
Speaker 1: to create jobs, you gotta you better pull back because
Speaker 1: they can't create jobs. They can only create the opportunity
Speaker 1: for others to create jobs. And you do that by
Speaker 1: getting out of the way of private industry, getting the
Speaker 1: government out of the way, limiting it significantly. And then
Speaker 1: my mission is gonna be to go down there and say, hey, listen.
Speaker 1: You know, Uh, we got to limit this government. We
Speaker 1: gotta get fiscal responsibility squared away, meaning we gotta stop
Speaker 1: spending money the way we're spending it. And you do
Speaker 1: that by by um terminating and revising government programs that
Speaker 1: become bureaucratic money suck holes, and uh, they're there everywhere
Speaker 1: you look, whether it's a welfare program, whether it's the
Speaker 1: current health care system, whether it's throwing money at you know,
Speaker 1: every other problem that we have, whether it is not
Speaker 1: passing legislations that's that's targeted and temporary to deal with
Speaker 1: the problem. Biggest problem we had with COVID was the
Speaker 1: omnibus bill, in the pork that was in it, Uh
Speaker 1: and the fact that they couldn't come together and help
Speaker 1: the American people and created an economic crisis. So what
Speaker 1: we need to interrupt you, But I just wanted to
Speaker 1: I just wanted to say that, you know, when you
Speaker 1: talk about fiscal responsibility and managing a budget, that's something
Speaker 1: you as a commanding officer, as a general in the military.
Speaker 1: You couldn't spend a dollar more than you were budgeted
Speaker 1: or you're gonna get called out. You know, you you
Speaker 1: were gonna be called onto the carpet, and right, why
Speaker 1: is Congress So I feel like they're so immune to
Speaker 1: this that they just keep throwing money that we don't have.
Speaker 1: And I mean that's just something that they're taking your
Speaker 1: money and they're spending it. So you have left to say,
Speaker 1: less to say, less to invest, and less and less
Speaker 1: to spend the way you want to. And they're doing
Speaker 1: it on ridiculous programs that are programs their their their
Speaker 1: programs that don't encourage self determination initiatives, uh, and that
Speaker 1: don't tread on me attitude that we want in Americans
Speaker 1: go out there, do it, figure it out, make it happen,
Speaker 1: and you know, become successful. Instead it's oh, we want
Speaker 1: to take care of you. Oh we're gonna do this.
Speaker 1: We want you to be dependent, we want you to
Speaker 1: be faint of heart, we want you to come to
Speaker 1: us because we're we're your benevolent benefactors and and we're
Speaker 1: gonna help you. And that costs way too much money
Speaker 1: and it's foolish to do that. Uh, that's not the
Speaker 1: American way. But we have we have two generations now
Speaker 1: that are voting that you know, look for free stuff
Speaker 1: everywhere you go. They look for the government to take
Speaker 1: care of them. They haven't been taught our history, they
Speaker 1: haven't been taught civics, they haven't been taught the truth.
Speaker 1: And now you see that out in our streets now,
Speaker 1: and you see it in this national mentality where American
Speaker 1: socialism now is is you know, what the Democratic Party
Speaker 1: is pushing and people like AOC are considered the you know,
Speaker 1: the future face of the Democratic Party, and that should
Speaker 1: scare the hell out of everybody. Right, the future face
Speaker 1: of America is the people of America, not any politician. Right.
Speaker 1: You get put there by the people, and you're accountable
Speaker 1: to the people. And that's where we're missing the boat,
Speaker 1: because they get up there and they do what they
Speaker 1: want to do, what they think is right, uh, in
Speaker 1: order to maintain their jobs and to help their buddies
Speaker 1: and the big corporations and there they're pharmaceutical buddies and
Speaker 1: all the special interests and lobbyists and and and and
Speaker 1: so on and so forth. I am a real threat
Speaker 1: up here in New Hampshire to the status quo. People
Speaker 1: are worried about me because they know they are not
Speaker 1: gonna be able to control me because my fundraising is
Speaker 1: very disciplined. And I don't take money from everybody. I
Speaker 1: will not be beholden to the establishment. I will not
Speaker 1: be beholden a special interest or lobbyists. I Am not
Speaker 1: gonna go down there day one and have to listen
Speaker 1: to somebody because they did me a favor to get
Speaker 1: elected and now I owe them right. No way, I
Speaker 1: didn't do that as a general officer. And you know,
Speaker 1: if it, if it came to a decision, my general
Speaker 1: officer above me is telling me what to do. My
Speaker 1: subordinate commander is telling me what we need to do. Right,
Speaker 1: I am going to fight for that subordinate uh, telling
Speaker 1: me what we need to do, No, what my commanding
Speaker 1: officer above me wants me to do. Uh. And um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna do the same thing as us, Senator.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do what the people of New Hampshire want
Speaker 1: because it's just not been happening for so so long.
Speaker 1: By the people. Uh, you know, for the people, by
Speaker 1: the and by the people is is our government. That's
Speaker 1: what we want. Um. You know, that's what our government
Speaker 1: is set up for, and we've gotten so far away
Speaker 1: from it now that you know, America is in a crisis.
Speaker 1: Everywhere you turn around well, sir, we want to thank you.
Speaker 1: We really appreciate your time this morning. I know we
Speaker 1: asked for just about forty five minutes to an hour
Speaker 1: and we've gone over that. So we're we're very thankful
Speaker 1: for you and uh, thank you for your service. Um.
Speaker 1: And you're definitely a straight shooter. And I hope all
Speaker 1: the voters in New Hampshire to listen to the message
Speaker 1: that's out there, and we wish you all the best.
Speaker 1: And you know, I love the soft rep You guys
Speaker 1: tell the truth, you get it out there, you listen
Speaker 1: to people. Uh And and so you know I've always
Speaker 1: been a huge fan. Uh and you know when you
Speaker 1: can contacted me and asked me to come on. One
Speaker 1: of the things I do is I give people the
Speaker 1: time that they need. Uh And UM, hopefully this has
Speaker 1: been uh productive. I don't know everything. I never pretended
Speaker 1: to know everything. I'm not the smartest person in the room.
Speaker 1: A little bit my mistakes, but by by goodness gracious,
Speaker 1: will be in this together and and that's what that's
Speaker 1: how we need to do this, and that's how we're
Speaker 1: gonna keep America great. Well, thank you, sir, and I
Speaker 1: certainly can get on board with that sentiment and thank
Speaker 1: you for your kind words for all of us here
Speaker 1: at soft REP. We want to thank you all for listening.
Speaker 1: We want to thank our guests General Baldwick for joining
Speaker 1: us today. We wish him to all the best in
Speaker 1: the upcoming election and soft of Radio on time on.
Speaker 1: We'll be back with another podcast real soon. In general,
Speaker 1: let's UH, let's put together maybe UH far reaching plan
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you sometime after January when maybe
Speaker 1: you're having done in Washington. I hope, I hope that's
Speaker 1: the case. UM. Ultimately not my decision, but it is UH.
Speaker 1: I look forward to UH to follow up and and
Speaker 1: thank you for this opportunity and my best to you
Speaker 1: everyone at soft REP and all all your readers and listeners.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. We'll be back soon with another podcast,
Speaker 1: Listening to Self