23 Years In The Army: Addicted & Broken — How God Saved His Life

Today, I sit down with U.S. Army veteran Ryan Reichert to explore a life marked by resilience, recovery, and unshakable faith. From childhood dreams of West Point to commanding troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ryan opens up about the highs and lows of his 23-year military career. He shares how early injuries and prescription medications led to a long battle with addiction—a struggle that he would face for decades, often in silence, while leading soldiers and managing responsibilities as a high-ranking officer.

Mr. Reichert discusses how post-retirement life brought new challenges, including personal failures, broken relationships, and a relapse into addiction. He follows this with his journey to sobriety, the deep pain of divorce, and how discovering a renewed relationship with God helped him rebuild his life with purpose and clarity.

We both share about the power of vulnerability, the importance of mental health support, and the role of spiritual grounding in healing. 

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Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple of Nos. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and today we're gonna be talking about. Some of my favorite things, God, military, mental health, and then everything else in between. You know, as everyone who has listened to the show, knows I didn't have the best military experience, but I do love talking to fellow service members, both active duty and veteran because there's a synergy there that you just don't get.

Similarly. Talking to other people of faith, you get a different type of energy and conversation than normal. So you have both of those in common. We're gonna have a great conversation today. We are here with Mr. Ryan Reihart, and I'd love for you to just introduce yourself for us quickly. Yeah, thanks, Mr.

Whiskey. Uh, Ryan Reichert here. Uh, originally from Tater Town, USA Hoople, North Dakota, many, many moons ago. And, uh, yeah, coming to you from Maple Grove, Minnesota, which is just west of Minneapolis, Minnesota these days. And, uh. Under the umbrella of, uh, our protector development, uh, which is a new journey I'm taking in life, uh, where the good lords uh, blessed me with starting my own business.

And, uh, we'll get into a few other things, but I'll turn it back over to you. Yeah, yeah. I wanna start off with obviously the military service. I know you were in for quite a while, did quite a bit. So love to get into the, the classic question, why did you join? When did you join? And all that. So, uh, little boy growing up, you know, in the potato fields in North Dakota, uh, GI Joe was my favorite thing to play with a couple of my buddies, Chris and Pat, uh, either in our backyards or in the potato field.

And, uh, that led into, uh, me wanting to go to the, you know, us, uh, military academy, also known as West Point. But that didn't happen. Uh, I blew my knee out. In high school and, uh, took three reconstructive surgeries to get it Wow. Back the right way. And, uh, by doing that, uh, they had to put a couple screws in there.

And, uh, back in the nineties, uh, you know, there wasn't any waiver to get into West Point. So, uh, my hopes and dreams of becoming, uh, you know, US Army Officer that way, uh, didn't happen and. And, uh, unfortunately through that I kind of started with, uh, prescription drug addiction, uh, in high school and, uh, going to alcohol, I.

To kind of numb some of those disappointments. And, uh, you know, the story doesn't end there obviously, because we gotta get to the military career. And, uh, so I went to the University of North Dakota where a lot of my family had went. My mom, my dad, aunts, uncles, you know, so on and so forth. And, uh, I was a fighting sio.

That was cool. Um, before, uh, we changed things to the fighting hawks now, but that's a different, uh, different day, different story. And uh, yeah. So I think it was my sophomore year. I, uh. I took a easy, you know, military science class and, uh, wanted an a and the next thing you know, my roommate was like, Hey, they offer like scholarships, like you should look into it.

And uh, so I went back and, uh, talked to the secretary, Trudy, she still works there today. It's amazing. And she's like, yeah, actually after I told her my story about my leg in West Point, she's like, A lot of things have changed since, you know, 96, I think it was. And this would've been, you know, 98. 99. So just a few years.

A lot had changed and um, yeah. So we got a three year scholarship. Uh, you know, I finished my time there at, uh, the University of North Dakota and was, uh, commissioned into the infantry and, uh, you know, left, uh, 2002 for Fort Lewis. Uh, and then finally made it to the school for boys at Fort Benning, Georgia, uh, where I did, you know, airborne Ranger officer base, of course.

Uh, and then went to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii as a lieutenant. And, uh, the rifle platoon, uh, took them to Afghanistan. Then, uh, following that, uh, came back and, uh, went to the career course back at Fort Benning in Georgia. So Columbus, Georgia. And then I was kind of on the ropes of like, should I stay in or should I get out?

Uh, right. Family, you know, I had a, a new baby girl that was, uh, you know, on the way. And you know, it was kind of one of those where my four years was coming up and, uh. You know, I ended up, uh, being like, I don't think I'm ready to get out yet, you know? And, um, the family at this time, we decided to stay in and I commanded there at Fort Benning, uh, a one station unit training.

So OIT battalion, uh, company command. 2, 5, 4 infantry. It was pretty awesome. Uh, ended up spending, I wanna say about, uh, almost two years there between, uh, being an operations officer and a company commander. Met a great battalion commander and kind of just reinvigorated, um, you know, that intestinal fortitude that it developed over time in space in life.

And I just wasn't ready to be done. And, uh, we went to Fort Lewis Washington after that and commanded another company out there. Uh, the boys from 1, 2, 3, actually this guy down back here, uh, took Apache Company to Iraq. Uh, that would've been like 2009. And, uh, they were awesome. Just a great group, a young man.

And, uh, they did amazing things. Um, you know, unfortunately, I'm gonna leave for a hot minute and, you know. Spend more time in the Middle East. But, uh, yeah, great group of young men. And, uh, so I had to leave them actually in Iraq. Uh, 'cause I had commanded them for almost two years. And, uh, that was probably one of the toughest things that I had to do, is like, it's like saying goodbye to your brothers, you know, down range.

And, uh, it, uh, yeah, it was, it was pretty tough. I came back, uh, made major, uh, but at that time I, um. I injured myself again. I had a lot of injuries over my military career and, and this time around, uh, my right Achilles, uh, was torn. And, uh, this is where Oxycontin came into my life with, uh, you know, prescription drug addiction again.

And, uh, it was a pretty rough couple, couple years there in 2011, 12 timeframe. And, uh, start to finish things out. Uh, made lieutenant Colonel and, uh, spent some time at, uh, Fort Lewis, uh, following everything. Did a couple tours of Saudi Arabia, advised the Saudi Arabian National Guard over there. And then, uh, finished everything out, um, in Kansas at, uh, the Michigan Man Center of Excellence.

And, uh, that was, uh, that was a, that was a good time to kind of see behind the curtain and go like. Well, I'm glad I did not do this towards the tail end of my career 'cause I probably wouldn't have stayed in, um, getting to see, you know, kind of how the big green machine works, um, outside of being tactical and, uh, yeah, it was 23 years.

It was fast and furious. Uh, I've been retired three years now and uh, yeah, that kind of gets us to present day minus uh, some Fortune 500 work that I've done the last few years, but yeah. Wow. Yeah, I was gonna say. You've only been out what percentage of the time that you were in. Right. So it's Right. It's nothing in comparison.

So how would you say your overall military experience was? I know obviously you did a lot, sounds like you had some great leadership opportunities, which are always great to have. Uh, but like you said, some, um, some hiccups throughout that, especially with the injuries and probably dealing with medical paperwork and all, all that stuff I'm sure was not as fun.

Yeah. I mean, you know, knowing your, your backstory, you know, and, and not being this positive, you know, po I was, I was blessed until I. Gosh, I'm trying to think how many years I had in, well, I was probably five years in when I met, like kind of running my first, like I, I don't like the word toxic leadership, but probably the first toxic leader.

Uh, and, and that wasn't that big of a deal 'cause it was like. Three, four months, you know, having to work for them. So it was kind of like, Hey, I can grin and bear it for this amount of time. Uh, and then, you know, fast forward probably another 10 years before I ran into like the guy that, uh, kept me up late at night and the aspect of, you know, in your nightmares kind of thing.

Like, you know, where you're like, this guy's gonna try to ruin my career. Uh, 'cause we didn't see eye to eye on a few things and uh, yeah, that was hard. But for overall, like if you think about just. Such a vast amount of time. I was blessed with amazing leadership, uh, you know, through and through. And I think about, you know, where they're at today and, uh, you know, they continue to do great things for, you know, the United States of America and different, you know, post military jobs as contractors.

You know, they just never quit. And, uh, it's so cool to see that, or to see my peers, um, you know, as brigade commanders today and just go like, you know, wow, that's just. So neat. 'cause I'm sitting here, this is amazing to me because I've been blessed now, uh, you know, where, you know, I was a lieutenant colonel.

My dream was to be a full bird colonel. Um, you know, and at a minimum that make the rank and it, that didn't happen. So there, you know, it's one of those things that, and flows and, you know, as we talk about our faith journey here in a little bit, uh, you don't realize that, that like, you know, when the good lord, like how he blesses you and maybe he gives you a tough leader to kind of.

Pull something outta you or to gain a lesson that you just, uh, you know, either weren't ready to, you know, accept things a certain way or, you know, as a way to speed up the maturity process. And, uh, yeah, but I was, I was really blessed. Uh, you know, I did run into a few, towards the tail end with medical stuff, uh, you know, fighting the PTSD and things like that, that, uh, you know, where certain medications, like medical board and, and things, but for the most part, um.

Depending on how deep you want to talk about that, you know? Yeah. It was during the times of where he didn't, you know, go see the doctor because, you know, he didn't want to face a med board or whatever it may be. And, you know, I think that's still probably, you know, the case, uh, like anything else, you know, where we talk about saying, you know, mental health, it's, you know, go seek help, go seek help.

And in so doing, you know, it's like you find yourself, you know, being removed from the equation. And, um, you know, that's the last thing you wanted. But the most important thing I will say is to go seek that. Help, go talk to somebody, you know? Um, if it takes being put on medication and that's what it takes and sometimes the good Lord is just redirecting you to something better.

And, you know, I couldn't see that, so I fought it tooth and nail, um, to not do that, you know, if I would go get help. You know, and they said, Hey, we gotta put you on this medication, but if you have to be on it longer, in six months, we have to start a med board. And you know, at that, I wasn't willing to accept that, I guess.

Right. Uh, you know. All right. So, no, I totally get that. I've known plenty of sailors and soldiers who didn't want get help, especially in a nuclear community. Um, your restrictions, especially on nuclear submarines, the, uh, medication restrictions are even. More strict and and more likely to get you, um, rerated or removed.

So I've seen a lot of fear of that. Like, Hey, I want to have my health improved, whether that's mental health or physical health, but I can't have this medication because it, you know, isn't hindrance with my watch. So I, I totally get that. But I wanna focus back in on a word you said. You mentioned a, the formation of addiction.

Uh, now you serve 23 years, so. It sounds like your addiction was kind of. Hidden, so to speak. Uh, I don't, obviously from others, but maybe even from yourself. Could you tell us about that journey of, I mean, how long was this period of time where you were addicted and how long before you even realized it? No, I mean, it goes back, uh, my dad's a recovering alcoholic.

Uh, he sobered up March 11th of, uh, 85. So I, I gave him wow, his 40 year chip, uh, last month down in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and, uh. You know. He was a Vietnam veteran. Um, okay. Yeah. And still his P-T-S-D-I think it was twofold for him. Uh, you know, and this kind of sets up my story, uh, you know, yeah, he had PTSD from Vietnam, but I think he had, you know, more, more trauma from his childhood.

And, you know, what he had to go through, his father, you know, was in World War ii. And it was one of those aspects of been, I want to say about three years in the Pacific, in the Navy. And so I can't imagine, uh, my grandfather's. PTSD, um, you know, and just what kind of that timing in life, you know, and how things were and, 

I was six when my dad sobered up and in a community that, uh, you know, didn't really accept, you know, sobriety. You know, it's kind of like a, as a weakness almost, as opposed to today I look at my sobriety as my superpower. Like it, right? Allows me to work harder, longer, faster, better. You know, I don't need to numb.

I. The pain anymore. 'cause I've worked on my medi, you know, my mental health, my meditation, you know, my mindfulness, um, to make myself stronger. And, but, uh, yeah, I would say it was, uh, I was 12 when I had my, my first drink of alcohol. And, uh, it just blows my mind today to think of, I'm a small group leader at Eagle Brook Church here in Y Zda, Minnesota, and so I do the ground zero.

Uh, small group, and these guys are, you know, sixth graders, same age as I was when I, and I just can't even fathom. They're just little dudes, you know that Yeah. Love to talk about hockey and baseball and golf and basketball or soccer, you know, that you don't ever hear 'em talk about girls or, you know, doing bad things, you know, and they're just great, great little young men and, uh.

You know, I can't imagine, you know, I guess 34 years ago, like, you know, drinking Jack Daniels and Diet Coke, like just gross. Wow. Yeah. And, uh, you know, throwing up and just, you know, kind of hiding that facet that, you know, I did that knowing my dad was a recovering alcoholic and so was I always kind of hiding it, just like you brought up, you know, it was always like, you know, out of fear of punishment or whatever could come, uh, from it.

Um, and you know. It probably ebbed and flowed, you know, depending on what crowd I was hanging out with. And. You know, when I did uh, blow my knee out, that's when everything, yeah. Kind of like I went into the valley, you know, I played the victim, you know, I started hanging out with uh, you know, the kids that wouldn't have been obviously playing sports and things 'cause I was going to rehab, physical therapy and so forth.

And, you know, kind of running from my fears and, and some of the problems that I had to go through because, you know, like when you're on top of the mountain, you know, as a freshman playing varsity football, I mean it was like amazing. And then now you find yourself at the bottom of the pit, you know, down in the valley.

Yeah. And you know, I kind of carried that on into college, um, you know, because I was like, oh, you know, maybe I'll pick up a division two, you know, football scholarship or something. And, you know, um, actually it's funny 'cause you, you bring all this up and I totally forgot my senior year I got mono. Um. I couldn't play, you know, I was a coach, uh, captain of the football team, you know, and I, I didn't even play a game.

I think the more, uh, you know, as I reflect on it today, I think it was God's way of like protecting me from, you know, my pride and my ego getting the better of me. And it redirected me in the path of. You know, going to school close to home. Uh Right. Even though I never, never really went back home, I kind of like, you know, just fled from that community 'cause I didn't feel a part of the community.

And, uh, I started playing rugby at the University of North Dakota and, uh, this is when I knew I had really had a issue, um, with my drinking. More of probably binge drinking than anything. But, um, there was the all Minnesota rugby tournaments would've been like September of. 97 maybe. And, uh, I got arrested and, uh, I was, uh, driving down a, you know, four way, one way, the wrong direction, you know, I'd been drinking.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, you know, it's one of those where that started me, you know, and finding out like what happens to you, like when you, uh, you know, have a. Alcohol related event on your record? Like in the military, you know, every time I see hear a clearance came up, they're like, do you have a drinking problem?

You know, it looks like here, I guess it was cited two times, like, um, a RI, yeah. Hennepin County Court or whatever it was. But it, uh, not something to be proud of. And, uh, but yeah, like you say, I, I did hide it, you know, I would certainly, um. Drink to numb the, numb, the pain, the problems, the anxiety or the overthinking.

You know, just spinning outta control, trying to control the outcomes of everything. And, um. I mean, just deep down, it probably is one of those things like, you know, just like even physical training, right? You're not gonna get completely bombed out. So, you know, when you're at formation at 5 30, 6 o'clock in the morning, you know, especially as the, you know, one who's in charge of like the platoon or the company or the, you know, the battalion, whatever time you're at, you know, you, you wait till.

You know, maybe have a few drinks every night, but you don't get completely loaded until, you know, Friday, Saturday, you know, part of Sunday, but shut it off. You know, so you're good Monday morning and um, you know, sometimes though, like you have, uh, your command that condones it, right? Like, 'cause they like to have a good time.

They're going through the same stuff and, uh, yeah. So, so it's okay. I mean, I've had leaders in the past that. You know, probably drank a heck of a lot more than I ever did. And, um, you know, I just, I didn't think much of it 'cause it was like sweet, it, it totally massed my side of the street. Right. I can do whatever need to do.

Yeah. So, I mean, yeah, through the whole time I did and, uh. It came off the rails when I retired. And you know, in civilian life it's the, well, especially post covid like, you know, fortune 500 company, you know, Monday, Fridays we didn't have to be in the office. You don't have to be to work till 8, 9, 9 30 in the morning.

So, I mean, shoot, you could celebrate every day. Yeah, every night, every morning even, you know, and as long as you were, uh. You know, I always put the work in, you know, it's one of those things that like, I wasn't gonna allow somebody ever to outwork me. Even if I was hung over, you know, I would just take it outta my family after work, be like, oh, I'm going to bed.

You know, I'm exhausted. And it was just, 'cause, you know, I needed to go to bed 'cause I probably didn't sleep much the night before. Um, you know, staying up, watching, you know, football, basketball, baseball, golf, and drinking beer in the basement, you know, while my family. Um, you know, lives a normal life, you know, of like going to bed at, you know, nine, 10 o'clock at night, getting up for school, getting up for work, and, you know, I'm kind of just lurking in the shadows and, um, yeah.

Yeah. Not good. Not good. Don't recommend it at all. Right. So what would you say. Helped get you out of that addiction. And you talk about, you know, retirement was only about three years ago and you talked about post-retirement being when the addiction kind of got the worst. So I mean, how long have you been sober for at that rate?

Uh, let's see. It's been, uh, the 27th of March was 16 months. So, uh, yeah, we're, you know, only for today, but, uh, 16 months and change if we're going for a streak, I guess. So, uh. It, uh, there's only one thing, one thing only. And for me, it's, uh, my higher power, which I call God. Just that simple. He, uh, you know, I sin to such a extent that, uh.

I burnt every bridge there was, you know, with my family and, and, and my sinfulness. Um, you know, I hit 'em all, you know, I was, uh, batting a thousand, you know, I'd be in the, the Major League Hall of Fame for sure, um, if it was for sin. And, uh, when I finally, uh, broke our marriage covenant and, uh, committed adultery that, uh.

He said, all right, you're done. All right. I can, I can, I can work with this. You know, we, uh, we don't have to go through this anymore. And, uh, not proud of, of that at all. And, uh. It's one of those things where, um, how much pain do you want to go through, kind of thing, you know, and are you really in love with who you're married to or who your significant other is?

Uh, and it took about six months, uh, when we were separated, uh, you know, divorced now, but, uh. Where I was like, I do love, uh, my ex-wife, you know, and that aspect of you don't realize what love truly is until you lose that person. Be it, you know, death, separation, divorce, um, just whatever it may be. That's when like, you know, kind of those feelings, you know, fuzzy feelings.

You have, you meet somebody and you, you know, you like 'em or whatever. And you know, the oxytocin makes you feel good, you know, being around 'em, maybe getting some hugs and kisses and different things. Um, but. When that feeling goes away and there is no feeling, like, that's when you can realize like, what true, true love is.

Like that, that, that unconditional love, uh, for, you know, another human, uh, being, you know, kind of like, just like anything, like for us to give our lives for, you know, our country, for, you know, our brothers and sisters to our left and right. I mean, that's a whole, you know, that's unconditional love. I mean, straight up, no if, ands, or buts about it.

And, um. It was hard. 'cause you know, that's when, you know, she was like, I don't have a connection with you anymore. And, you know, I was like, well, that's when love starts. When the connection doesn't feel like it's there anymore to know that, uh, you know, do you really love somebody? And, uh, that hurt, you know, as a man, like, you know, I mean, we all have feelings, but I mean, I think, you know, for us as men, we, uh.

We're told to, you know, bury those feelings, you know, don't have feelings like you're not a man if you have feelings. And, uh, you know, uh, I had a saying that I'd, I'd always say, you know, somebody make like a snide remark or whatever it may be. And I'd be like, you gotta have feelings that hurt 'em, you know?

And, uh, I don't say that. Right, right, right. I know I don't say that at all. I'm like, yeah, I have feelings. And like when you're, when someone's hurtful, like, you know, it hurts. You know? And now though, I don't need drugs or alcohol to, to numb that pain. Like I want to feel that pain because I want to know, uh, whatever relationship, whoever I'm with, uh, you know, is it real or not?

And, um, you know, if you're dumping booze drugs, uh. Um, women, you know, for me, uh, being who I am, like whatever it is, to try to take that pain away. Like, you're, you're just digging yourself. You know, give me the shovel, take the shovel outta your hand. Quit digging that grave for yourself. And, uh, yeah, that's, that to me is that, you know, where you really, you want do some work or whatever you wanna do, some reflection, um.

Yeah, try that. And, uh, but it's taken me a long time to get here, to be able to say that, you know, I mean, a lot of meetings, you know, I did, uh, 90 and 90, so 90 days and 90 meetings, uh, you know, when I sobered up and, uh, you know, I still go to, you know, three, three meetings a week. Uh, I'm a small group leader at church, you know.

I went to church this morning, um, and that wasn't the way, you know, before, uh, me sober up. I, uh, you know, was raised Catholic, married a Lutheran, and uh, now I'm a born again Christian, you know, but, uh, it's one of those things that, uh. You know, it's, uh, certainly not me in any of this. Now, now I know that, you know, I got one, you know, I don't know from the Navy perspective, but like in the Army infantry, we had Iron Mike, right?

And he's like, follow me, kind of thing. And, and to me now it's like with, you know, the good lord, you know, just follow him. And it's simple. It's really, really that simple. And uh, you know, I know that all those times being down range, you know, being blown up, shot at. Crashing helicopters, whatever it may be, that, yeah, he was just always there, like protecting us, you know?

And yeah, some of us didn't get to come home. Um, you know, so definitely have some, some brothers that are still on that side of the world. Uh, but uh, in their spirit sense. It's, uh, you know, it is just, it's the protection aspect that I see with the good Lord. And, um, you know, that's kind of where, uh, things came, you know, from that side, the spiritual side of our protector development is him.

And, uh, if you more the science guy or gal, uh, it's then me and what I learned in my military career. And, uh, yeah, it's, uh. It's pretty special today. I mean, you know, we should have never probably met, you know, uh, kind of thing. And here we are and it's, it's awesome. Yeah. You know, so we've talked about your military journey, your addiction journey, and we touched briefly upon your faith journey.

So I wanna dive more into that. You talked about being raised Catholic, but you know, did you know God throughout the military service? Was it not until the adultery that you kind of knew him? Like, what was that whole journey like including up to today? Yeah, no, absolutely. It, uh, you know, I can remember back in ranger school and, uh, you know, loving service for two reasons, maybe three reasons.

Uh, one you got a slice of bread for communion, so that was good since, you know, you're only eating one, one meal a day. And, uh, but singing and then, you know, having the chaplain being there to bless you for, you know, the next x number of days to head service again. And, uh, you know, um. My ex-wife and I, we, you know, certainly, uh, practiced, you know, our faith.

I mean, we went to church, but, you know, I, I didn't have a Bible. I mean, I had my little combat bible I probably got when I was a cadet or maybe a lieutenant, right. And I always had with me, but it's, I never really read it. And, uh, it wasn't until this past summer I did the alpha course, um, for Christian faith and, uh, you know, bought my first Bible and was like, I'm gonna read it.

Excuse me, from, you know, front to back or, you know, whatever that may be. And then I joined a Bible study this fall, so at least we got into the New Testaments faster than, you know, I'm still working through the Old Testaments and Psalms currently, but it's, uh. You know, that was kind of that aspect.

There's this whole thing, you know, where, you know, in a relationship, you know, be it like current relationship with just myself, you know, or in a relationship, relationship where we put, you know, God first, you know? So for me, like it's God and it's, I. It's my addiction. And then from there, if I'm in a relationship, you know, then that relationship comes.

Right? So there's plenty of things between, uh, myself and another human being. Right? We used to, we used to always say, you know, if you don't have a lieutenant or a captain between you and the problem or whatever, you got a problem. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have the, if you don't have the Lord, you know, between you and whomever, um, you might have some problems.

And, uh, you know. I think there's a 1% divorce rate. If you do that, like you read the Bible, you know, four or more days a week, you know, you put the Lord first in your relationship. You know, you go to him with all your problems, not each other. Um, you know, you got a 1% I. Uh, divorce rate. It's just unreal. And there's a lot of other ones, you know, like if you, you know, I think, you know, alcoholism goes down 40%, you know?

Right. If you into pornography or whatever, it's like 60% and it's just unbelievable. If you read your Bible four more times a week, and I know when I get, you know, a little anxious, a little spun up, uh, yeah. I mean, hop in there, start cranking through, you know, the verses and next thing you know, you're like.

Wow. I, I don't even know what I was worried about before. And, you know, so we didn't have that, um, you know, throughout time and space when, you know, the girls, uh, you know, they're both baptized and, you know, we, we brought 'em up through things, but, you know, we, it wasn't a focus for us. It wasn't, you know, a priority.

You know, we were. Happier going to Disney World or Disneyland and worshiping Mickey Mouse over the Lord, you know? Or my bosses like to call, did you see the rat? You know? So anyways, kind of one of those things, uh, 'cause in Hawaii they have Ani and you know, it's a Disney resort and we were stationed there couple times, but with the girls, um, yeah, they got to live a pretty good life.

And, uh. But it's beautiful today though because I look at it as, you know, seeing the mirroring of each other and, uh, you know, when I sobered up, uh, yeah, 27, November of 23, um, I started going to church like in December. So just shortly after sobering up and then, you know, it took about. Six months to where, you know, I was going to church, you know, every weekend.

And then, you know, when I started the alpha course, you know, that was a weekly deep dive in understanding obviously faith practices and everything else. And then, um, yeah, I get my first Bible. I. Then yeah, starting to, uh, lead the young, the young men in ground zero. I mean, it's just, and then now Bible study too, the last number of months.

So I mean, it's just woven throughout my days, my weeks. Um, you know, the way I look at it today is, um, you know, I get up in the morning, uh, got a 3-year-old Golden Doodle May, she's sleeping right here, but, mm-hmm. Uh. You know, it's feed her, uh, hit the coffee pots, uh, take her for a walk, that thing's ready to go by the time I get back.

And then I grab my Bible devotional, you know, read for a bit, you know, have a cup of coffee, go work out. And then from there I can go about my day and it, you know, it could be a day of jam packed meetings, you know, and, uh, trying to build this business out. Um, or it can be, you know, simpler than that. Like, uh, we're, you know, I've started to write books and it's amazing the creativeness that can come from being in the Bible.

And then, you know, I got tons of books everywhere and it's like, you just pick one up and it's like, I. Oh, this would be perfect to fit in between, you know, chapters one and two, kind of as a transition and, you know, yeah, it's not like where you're like reading, uh, what was it, short circuit Circuit back in the Johnny five, where you'd be like, you don't, like, I don't have to do that.

It's just he's like. Where it's, pick this up, it's right here. A book that I read like probably in the Commander General Staff College, uh, 10, 12 years ago. And it'll be highlighted, you know, maybe I used it in my thesis when I got my master's years ago, but now it's, it feeds something different because it's more of a Christian faith-based, you know, book or whatever it may be that I'm writing.

And, uh, yeah, it just comes together and, um, it's really. It's just really special how life is just anew, you know, like, um, I was baptized, uh, I think back in February and uh, you know, I think the shirt they gave you was like, made new or made anew or something like that. Right. And I didn't realize how, you know.

For us being baptized as, as babies was just kind of part of, you know, I don't know if it was like the 14 or 16 hundreds where the church just finally was like, this is what, this is what we're gonna do for all, you know? Right. Yeah. Newborns, and it's like, well, you know, how can you ever project your faith?

And Jesus Christ and say like, I will, like, just like us signing the dotted line when we join the military. Yeah. Um, and so for me that was very important to want to be like, you know, yes, I want to be made anew. I want to walk in his light the rest of my days here on this earth. And, um, what a powerful, just cleansing, um, you know, all the.

You know, even though I, you know, cleaned up my act and stuff like that, it just, it, it hadn't been completely washed away. I guess the residual was still kind of there. Some of holding on to, you know, the divorce is a failure. Um, certain other aspects of, you know, just knowing that, you know, I'd done a lot of bad things in my, in my life in a previous life.

And, uh, yeah, it was like starting over, you know, as like anew and, um. It's doesn't mean that tomorrow could, you know, you, you fall, hit your head and you know, go back to, you know, day zero. But I know today, like the way that I operate, um, with my prayer, meditation, and, uh, faith practices that, uh, I'll be good for today and, you know, we'll see, we'll see what tomorrow brings when it gets here, so, right, right.

So. If you could leave us with one Bible quote, you know, obviously there's a lot of great ones, and I know you're working your way through Psalms, which is a jackpot of great quotes. Uh, you know, what, what speaks to your heart right now that you wanna leave us with? I. Yeah. Boy, there's so many. And now putting you on the spot.

I, yeah, like, uh, I, I go to I think, uh, Isaiah 40 31, you know, when, when it's like, and I'm not gonna quote it specifically 'cause like Yeah. But we're, you know, it's like where you'll soar like eagles, uh, once again. And, uh, you know, that side of it to know. You know, when it comes to eagles, like they have this whole aspect of, you know, as they get older, um, they literally kind of have to go into isolation and it's either they're gonna die or they're gonna be coming new and, uh, you know, their beaks like.

Grow all the way over so they can't eat. Um, you know, their feathers are, you know, so heavy they can't fly anymore. And it's either, you know, they'll perish, you know, basically into hell is the way I look at it. Or they have to go through the most painful things possible where they break their beaks. Um, you know, they tear out all the old feathers and then they have to make the leap, uh, you know, out of the nest or wherever they were at.

Um, and, and trust. Trusting God is the way I would look at it. You know, not just believe, you know, like, I mean, shoot, I believe in Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, you know, like whatever. Um, but truly trust, you know, when you make that leap, I. That and you extend your wings that, uh, well, one, he's got you and, uh, two, you will soar like eagles again.

And, um, I think that's, that's the way I look at life today. You know? Um, sure there's gonna be valleys, you know, things will happen that are outta my control and I, I can't do anything about it. But, you know, just trust, just trust. And, uh, you know, then we'll be at those peaks again once again. And, um. Life's beautiful and I really appreciate the time today.

It's uh, it's been amazing. Yes, sir. And before we go, I do wanna talk about our protector development. I know you mentioned that a few times there, and it's part of your current journey. So I wanted you to go over that a little bit in detail for everyone listening, if they, uh, wanna check it out. Yeah, it'd be awesome.

Uh, so just from a landing page perspective, it's not very sexy yet. Uh, but yeah, www.rprotectordevelopment.com, you can at least get in contact. Shoot me a note, uh, if you want to get yourself or your team together and, uh, we can just chat, have coffee together and, uh, learn about each other just like Mr.

Whiskey and I have done today. Or, uh, you can check out on June 3rd, uh, first book, one will be released. It's, uh, God only knows when the Devil comes for you a second chance at life. It's on Amazon now, so you can pre-order it and, uh, throughout the summer you'll have two other books that'll come out. But, uh, we can, uh, update those, uh, along the way and, uh, just greatly appreciate.

Mr. Whiskey's time and his, uh, plethora of people out there that, uh, wanna learn more about those of us who have served this great nation. And, uh, we greatly appreciate your support. Yes, sir. Thank you for your time today. And I, you know, hope that God will bless you as you continue to guest on shows and write books.

Thank you.