The LuHi Pod
A podcast for LuHi students, families, and our community.
The LuHi Pod
Season 7, Ep 11: Veterans Day with Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Brad Caywood
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We are honored to be joined by Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Brad Caywood this week for our special Veterans Day episode! Mr. Doebele also joins us to co-host this week's episode!
Learn more about the experience he shared of having a reporter join him for a combat mission here: https://abcnews.com/WN/Afghanistan/flying-air-force-15-fighter-jet-combat-mission/story?id=10741556
Please join us for our Veterans Day Service on campus on November 11th at 9am. If you know a Veteran, please invite them to the service as well so we can honor them.
At the top of the show, Hannah makes a public apology because she broke the #1 rule in podcasting. Mr. Doebele also joins us at the top of the show, making it educational, not just (what Zoeller and Hannah consider) funny! What a treat.
Our intro, outro, and segment music were written and recorded by Mr. Matt Zoeller. You can find us on most of the socials under the Lutheran High School handles.
If you have a question you want answered on the Pod, we do Q&A episodes each season! Submit questions anytime to podcast@lhsparker.org.
You can find chapters for each episode and transcripts here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2228322
Thanks for listening, subscribing, and sharing with your friends!
Many of you have to create stuff against the water.
SPEAKER_03Welcome to the Little High Park.
SPEAKER_05I have a I have to make a public apology. It's been a while since we've done that.
SPEAKER_00Been too long.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Me and Mr. Debley, who's here. Hey, Mr. Hello. Uh okay, it's our Veterans Day episode. Mr. Debley is a faithful co-host through all of our Veterans Day episodes. To this Veterans Day episode, we had a really probably one of the smartest. Can I say that? He was just so sharp.
SPEAKER_03He was sharp.
SPEAKER_05Mr. Brad Kwood and I called him Brian. I called him Brian. I broke the cardinal rule of podcast hosting.
SPEAKER_04We all make mistakes.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but that one was like shameful. But it led to a really funny story. It did. Let's not spoil it. Teaser. Teaser. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Coming up in just a few minutes. Because Brad Brian is right outside that door. Waiting to come in. Just waiting to come in. Yeah. And fulfill the prognostication you just made.
SPEAKER_05Good word.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Because uh whoever hears this hears this part before they hear.
SPEAKER_04Right. I've listened to the podcast.
SPEAKER_00Oh no. Sorry, Mr. Debley. We should say who he is. Mr. Deb Mark Debley's here and he doesn't know how time works.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the whole time thing, I I got off when Back to the Future came out and they had the whole space-time. Like that was probably when I never seen it.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. This I think this has come up a few times. And if I could go back.
SPEAKER_05Because it's Taylor James's favorite movie, and I've never seen it.
SPEAKER_04Also Top Gun?
SPEAKER_05I have I have seen Top Gun, but it was not the new one, and I only saw Top Gun like three years ago, the original. That comes up in the future sooner.
SPEAKER_00Oh, so look at you doing your homework, your journalistic due diligence. Yeah. Some people read long books and biographies and prepare questions before they interview. Hannah watches a movie every three years.
SPEAKER_04What's it gonna be next? What movie's next?
SPEAKER_05Oh, you know what I just watched recently that I think I was way late to the bandwagon. Project Hail Mary Mary. I haven't seen it. Oh, you should yeah, it's you should watch it.
SPEAKER_00No, you should definitely watch it.
SPEAKER_05Oh, you should definitely watch it.
SPEAKER_00Should definitely watch it. It's worth a look.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, okay, so I didn't read the book. Have you read the book? Have you read the book?
SPEAKER_00I've read the book, yeah. I'm sorry, I'm a little uh distant right now because I'm really trying to come up with a premise to deliver this joke of something like when Harry met Sally, a sequel, and then I want to work it into Project Mail Harry. But I got I just can't get there. So now there's my public apology to everyone. It would have been a dynamite joke. You have to ship something through the mail to a guy named Harry. Project Mail Harry.
SPEAKER_05Oh good. This is off the rails.
SPEAKER_04Used to be able to ship children through the United States Post Office. That cannot be a good one. Fun fact.
SPEAKER_05Is that true? Like to put a stamp on him?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Google it.
SPEAKER_05I will not.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you put a stamp on him.
SPEAKER_04How do I mail my child?
SPEAKER_05Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and there's like some picture of an envelope.
SPEAKER_00That was the rest of the question. How do I mail my child a Christmas gift?
SPEAKER_04The mail carriers and they got a bag, and there's like a kid just sitting in the mailbag.
SPEAKER_05Oh my goodness. It didn't put a ban on shipping human beings until 1913. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04We were a lot tougher back then.
SPEAKER_00When did we even develop the US Postal Service?
SPEAKER_04That would have happened around the time of the revolution. Really? Yeah, Ben Franklin was our first personal semester.
SPEAKER_00Was it born out of a need to mail children?
SPEAKER_05No way.
SPEAKER_04I think that's the reason the whole revolution started. It wasn't about taxes or freedom. It was we need to mail our children.
SPEAKER_05The U.S. Postal Service was founded on July 26, 1775. That we should have a history teacher on more often. I'm not sure what I'm saying. I was just gonna say learned way better than that.
SPEAKER_00I'm a little put off having someone actually knowledgeable. Usually just me and Hannah going, I don't know, I don't know. Wouldn't that be funny though?
SPEAKER_04I'll be the fun fact guy. I'll just show up randomly.
SPEAKER_00That is a fun fact.
SPEAKER_05I would love that. Yeah. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Wait, so let's ask let's ask Mr. Debley some questions that we could never do without him in the room. Yeah. Yes, this is good. Okay. Okay. You're I don't know if people know this because we had to cut everything you just rattled off. But your your knowledge of history is not just textbook history. It's also pop culture history.
SPEAKER_04Sometimes, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Sometimes, but more than most people, I think.
SPEAKER_05More than me.
SPEAKER_00Well, you like all my more than Hannah. No comment. Yeah. That plant across the room has more pop culture history than Hannah. Sorry, that was a comment.
SPEAKER_04Well, yeah, yeah. I don't know. I I enjoy, you know, bringing up funny parts in movies. Or yeah.
SPEAKER_00Do you think you naturally remember things that are interesting to you, or do you seek them? Like what do you think is the difference?
SPEAKER_04Um sometimes it's natural, but if it's a movie I like, I'll watch it a few times, and so watching it a few times also builds right. I feel like I'm in a parent-teacher conference. Exposure to material builds synapses. Exposure to material, rest, exposure to material, rest. Right? Oh, okay. So if you try to find badly, like, I'll watch it, or if it's a show, I'll binge it again.
SPEAKER_00Okay, but but okay, but you're you are like good at quoting stuff you've seen, which is which is fun, because you can pull those out at the right time. I think that's actually I think that's an unsung talent, frankly. But also, if I were to say, like, was this guy on SNL? Or like, what was what other movie was he in? I feel like you're good at that stuff too, better than the average colleague.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, when I watch things, I'm always like, how do I know that guy?
SPEAKER_00Do you Google stuff while you watch it? Uh yes. Are you annoying to watch movies with?
SPEAKER_04No. Really? No, I'm not. Well, I mean, I watch movies by myself.
SPEAKER_00So and you're okay with it.
SPEAKER_04And I don't annoy myself.
SPEAKER_00Which one of the three of us do you think is more annoying to watch a movie with?
SPEAKER_05Me, a hundred percent. I think it's Hannah too.
SPEAKER_00But I'm a little bit annoying. Because I like to do those things.
SPEAKER_04But we would have fun. Like, I Hannah wouldn't get the references true. That's true.
SPEAKER_00Like you and I would play off each other pretty much. For sure. But if it yeah, that's true. I definitely like to have my like IMDB page and go, yes, what else was he? And oh, look what it used to look like. That's crazy. Pause it. Look what it used to look like. That's right. My kids are not that into that.
SPEAKER_04But I also I also think I've got like I don't have a photographic memory, but I've kind of got a photographic memory. Like I'll remember.
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah, you're a history teacher.
SPEAKER_00But like I'll that's an assumption.
SPEAKER_04I'll notice something different in my classroom. Like if I leave my classroom and come back the next day, I'll notice if a desk is different. Or I'll notice, right? Those things just pop out to me.
SPEAKER_00Spatial awareness? Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Head on a swivel. Head on a swivel. Where do you think that phrase came from?
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah, we should Google it. I do not know.
SPEAKER_05You don't know.
SPEAKER_04I can tell you how basket case became a word. Please go on. I'm gonna Google. Okay, basket case. World War I.
SPEAKER_05No way. I already don't believe it.
SPEAKER_04World War I, right? Soldiers coming home to England.
SPEAKER_00Uh some of them they put their children in a basket. They mail it.
SPEAKER_05They mailed it via USB. Pretty darn close.
SPEAKER_04Pretty darn close. Oh gosh. But some of them, right, if they didn't if they had lost legs or whatever, they were deemed a basket case, meaning that they needed a basket to transport them back to their home. Right? Because you'd have to carry them.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
SPEAKER_04Well, you can also imagine that if you'd lost limbs in World War I, you probably had some PTSD.
SPEAKER_05Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04So that's where the connotation of basket case meaning like you're kind of unhinged or off the rails or requires extra work. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05That is the fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I thought for sure you were gonna go with Green Day's 1995 breakout album. My brain will go in there. Also a good one. Oh no, wait, that's Dookie. The song is Basket Case.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Yes. Dookie is the album.
SPEAKER_00And I uh don't quote me on the year, but it's in I got the decade right, I guarantee you.
SPEAKER_0492 or 93. I was in high school. That's probably right.
SPEAKER_05I do not recommend that album. Head on a switch.
SPEAKER_04It's a great album.
SPEAKER_05My husband would agree with you, but I disagree.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, on behalf of the Lu High podcast, we can neither.
SPEAKER_05I do know that song wasn't in Back to the Future.
SPEAKER_04Correct. Who was the artist that performed most of the songs for Back to the Future?
SPEAKER_05Not a and not Hans Zimmer. No idea. Hans Zimmer!
SPEAKER_00Hey, well, that's not a bad guess. It's someone who is accompanied by the news. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05No idea.
SPEAKER_04Sports was his big album. Huey Lewis in the news.
SPEAKER_05Oh, nope. Okay, head on a swivel.
SPEAKER_00Oh well, we all know what it means. It says to remain constantly alert, vigilant, and aware of the desks in your classroom. Whoa, that's crazy. Weird. Okay, the background. I'm just gonna read what's here. Military roots. The phrase largely originated in military and tactical training where soldiers and operators are taught to constantly rotate their gaze like a rotating swivel chair. Okay, so that's literally they just thought, oh, that's the perfect image. Let's just use it for that. So it doesn't, I would say it doesn't really come from anywhere. It just somebody thought of it and now we all use it.
SPEAKER_05Sure.
SPEAKER_00You know what I mean? Yes.
SPEAKER_04It's not like it just became part of the vernacular.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Okay, you know who else has their head on a swivel? It is our guest today. Mr. Fred. Lieutenant Colonel How do you say it? Retired lieutenant. Retired.
SPEAKER_04Lieutenant Colonel retired.
SPEAKER_05Why is it second? Do you know that one?
SPEAKER_04Because he's retired.
SPEAKER_05But wouldn't it be retired lieutenant colonel?
SPEAKER_04I don't know.
SPEAKER_00He's still a lieutenant colonel.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he's just a lieutenant.
SPEAKER_05Are you still uh you still hold your title? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, and even even after you retire from the military, they can call you back.
SPEAKER_05Really?
SPEAKER_04So my dad retired in the late 80s from the army and he got a letter when the first Gulf War broke out that hey, we might need you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I wonder how he felt about that.
SPEAKER_00Uh I think he was glad no one ever called him former. That's how he felt about it.
SPEAKER_04I'm a former lieutenant colonel. No, but he my mom was not happy about that.
SPEAKER_05I would imagine not.
SPEAKER_04And I just I don't think he it would have to have been going right way worse than it did for him to get called up.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Maybe he knew that in the background.
SPEAKER_00But it was nice of them to reach out with a letter. Yeah. Well, they were over me. Yeah, the point here. Yeah. Dear Jerry, how have you been? How are the kids? Things here are picking up. Maybe you've heard. Do you miss doing push-ups? Is your son still watching those movies over and over?
SPEAKER_04Would you like to get away from him for a year?
SPEAKER_00Boy, does he like Green Day?
SPEAKER_05Hey everybody, thanks again for listening to Lu High Pod. This episode, the Veterans Day episode, is always one of my very favorites. And it's always a privilege because we get to usually have the Veterans Day speaker as our guest on the podcast. And this year is no different. And obviously, I have Mr. Debley with me, who is my tried and true Veterans Day co-host. Thank you. So just uh want to do a quick introduction. We have Mr. Brian Kwood with us, and he is Brad. I am so sorry. I don't think I've ever done that before. I am so I apologize. No, that is not fine. It is that is deeply embarrassing.
SPEAKER_06Um He looks like a Brian. Yeah. My call sign actually kind of comes from from that. The uh just as an aside, but my call sign was A B, the letters Alpha Bravo. When I first got to the squadron flying with the squadron commander and the number the number two, um the one guy just kept calling me Brian the entire time. And we have name tags, right? So it says Brad Kaywood on my name tag. And at the end, my instructor, you know, because I was I was upgrading at the at the time. He's like, tells the other guys, like, dude, his name's Brad. And he looks at me and he's like, I'm calling you Brian from here on out because you know you gotta stand up for yourself. You're not just brand new, and these guys are higher ranking. So almost Brian is a a lot of the story that goes into my call sign. So my goodness. Well, so there you go.
SPEAKER_05But I will I will leave all that in because it's a great story, and I will just wear my shame for that. Um, Brad, Mr. Kwood, thank you so much for being here today. Um, do you want to give a brief just introduction to yourself?
SPEAKER_06Sure. Uh first off, huge honor and privilege to be uh asked to speak at the Veterans Day event. I've had a chance to go to two of them in the last couple years, and uh and what a neat event that is. So Brad Kaywood, uh originally from Kansas. I've got two kiddos that go here to Lou High. So my oldest is Chase, who's a senior, and Jacob is a freshman, and a two at Southeast Christian that are waiting in the wings to come join as well. Awesome. Um so based on, I guess, from my my military career, uh started off enlisted in the Army National Guard uh back in 1996 uh before going to college and then went to Kansas State University. One thing led to another, you know, September 11th happened. Uh ended up switching over and joining the Air Force uh as an officer and then spent another 21 years serving in the Air Force. Um got the distinct privilege to be a fighter pilot and fly the uh the F-15E, the strike eagle. Uh retired in 2023 and then moved out here to Parker from San Antonio after we retired in in 23. So uh also married my wife, Janelle. Um and yeah, so that's kind of me in a nutshell based mainly on my my military career and what brought us out here to Parker. Because I now fly for United Airlines, and obviously this is a big hub for United here in Denver.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, very cool.
SPEAKER_04Um my dad was a K-State guy too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, my a lot of cousins. A lot of my cousins went to K-State, and we have a small contingent of podcast listeners who live in Kansas. So uh, mom, hi. Uh he's from Sterling, Kansas. Okay, cool. Well, um thank you so much for that. What drew you to joining the Air Force?
SPEAKER_06So, my as we were talking earlier, my dad served in the the Air National Guard for six years, kind of during during Vietnam. Um so he always had a kind of an appreciation for the military in uh our family. And then we would go to air shows when I was a kid and loved seeing the the you know planes flying. Yeah, and then a certain movie came out in uh 1986, uh starring one Tom Cruise is Pete Mitchell, callsign Maverick. I was like, that's a pretty cool thing, and I would love to get a chance to go uh be a fighter pilot and do that someday. So that's what kind of you know drew me to the military. You know, one thing led to another, and you know, just kind of a story of God's providence and and seeing things happen uh for a reason, but my eyes changed when I was in high school, had to start wearing contacts, so I didn't have 2020 vision. Oh so I'm like, okay, well, I can't really join the Air Force, and my parents really couldn't afford uh college, so I enlisted in the Kansas Army National Guard when I was 17, went to basic training between my junior and senior year of high school, um, and then went to my my training as a Blackhawk helicopter crew chief between my senior year and freshman year of college. Did that for basically four and a half years while I was in college, and again, this is just you know God's hand in things. The Air Force changed the rules to where as long as you had 2050 vision corrected to 2020, which I barely met that requirement, you could you could fly. I'm like, okay, that's pretty cool. But normally ROTC requires four years to be able to do that. Then the Air Force was kind of short on pilots, so they came out with a program that you could do a two-year ROTC program if you were getting a technical degree. I was getting my degree in mechanical engineering. Um didn't really want to be an engineer after I was uh I was done. Um so yeah, I was very fortunate that I would qualify to do that. And then I went and talked to my you know leadership in the army, and they said, Yeah, we'll release you from your contract to go join the Air Force and do the two two-year program. This was in uh September of 2000. Obviously, one year later, uh 9-11 happened, and had that happened beforehand, they would have never released me from my contract. I would have been deployed to Iraq probably shortly there thereafter. Been a long time finishing up college and everything else. So uh very blessed to get the chance to, you know, even just switch over to the Air Force, and then was fortunate enough to get picked up for a pilot slot uh to go fly jets in the um in the air force. So I guess family history, a certain movie, and then uh you know, God's hand in in in my life, uh kind of what drew me to to the Air Force in the military.
SPEAKER_05That's awesome.
SPEAKER_04My uh you're talking about Top Gun. My my godfather was a fighter pilot, and uh when he saw Top Gun with his kids, I mean they were adults, he flew the planes and all of the flight, right? He he was flying them like just by habit. He was Oh wow he had a hand moving the throttle and a hand on the stick, and his kids, his two daughters were like it was really kind of cool just to you know watch him do his thing.
SPEAKER_05That's so crazy. My confession is it I hadn't seen that movie. I think I saw it like three years ago. Not so it's okay.
SPEAKER_03It's okay.
unknownThank you.
SPEAKER_05Um that's amazing. So is it I don't know if I've ever met anybody, not that I know a ton of veterans, who have who've switched from one branch to another branch. Is that very common?
SPEAKER_06It happens and there there's pathways to do it. So you'll meet people that that that have switched between the branches. A lot of time it's uh you'll serve on active duty in one branch and then you'll switch over to the reserves or national guard in another branch because that that unit fits where you want to live and what you want to do. So I wouldn't say it's super common, but there are opportunities to do that, um, and quite a few people have taken advantage of that.
SPEAKER_05That's amazing. So you you kind of mentioned it, but Mr. Ness shared with me that you have flown over 600 combat hours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. I'd love to hear just a little bit about that experience, but also can you just share for our listeners if they're not familiar with Operation Enduring Freedom, can you give a little bit of background?
SPEAKER_06Sure. So obviously after September 11th, uh the two places that the U.S. uh committed troops uh was first into Afghanistan, which became Operation Enduring Freedom, and then in Iraq, which became Operation Iraqi Freedom. Uh I deployed twice uh to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. And during that time I was flying the uh the F-15E, uh which is the the strike eagle, unfortunately made news in Iran recently because three of them were shot down by a Kuwaiti. And then uh one of them was actually shot down uh over Iran as well. And there's the the story of the the backseater who was on 60 minutes kind of talking about his his experience. Um flying that aircraft in Afghanistan, and the mission over there is what they call CAS or close air support. So our job is to support the guys on the ground, because in Afghanistan there's no real air threat or something that we're trying to target or take out. There's not a large amount of uh infrastructure or targets because the the Taliban had had basically been uh given up command or given up control of the country, so now it's supporting our troops on the ground as they do, you know, counterinsurgency operations around the country uh to hopefully, you know, eventually get Afghanistan to uh uh embrace some sort of a different you know government, set up another government that wouldn't be a a state sponsor of of terrorism. Obviously, we know that that didn't exactly work out well with the uh with the withdrawal from Afghanistan a few years back. But that was our job over there. We always reinforced that as we walk out of the squadron before we'd go out there and fly. There's a big plaque that was on the gate that led to the aircraft that said the mission is an 18 year old with a rifle. So that was the big thing for me, and a few things that uh you know, you kind of asked, you know, what I what I learned. from from doing that is just appreciation for the the sacrifice and service of of so many others and especially a lot of young kids that are 18 19 years old enlist in the army enlist in the marine corps that are out on these patrols doing the doing the mission you know what their country has has asked them to do and the sacrifice that uh that they're making so this gives you an appreciation for you know everybody's service and kind of that team mentality um from the from the military and then I think the the other thing the takeaway was just I guess a a motivation to you know be the absolute best that you possibly can uh in the in the world you know obviously fighter pilots can can tend to get a little bit of a uh um a reputation right for being prima donnas being a little bit arrogant and whatnot uh for the fact that you know you you wield such a huge amount of responsibility and I would try to impart that to the younger guys and the younger you know wingmen that would fly I'm like man we are up here as the judge jury and executioner wow you better be ready for that moment yeah to to know your aircraft know your weapons know your systems know what the guys on the ground are doing be confident in your skill set and make sure that you are 100% prepared to do that mission because uh lives depend on it and and that's a that's a huge thing that's a a sobering thing that obviously in the training world you know we talk about it but when you actually get over there and do it it is a obviously it's a uh a a huge thing yeah wow that's that's heavy are there any moments that stand out to you or experiences or maybe life lessons or takeaways that you had from your time over there? I'll kind of save it for the the Veterans Day um it's a little teaser speech a teaser uh you know the squadron commander came to me and said hey the Department of Defense and ABC News they're gonna embed a reporter and go fly the first time ever in a combat aircraft and the vice wing commander so he's the number two on the base is going to fly Martha Raditz who's an ABC News reporter and they're gonna follow your formation around Afghanistan uh to to observe you know things that happen and what's going on.
SPEAKER_05Like live.
SPEAKER_06Like live. Oh wow so it's it's one of those things that's uh you know flattering and terrifying at the same time flattering like a much like giving the Veterans Day speech it's one of those of like well I appreciate that you have faith to follow my formation around oh wow I don't want to do this because obviously combat in in those areas are very dynamic things change very very quickly and now we're gonna be filming this live for the rest of the uh uh the rest of the world to see so uh I'll kind of use that in my you know discussion on the on the veterans day and show the uh the dateline clip of of what came out of that with the uh with the news story so obviously that one was pretty memorable yeah as far as uh as far as a mission goes other lessons learned I I think you know as a as a Christian just appreciating Western ideals right like going all the way back to Aquinas and and just just war theory obviously we were already in it so it's now okay just uh in bellow meaning like hey just means of uh of conflict and and just trying to impart to some of the younger guys too that you know like C.S. Lewis said you know we never meet ordinary people you never meet a mere mortal right every single person is an eternal creation made in God's image and our job uh is to be there for you know when our our troops run into to conflict to make that go away and and a lot of time that means violence of action and never taking that lightly and never you know glorifying in that but knowing like I I have a job to do and I'm gonna do it to the absolute best of my ability but taking the life of a of another human being is you know is is a weighty thing, right? Like I have sent them to to judgment at at that point in time and I and I hope that that uh you know they they came to know Christ as their Lord and Savior but giving where we were and what we were doing that was probably not the case. And um so that was just a you know a realization for me and you know I guess a a lesson learned and a takeaway from that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah that is Yeah I my my dad was a forward observer for his tour in Vietnam and I just never had that conversation with him of you know did you ever kill anybody because I know he did right he's calling in artillery strikes like you said to protect his guys and and that's a I think that's something you you weighs on your mind and you think about and but you get up the next day and you do it again.
SPEAKER_06Yeah yeah because a lot of people will ask that you know especially younger kids you know did you didn't you and it's like well it's not it's not about that yeah like you never want to glorify in that whatsoever. Did we do our job and execute the mission to the best of our our possible ability absolutely right like we're trying to take care of those 18 year old kids on the ground to make sure that they go back home to their families. So yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah that's real.
SPEAKER_04All right random questions I love it that's that's and now the joke part exactly all right here's a lighter question um if you could have flown another aircraft besides the F-15 what aircraft would you have wanted to fly?
SPEAKER_06That's a really good question.
SPEAKER_05This is why I invite Mr.
SPEAKER_06Devley I think for uh a couple missions I would love to fly the A-10 oh yeah yeah so the Warthog so many good friends and and their squadron was was attached to our squadron they were there uh based with us uh and just being if they could shoehorn that gun into the strike eagle it'd be the absolute perfect aircraft ever created which obviously you can't can't do that. Right. But working with those guys um yeah that that would be pretty cool to to fly that a couple times.
SPEAKER_04Yeah just go out to the rain shoot the gun. We we went to an air show at like Pete Field when I was a kid and uh walked up to the A-10 and I just was enthralled I just thought it was the coolest looking thing. Start talking to the pilot and he's like well if I ever lose my engines I'll just turn it around backwards and lay on the gun. It's amazing. And I was like I don't know what that means dad. So he had to tell me. And then I thought that was really funny.
SPEAKER_06Because I have you know empty shell casings from the the F-15 and then you know a buddy gave me one from the AT and you you know one looks like a a Coke bottle and then the F-15 is you know it's a 20 millimeters still a pretty size round but it looks like a you know it looks like a a teeny little shot glass or something compared comparatively like oh that's uh pretty impressive.
SPEAKER_04It's like the little mini Coke versus the full size one.
SPEAKER_05That's amazing. That's really funny. Okay I did not prep you for this question but if if we have any students who are considering the military route um or even specifically Air Force what do you have any advice for them?
SPEAKER_06You know I I would say just like you know Mr. Yagi and they said last year, you know, first off thank you for entertaining the the question right like less than one percent of our population is currently serving in the military. So that's a huge thing to be willing to even entertain the possibility of of going to serve your your country. The second would be you know arm yourself with with information and understand like Mr Yagi said uh last you know last year as you're signing a blank or you're giving a a blank check to signed by you to the United States government that could be payable up to and including your life right that's what you're you're signing up to do. But there's a huge amount of benefits that that can come from it. So arm yourself with information what do you want to do? What do you hope to get out of it? What are your in-state goals? Because it's okay to have the goal of like I want to use this to pay for college that's why I enlisted in the the Army National Guard did I want to serve? Absolutely but I also knew I really my parents really couldn't pay for school and this was a way to be able to to do that. Look at the the jobs that are available and I would say just seek out you know counsel from people that have been there and done that. Recruiters are amazing people doing a lot of great things they have numbers to meet. Yeah they're gonna tell you a lot of stuff some of it most of it I would say they're not gonna outright I hope they wouldn't outright lie to you but there's a little bit of truth in everything and it's a little bit more nuanced to some of those questions to how they are so meaning seek out information because there's the Air National Guard or there's the National Guard there's the reserves there's the active duty there's the enlisted side there's the officer side there's so many different things that it's very easy uh to to not understand what they're telling you and not necessarily get what you're hoping to to get out of it. So those would be the biggest things understand or first off thank you for being willing to to serve understand what you're signing up for you know in other words count the cost yeah and then also arm yourself with information make sure that you have all the facts the data this is meets your expectations of what you are hoping to get out of this so that you know I wouldn't say just sign on the dotted line for the first recruiter that talks to you. Take some time to to figure it out and and and have a plan. The recruiters like it if you do that. They do and it it definitely makes their job a little bit easier like yes got it got another one here.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Do you like sleeping in dirt? Sign this line.
SPEAKER_05Exactly we have one veteran on staff his name is Mr D'Antoni love that guy I always get the feeling that if he could go back to the marine he was a Marine he would go back.
SPEAKER_06Would you go back into the service if you could I would say yes and no like I I'm much like him in that I was very blessed. I got to do everything in my military career that I that I had hoped to do and I I absolutely loved it. And I wouldn't necessarily say I was done and ready to quit flying military aircraft when I when I retired but based off of our family Chase who's now a senior like he was going to be starting his freshman year so we wanted to get to some place that we're gonna be for him to be able to be in high school for all four years. The other ones were getting ready to start middle school and and other places to where it made the most sense. He and I went back to Texas this past weekend so we could go back to you know his middle school we he went to school on the Air Force base there in San Antonio and they were playing the high school that was on the Army base. Oh it's kind of a rivalry in the town they played it at the Alamo Dome which was pretty cool. So all the kids that he was in eighth grade with were now seniors. Yeah. Wow and then we went and drove around you know where we lived and and seeing that the military aircraft that I finished up uh teaching uh pilots how to be instructors in the T-38 to go out and train uh other pilots seeing that aircraft out there do I miss it absolutely there's nothing in the world that that compares to you know flying military aircraft. I love my job at United Airlines but it is definitely not you don't ever just do a barrel roll every now and then like you spill the drink cart people get upset in the back when uh uh when you start doing that uh but yeah I I would I would go back and fly but I also know I'm 47 years old now like pulling G's um you know especially in the F-15 where you can pull up two to nine Gs it is really hard on your body and uh I'm sure I you know you always have fond memories of it but going back and do it I know I'd be uh I'd be hurting a lot more so fast that's so interesting to me I did watch the the video clip from Dateline um and at one point the uh reporter is putting on like a not just a flight suit but like compression pants or something what's that about right so in the aircraft as you maneuver you increase the force of basically the force of gravity that is on your body. So they call those G forces. Most uh fighter type aircraft can pull up to nine G's so nine times the force of gravity. So essentially if you weigh a hundred pounds you now weigh nine hundred pounds. Oh interesting based off of of that and what happens is with those kind of forces it pulls all the blood out of your uh brain out of your head and pulls down in your lower extremities in your legs etc obviously once you don't have blood in your brain you pass out which is called gravity induced loss of consciousness or or G Lock. If you've seen Top Gun Maverick they you know they kind of talk about it. So they give you a suit that you put over your your legs because the whole point is you squeeze as hard as you can your calves, your hamstrings, uh your quads, you know, your butt to to keep the blood from going down into your lower extremities and you take really quick short breath exchanges every three seconds because if you just exhale then all the air out will will quickly go out of your out of your lungs. So you get good at at at doing this but it's I mean it's like a sprint and in the midst of most of the time that you're doing high G maneuvering is dog fighting when you're you know going uh fighting against another aircraft so it's exhausting and you know you're wearing uh a helmet and and some of the new things have helmet displays so now that becomes more heavy you're moving your head around the first rule of basic fighter maneuvering is lose sight lose fight. So if I have to watch that other person to see what they are doing. So as you're moving your your head around etc that's when a lot of fighter pilots have neck and back problems because it's a a huge amount of force that you're putting on on your body uh while you're doing that wow so I had no idea you haven't seen Top Guns I know clearly I need to go watch it again that's that's amazing sorry go ahead I was saying if you haven't seen Top Gun Maverick I would go go see that's go see that one it's it's better than the the original I think in my opinion actually fairly realistic in a lot of things that they they do.
SPEAKER_05That's surprising to me I feel like those kind of movies are never really realistic. So you mentioned also you you were an instructor so you taught other people how to fly these jets.
SPEAKER_06I did uh I spent four years teaching people how to fly the strike eagle okay um and then I taught Air Force ROTC at Kansas State for three years. Cool and then I finished up my career teaching um pilot training instructors in the T38 so teaching them how to be pilot training instructors because they were going to go out and then teach new students from there. So yeah I got a lot of time uh over my half my flying time as uh as an instructor which is a hugely rewarding job and mission just like I'm sure you guys feel with with teaching.
SPEAKER_05Yeah do you have a was there do you have one that you liked the other you you enjoyed the instructor piece you enjoyed you know actually being in combat was there one part you liked better?
SPEAKER_06Um the instructor job especially flying the strike eagle I feel like it was kind of the best of the both worlds in that you got to train your training fighter pilots for combat in that mission uh doing a lot of those things not although you didn't necessarily you wouldn't deploy because you have to train the students you know while you're staying there at home. So it was the best of both worlds in that it actually had a decent family life because I wasn't deployed all the time we weren't always going because we were you know training the students but at the same time I still got to fly the strike eagle which I loved and was a whole lot of fun.
SPEAKER_05That's awesome. I love that you got to go back to K State to your college campus. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06It was that that was a really neat experience as well as you know you kind of back up the train a bit like I I my first job was teaching at pilot training and then teaching people in the in the strike eagle. Well now teaching ROTC students who are not even in the military yet was you know very very young and impressionable which was a lot of fun to be able to kind of shape them as they went off into their to their military careers. Or if they chose not to serve then uh to have hopefully an impact and and create better citizens for the United States. Yeah that's amazing I love that um I don't want to take up too much more of your time so is there anything else you want to share or talk about I guess I'll just say you know again if anybody's interested in in serving thank you for the the willingness to even entertain that uh or to to listen that to that and you know what what an opportunity for for Christians uh serving in the military it's an amazing mission field but it just gives you a different mentality uh when you know that Christ is Lord of your life God is sovereign over all things I wouldn't say it takes away the the fear um but signing that blank check payable up to your life like I know God is in control of of my life he knows the time of my birth the time of my death and and that gives you a little bit more I'd say for Christians gives you a little bit more peace you know serving in the in the military this is where I feel like God has me and it gives you an amazing platform to witness to a lot of other people in very trying times when their faith is going to be tested uh when they're gonna be put in unbelievably stressful circumstances you can be uh a beacon and a light so I think it's a a pretty cool opportunity for for Christians not only just serving uh your your nation but uh you know serving God as well. Yeah that's amazing and that was my last question how had how did your faith impact your time in the military so thank you for sharing that is there anything else you'd like to add uh if you do the military as well like I said as a as a Christian one thing that we did take away from it was it it was a very refining thing oh interesting moving every three years uh I mean I hope everyone here and listening has a local church that they're plugged into that they are a part of and that's you know the center of your life hopefully right like Christian fellowship with other believers iron sharpening iron etc but then change that every three years like that's a hard thing like that was the the biggest challenge for us because you know the denomination the the doctrine the things that you you just took for granted your entire life because that's how you were raised you know in your Bible studies etc and then you move and you're like wow I I need to find another church you know I want to lead my family in this to be grounded in this to be our our center no matter where we are and then there's no churches like the one that you normally went to and like okay well you know we went to we normally were Baptists we went to a Presbyterian church when we were stationed in England and it was amazing. You know it was uh it was great then we moved back to to North Carolina and got to be a part of a you know more of a Baptist church plant and then going to the to the next one uh it asked you a lot of tough questions and again really refines you to to understand and dig deeper into the word uh doctrine theology uh things like that so that's kind of one of the I would say unintended benefits of the military is it's it's a challenge and a and a blessing at the same time because you you are moving around quite a bit and as a Christian hopefully getting plugged into a local church and that that could be a challenge.
SPEAKER_05I wonder if that also maybe stretches the idea of unity because I think it's very easy to get into the I'm a Baptist I'm a Lutheran and it's har maybe hard to like how do we bridge that gap? But when you're forced to you know explore other dominant denominations or just go to the church that is is available in your local area you see like oh these are image bearers these are also believers these are people who maybe doctrinally aren't a hundred percent aligned with me but like they still love Christ and they think Christ is still the Lord of their life and I think there's just something unifying about that maybe oh absolutely and even just Bible studies or starting Bible studies a a good friend of mine in the squadron we led one you know when we were there in Afghanistan because you get people from all walks, right?
SPEAKER_06Like every every different denomination and and some non believers as well that are being forced to ask some pretty tough questions that combat and things like that put on you. So so yeah it it generates a lot of great conversation and and like you said it it kind of the the unity in the in the body of Christ is a is a pretty cool thing.
SPEAKER_04Obviously there's foundational doctrinal things that are that are non-negotiable but there's a lot of lot of ancillary things um that we can find a lot of common ground on yeah I guess I'd never really thought about the impact on on you moving around you know everybody always talks about the kids oh they gotta go to a new school they gotta do this and I just you know it just never really crossed my mind that gosh you're uprooting from all of that and you know you might be like gosh I really like this church and and then how do you start comparing it without comparing it and and finding something that you know you you enjoy and that would be a a just an added difficulty.
SPEAKER_06It is like you said and it's a it's a consequence and a blessing as well because you have to avoid the temptation to to church shop for you know for six months a year because I might be there for three years and I really want to get plugged in and serve and be a part of this and I like I love you know Charles Spurgeon's quotes that there is no perfect church. That's true if if I find one it won't be once I show up right it's uh we are a uh a collection of of sinners all in need of grace.
SPEAKER_04Um so yeah it was a like I said it was a a challenge but also a very refining thing yeah that we experienced you were mentioning seeing God throughout your journey in the military I think God uses that you know he uses something like that also to help strengthen your own faith or or I just was thinking about when I I went from private school through ninth grade and then I went to big public high school. And and everybody's like oh my gosh oh my gosh are are you sure and I thought it It was great. Because then I actually had to put into practice. You know, in a in an environment where you couldn't just I mean you could talk about God, but not like we did every day. You're not having class about it. Yeah. You know, and I and I really enjoyed that aspect of it to get connected and to, you know, find groups to be a part of. And but yeah, the that would be tough to to do that every three years.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yes. I value stability a lot. So that's really stretched me for sure. Um well thank you so much for your time. Mr. Debley, did you have anything else to Wednesday, November 11th.
SPEAKER_04Oh yes, please plug our Veterans Day service at Lutheran High School. Uh it's usually 9, 930-ish.
SPEAKER_05I will put all the specifics in the show notes, but it is open to anybody, right? Correct. Okay, correct. Correct.
SPEAKER_04And uh over the last couple years we've really had a a strong showing of veterans and their families. Um sometimes it's grandparents or parents, uh siblings, sometimes it's just the neighbor, and you know, hey, come out, come check out my school and and uh, you know, be be rewarded with a message and be rewarded with some recognition of of you serving our country. Yes. Um then it's always a a great it's always a great service. Oh yeah it's my favorite.
SPEAKER_05Yes. Um and here Mr. Kwood's Mr. Brad Kaywood full story. I love it. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_06Almost Bright. Almost Bright And just let me add my my thank you to both of you as well for obviously hosting me and then to Lutheran High School for putting on the Veterans Day event. I I think it's such a neat thing to pass on to the to the next generation of just gratitude, right? Like gratitude breeds happiness, yes, yeah. Of just a thankfulness for those that have gone be gone before you. My oldest got to to vote for the first time. Oh man. Oh wow. We took a picture, putting it in the ballot box. And I said, I just hope this moment isn't just right, like it's like, oh cool, this is some new neat thing I did. Like the people that have fought and died to give you the freedom to be able to do that. Like never forget just this simple act that you're doing was paid for by a lot of people that went before you. So I think that hosting events like this, showing gratitude, uh, what a neat thing to pass on to the next generation. So my my thank you to both of you and to to Lutheran High School.
SPEAKER_04It's our pleasure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, absolutely our pleasure. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for being here.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly love, clothes your husband, kindness, Jesus, patience, and each other.