As 'Mayans' Season 4 is now in full swing, we re-visit this episode from October, when Vincent "Rocco" Vargas joined us to talk about overcoming the difficulty of military transition, substance abuse, and survivors guilt.

Brenda Bentley joins us for this episode to talk about finding purpose, the value in experiencing transition, and finding that “next level” thinking.

Brenda has an MBA and a BA in Spanish and education. She has lived, studied, and worked in Spain, Mexico, Chile and the United States. She has facilitated courses at the award-winning Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, is a Certified Coach through Coach Training Alliance, and a Global Career Development Facilitator through the Center for Credentialing and Education.

Veterans from different eras often have very different transition experiences into civilian life. 

Chris Snell, US Marine Corps Veteran and a Veteran Service Officer for Brown County Government in Indiana, talks about bridging the gap between different veteran populations and making sure their needs are met. 

Chris joined the Marine Corps straight out of high school and deployed to Iraq twice during his first three years as an infantryman. He later joined the Foreign Military Training Unit (or FMTU) which later became the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion.

He served in the Army Reserves for several years after leaving the Marine Corps, but is now focused on family life with his wife and five children and his work helping fellow veterans both in an official capacity and through active membership with various veteran service organizations.

Current events in Ukraine can take on a different meaning to recently separated veterans who were working close to the region prior to leaving the military.

Josh Peterson joined the Army in 2014 and served as an infantryman on active duty until just last year. He was assigned to Ft. Bliss, Texas and Vilseck, Germany with deployments to Iraq for Operation Inherent Resolve, and Eastern Europe to show support to Allies while deterring Russian aggression. 

Today, we talk with Steve White, a Navy AND Army veteran who served from 1970-1983. He also worked as a commercial airline pilot after being honorably discharged, but struggled with civilian life and ended up with legal issues, no job, and very little money. He came to Nation’s Finest – Carson City, Nevada for help.

That’s when Steve met Wylie Mandeville, Air Force Veteran, and Mobile Outreach Specialist for Nation’s Finest – Carson City. Wylie helped Steve with housing, and got him connected to the resources he needed for help in other areas.

We chat with both of them today to learn more.

We have discussed the transition from military to civilian life many times on this podcast but today, we talk with an officer beginning her transition, providing a different perspective.

Maj. Elle Covington talks with us about what it’s like preparing to retire while still actively serving in her position as the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the 1st Armored Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Dr. Abhi Chandra joins this episode to share his knowledge about the resources, benefits, and drawbacks of the emergency room. He provides insightful advice about when to visit the ER, and when to call 911.

Dr. Chandra has been practicing Emergency Medicine for over 25 years. He trained in the specialties of Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine.

For the first half of Dr. Chandra’s career he practiced Emergency Medicine, taught medical students and residents, held educational seminars for National meetings, conducted and published research, and at the same time was a medical director for some aspects of the Emergency Department.

The second half of his career, he focused on helping patients by working in the ER. Dr. Chandra still occasionally gives educational lectures and teaches residents but is focused mostly on ER work.

In this episode, we discuss some of the services Nation's Finest provides and a bit about our veteran clients with our Residential Services Coordinator from  Mather Veterans Village, Jenna Yoast.

Jenna joined the team at Nation's Finest in August of 2020 after earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She has a special place in her heart for veterans, as her grandfather is a purple heart recipient from the Vietnam era. Jenna calls being a part of the Nation's Finest team a rewarding experience as she continues to serve veterans every day.

Nation’s Finest will be hosting a cornhole tournament in multiple locations across California, Arizona, and Nevada on March 26th called GAME OF THROWS.

Jesse Woolf is the Site Director for Nation’s Finest Monterey and Santa Cruz locations. She is helping to organize the tournament at those two sites and our Menlo Park.

Ben Budhu is the CEO of Scoreholio, created in 2018 as a first-of-its-kind live scoring tournament software which strives to innovate and enhance the art of running Cornhole tournaments. Since 2015, he’s been running fundraisers and corporate events through the sport of cornhole and is now working with Nation’s Finest to put together Game of Throws on March 26th!

Our guest today is dog trainer Steve Moore. Steve spent four and a half years in the United States Army during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

After getting out of the Army in 2006 Steve spent some time trying to find his place in society. A graduate of Bergin University for Canine Studies, he found his place, happily with the dogs.

Steve runs a business offering dog training and other related services. He also teaches dog training classes to military veterans, including the residents at our own Windsor Veterans Village.