Military Bottom Line

After 22 years and 6 months, Jamie Grant finished out his career in the Alabama Army National Guard.   

Jamie is a Purple Heart Veteran that joined in order to complete Physician Assistant school. However, life had different plans. Jamie ended up spending his career in Special Forces Signals Intelligence, with multiple deployments to the middle east and Africa.  

We discuss everything from his motives for joining, deployments and close calls and the difficulty that goes along with hanging up your identity in a closet after a long career.  

It was such a pleasure talking with Jamie. I learned a lot from his story and perspectives and I know you will too.

This episode is like no other I've done before, but I really hope to have more of these. 

This week I sat down with @saved.rounds and had a great conversation. We talk about his experience in the military, how and why he turned down a commission in the Marine Corps after college and how he ended up in the Peace Corps instead, only to enlist later in life.  

This episode is full of great advice and wisdom from someone who walks through life carefully, intentionally and really reflecting on his position and the world around him.   

I got so much out of this, and I really hope you do too.

In this episode we hear Jacob Graul's story. Jacob begins his story with talking about how his life was headed in the wrong direction. Specifically, Jacob discusses a time showing up to high school under the influence. As he found himself in the principal's office, someone said something that really stuck with him - what this person said changed the course of Jacob's life.  

After Jacob received his GED he was set to find a way that would turn him down a better course. Jacob has now been in the Army National Guard for over 9 years now. He talks about how it has changed his perspective and life and all the good that has come from it.  Jacob has been successful in his military career but also very successful in his real estate business. Jacob has a zeal for life that we can all benefit from. I know I did.  

Hope you enjoy!

If you're looking into becoming a medical professional, but are unsure of how to pay for the programs, this episode is for you!  

During Matt's first year of medical school, he realized that $80k of debt per year was going to set him back far further than he was willing to put up with. When he realized that most other students had alternative ways of paying for medical school, Matt began doing his homework on scholarships.  

Matt found the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) through the U.S. Navy. This program enabled him to complete the remaining three years completely for free, and in addition was even getting paid every month to go to school!  

Matt talks about his experience with the program, what he wish he knew beforehand and all the benefits and costs that weren't obvious to him when he originally signed up.

Walter was on an exchange semester in New Hampshire from his home of Puerto Rico when he realized how much he loved New Hampshire!  

When he was faced with the cost of attending UNH as a non-resident of New Hampshire, he began doing research to find the best way to pay for college and continue his education there.  Walter stumbled upon the Air National Guard and found it to be an awesome opportunity and one that he could get his schooling completely paid for. 

Walter graduated his undergrad debt free and fought to make the tuition waiver work for his law degree. Despite taking out loans for his first year of law school, Walter was able to get the school to accept the Air National Guard tuition waiver for the rest of the program.  

Walter just passed the BAR and is officially a lawyer. He nearly completed  all of his schooling for free! His hard work and persistence will help many people for years to come when pursuing their higher education using the tuition waiver in New Hampshire.

Any opinions shared on this channel are that of my own and do not represent the opinions of the DoD or any US military branch.

FOLLOW JORDAN

With a troubled past, Jordan knew it was time to get out of his current situation. As life would have it, a unique and dangerous incident put the Marine Corps on the front of his mind. 

Jordan signed an artillery contract but found himself in a special offshoot within that MOS field and considers himself blessed for the opportunities he was afforded. After lots of training, a deployment and 4 years in the Marine Corps, Jordan took advantage of the skilbridge program and began preparing for his transition as early as possible. 

After a difficult transition out of the military, he found the unique opportunity to keep his foot in the door with the reserves as he further pursues his education. 

Jordan has a great attitude and a lot of experiences to learn from. I hope you enjoy the show!

Hey everyone!  

Thanks for tuning into another episode! So grateful for everyone listening and providing feedback!  

I apologize, but this week I do not have a guest. Because of a cancellation and not being ahead, I was not able to get a new guest lined up in time.   Because of this, I figured I would give a little back story on myself and why I joined the Marine Corps in the first place.  

I'll do little stories about my experience every time I don't get a guest lined up. This will ensure you learn a little more about me, but also never miss an episode!  

Hope you enjoy!

In this week's episode I sit down with Stephen Bearor of Good Initiative Bad Judgement. Stephen decided shortly into college that it wasn't for him. He decided to drop out and join the Army instead! Sixteen years later, he's done a tremendous amount and continues to enjoy his career.  

As an infantryman, Stephen has been to all the cool Army courses that we see on the commercials - everything from Ranger school to sniper school, Stephen has done it. With multiple deployments under his belt, he speaks from experience.  

We discuss everything from his career to how he believes others can be successful during their career and beyond. Stephen emphasizes the importance of taking initiative at work and outside of work to ensure success in your career and after the transition.  

We discuss opportunities to include Tuition Assistance, COOL (Credentialing Opportunities Online) and many others.  

Hope you enjoy!

In this week's episode I meet with Brian Koons! Brian was successful in saving up $50,000 during his first military contract despite never getting paid BAH or making any deployment money.   

He didn't know what he was saving his money for, but knew it would come in handy when an opportunity presented itself. Sure enough, during his second enlistment, he was able to buy a $1.2 million dollar property in San Diego where he is not only able to live for free, but makes money to live there every month - further enabling him to save massive amounts of money at the young age of 24.  

Brian is a great example of how to use the military to build a strong financial foundation that will serve him well for the rest of his life.  

Brian also talks about his experience as a Marine Corps Drill Instructor and what new recruits are enduring because of the pandemic.  

I hope his experience and lessons in this episode provide as much value to you as it did for me.  

Follow Brian on Instagram

Thanks for tuning into another episode of the podcast!  

This week I sit down with Leo McCarthy, who completed his nursing education using the Army ROTC program. He now is an Army Reservist working as a nurse out of Utah on a part-time basis, while he travels around the country for his civilian job as a travel nurse.  

No matter where he is working as a travel nurse, the Army currently pays for him to commute to required drill weekends and trainings in Utah. This give Leo a massive amount of flexibility. Leo has found a way to benefit from the military but likes to call it his "side hustle" due to the amount of time expected of him every month. 

It's crazy to hear the unique ways people are serving and making the most of their time in the military! I hope this is as inspiring to you as it was to me.  

***Any opinions shared in this podcast are that of my own or the guest and do not represent the opinions of the DoD or any US military branch.***