Host: Cliff Van Rickley
Guest: Steve Weintraub, Marine Veteran + CSO, Vet Tix

What if healing didn’t always start in a clinic — but in a stadium seat?

In this episode of Return To Base, Cliff sits down with Marine veteran and Vet Tix Chief Strategy Officer Steve Weintraub to talk about purpose after service, the power of belonging, and how shared experiences can literally save lives.

With more than 2.6 million verified members and 35+ million tickets distributed, Vet Tix has quietly become the largest veteran-focused nonprofit in the country. But as Steve explains, this isn’t about “free tickets.” It’s about reconnection, reintegration, and resilience.

From NASCAR tracks to the Super Bowl, the impact goes far beyond the event itself.

In This Episode

From Arizona to the Marine Corps

The Transition: Identity Beyond the Uniform

What Vet Tix Really Does

Vet Tix provides free event tickets to:

• Veterans
• Active-duty service members
• Families of KIA
• First responders

But the real mission?
Reducing stress. Strengthening bonds. Rebuilding connection.

Steve shares:

• How sitting next to fellow veterans creates community
• Why joy is an underrated form of recovery

Super Bowl Moments & Milestones

• How Vet Tix secured its first Super Bowl tickets
• Why members are randomly selected (no essays required)
• The $16.97 delivery fee model — and why it matters
• The organization’s growth from startup to 35 million tickets distributed

“Service doesn’t stop — it evolves.” Steve’s story is a reminder that purpose after the military doesn’t have to look like it did in uniform. Sometimes it looks like building access, restoring connection, and making sure no veteran feels alone in the stands.

How to Get Involved

For Veterans & Service Members:

1. Visit VetTix.org
2. Create an account
3. Verify through ID.me
4. Browse local events
5. Request tickets

For Donors:

• Donate unused season tickets
• Corporate ticket holders can contribute
• 501(c)(3) in-kind tax deduction available
• 92%+ scan rate ensures tickets get used

Every extra seat can become a memory.

Episode Links

Vet Tix: VetTix.org

Donate Tickets: https://www.vettix.org/donate

Sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union

Navy Federal Credit Union proudly supports the military and veteran community — on active duty, in transition, and long after service ends. From banking to home loans and financial education, Navy Federal is here to help you build what’s next.

Visit navyfederal.org to learn more.

Stay Connected

• Get the latest on veterans benefits, a look back at military history and more at www.veteranlife.com.
• Follow @thisisveteranlife on Instagram
• Subscribe to Return To Base on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
• Share this episode with someone navigating life after the uniform.
  
  
  

Host: Cliff Van Rickley
Guest: Sally Rejas – 82nd Airborne Combat Veteran, Civil Servant, American Legion Post Commander

Service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off — it evolves.

In the Season 2 premiere of Return to Base, host Cliff Van Rickley sits down with Sally Rejas, an 82nd Airborne combat veteran whose journey spans from growing up in rural Puerto Rico to jumping out of planes with the Army’s tip of the spear, and ultimately becoming a leader for veterans in her community.

Sally shares how resilience shaped her early life, how an Army recruiter “accidentally” recruited the right sister, and what it meant to join the military just before 9/11 changed everything. From Airborne School and deployments to Kuwait and Iraq, to transitioning out as a single mom and rediscovering her identity as a veteran, Sally’s story is about leadership, visibility, and continuing to serve beyond the uniform.

Now a civil servant and the first female commander of her American Legion Post in Richmond Hill, Georgia, Sally is helping reshape what leadership looks like for today’s veteran community — especially for women who often go unseen.

This episode is a powerful reminder: your mission may change, but your purpose doesn’t.

Episode Links

Learn More About the American Legion: https://www.legion.org

Find a Local Post: https://mylegion.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Find-a-Post 

Sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union

Navy Federal Credit Union proudly supports the military and veteran community — on active duty, in transition, and long after service ends. From banking to home loans and financial education, Navy Federal is here to help you build what’s next.

Visit navyfederal.org to learn more.

Stay Connected

• Get the latest on veterans benefits, a look back at military history, and much more at www.veteranlife.com.
• Follow @thisisveteranlife on Instagram
• Subscribe to Return To Base on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
• Share this episode with someone navigating life after the uniform.
  
  
  

Welcome back to another episode of Return to Base! Today’s special guest is Josh Duntz, a former Navy EOD tech and current Sales Manager at Shift.org.

If you don’t know, Shift.org is a company that helps veterans get introduced to the tech world and the opportunities within. Tech companies need veterans as much as they need engineers, they just don’t know it yet. Shift.org helps companies understand the value that vets bring to work everyday and helps vets tell their story in a way that the private sector understands.

Josh and I talk about his career in the Navy and what led him to transition after 10 years. We also dive into how a pandemic can really put the breaks on a newly transitioned veteran’s career goals.

If you would like to connect with Josh, his LinkedIn is https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaduntz/ . You can also find out more about Shift by visiting http://shift.org .

Enjoy the Podcast.

After a short break, we’re back with another episode of Return to Base! This time, we’re talking to former Army Cav Officer and novelist Brett Allen.

After graduating college and being commissioned through ROTC, Brett went on to serve in the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, NY. Luckily, having grown up in Michigan he was used to the ridiculously cold winters and snow. Then the army saw fit to send him to another ridiculously cold location half-way around the world - the mountains of Southern Afghanistan.

There’s something about the military; soldiers are plucked from their lives and inserted into a delegation of characters from every corner of the country and world. What better to do than take note and turn them into characters in your satirical novel? That’s exactly what Brett did in his novel Kilroy Was Here, a semi-autobiographical take on his time in Afghanistan.

We talk about how 9/11 played a part in his decision to serve, how being plucked from the Army’s best job, Platoon Leader, is like being “sodomized,” and how if you shove 20-something peeps into your mouth you will be laughed at, and may me yelled at.

You can pick up a copy of Kilroy Was Here at Amazon and wherever you buy your books.

On this installment of Return to Base, I welcome Dave Duffy. Dave is a retired Special Forces officer who now, in addition to doing business development in the defense contractor industry, is the proud owner/operator of two Tropical Smoothie franchises in Columbia, SC. 

Dave and I dig into his service, to include his time at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he played football before moving onto rugby. We discuss how his career in Special 

Forces helped him build a network that continues to do right by him even 14 years after leaving the service. It really is “who you know;” his network and experience helped him land several jobs contracting for the U.S. Military. 

Eventually, Dave and his wife found an investment opportunity with a business they frequently patronized - the Tropical Smoothie. Dave walks us through what being a franchise owner is like, the day to day, the annoying, and the rewards. As a fellow veteran, I’ve received way too many calls asking me if I was interested in becoming a franchise owner. Why? Well, as it turns out, veterans are great business owners and franchise partners. Franchises understand that and see veteran ownership as a risk mitigation strategy.

So sit back. Relax. Blend some fruit. And welcome Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Dave Duffy.

If you are interested in connecting with Dave to ask him about defense contracting or franchise ownership, his LinkedIn is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-duffy/

On this episode of Return to Base, we talk to the CEO of the Purpose Built Families Foundation, Seth Eisenberg. Seth and company have been offering reparative services through the Operation Sacred Trust (OST) Supportive Services for Veteran Families program serving homeless and low-income Veterans in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS) classes offered nationwide under the "PAIRS Essentials" and "Warrior to Soul Mate" brands helping couples overcome marital instability. Purpose Built Families Foundation is a nationally accredited nonprofit that evolved from PAIRS Foundation, tackling underlying causes of poverty, homelessness, incarceration, addiction and suicide.  

We talk about three relationship skills veterans can use to heal and grow; plus we talk about how Will Smith's reaction to Chris Rock's jokes was an example of "leakage"

You can find out more at https://www.purposebuiltfamilies.com/ and https://www.411veterans.com/.

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ThePAIRSFoundation and YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/pairsusa.

On this episode of Return to Base, we meet up with Cliff Walker, a Veteran of the United States Navy and Air Force and a retired firefighter.

Cliff is also the founder and CEO of the USS Battle Series, which is a functional fitness competition that brings a new level of awareness in terms of health, fitness, and mental wellbeing for our United States Armed Forces, First Responders, and those in our local communities who support our brave men and women. The cool twist? They do these events on the decks of some of our nation’s most iconic navy warships! How awesome is that?

Be sure to keep up with USS Battle Series on their socials on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!

On this episode of Return to Base, we welcome Ricky and Leo of Task Force Hydro 1, a 501C3 non-profit organization focused on veterans and first responders. 

TF Hydro 1’s mission is to come together as a community of waterman for Active Duty Military, Veteran and 1st Responders to actively help them cope with PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety and suicide by creating meaningful connections and sharing the healing powers of the ocean, rivers and lakes via outdoor physical and recreational activities.

Here’s the elephant in the room, Ricky is not only a Special Forces veteran, he’s also my big brother! He and the co-founder of TF Hydro 1 are doing great things on the northern coast of Florida, and as they like to say, are “bringing the stoke”.

You can find out more about TF Hydro 1 events at their webpage https://www.taskforcehydro1.org/ and can even make a tax-deductible donation at https://www.taskforcehydro1.org/make-a-donation

Find them on Facebook, or Meta if you’re a weirdo at https://www.facebook.com/tfhydro1

On Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/tfhydro1/

And on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tfhydro1/

On this episode of Return to Base, we talk to Dean Wegner, the founder and CEO of Authentically American, a Veteran owned, American made, premium apparel brand. 

Dean graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he played hockey before going on to fly helicopters. During his service, Dean did what very few aviation officers get to do, attend and pass the grueling U.S. Army Ranger School, where he learned first hand that he preferred a life in the sky over an existence in the dirt.

Upon transitioning from the army, Dean did what many junior grade officers do, he enlisted the help of a JMO headhunter and went to work for a top tier consulting firm. He soon realized that consulting meant seeing his family even less than he had become accustomed to. He needed to make a change and soon realized that entrepreneurship had always been something he desired.

In 2017 Dean created Authentically American with a vision to build an iconic American brand that is truly American made. So far he’s weathered getting out of the starting blocks, and a global pandemic; but, Dean and his team continue to work hard to create amazing American made products.

You can shop for Authentically American products at https://www.authenticallyamericanbrand.us/discount/FOUNDER. Be sure to use the coupon code FOUNDER to collect a 25% discount off of your total purchase.

You can also reach Dean at his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-wegner-9874065/

And be sure to follow Authentically American at the links below.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authentically_american/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthenticallyAmericanCo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Auth_American

On this episode of Return to Base we talk to former Army Ranger Alex Brammer.

Alex served as an infantryman in the illustrious 75th Ranger Regiment before transitioning to “the dark side.” that is going to West Point and being commissioned as an officer. Alex and I go into great depth about his service in the Rangers and what led him to leave the military.

While transitioning, Alex’s girlfriend saw him struggling with what his next career move would be. Then, she said: “why don’t you work in BITCOIN?” Being obsessed with bitcoin, it seemed so obvious, but also so unattainable. What the hell does it mean to “work in bitcoin?” Alex tells us how he sorted that out - on this episode of RETURN to BASE.

If you’d like to connect with Alex, he can be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-brammer/

To find out more about bitcoin, Alex recommends the following:

The Bitcoin White Paper, https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking, available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119473861/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_V1Z1D57K740DEMT16JHV

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XVDFOW/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MV48JP94W4RRF7NVBZ6X