Sing Second Alumni

We're back!! We hope you had the happiest of holiday seasons. But the holidays are over. Navy won another bowl game. Ho hum. January is here. The Pod team has re-formed and is ready to embrace the dark ages. Ease back into the second half of the pod season by enjoying a great conversation about entrepreneurship with Rob Ackerman '07. Rob is crushing it in the tech private sector and is now running Data Tribe. Data Tribe is a unique startup foundry that takes startup teams focused on Cyber Security and Data Science technologies out of Government Agencies, Defense, Technology Centers and Research Labs to co-build fast growing commercial technology companies solving complex business and Global enterprise problems. It's a great convo! And we preview some other pod specialties coming this year. And our January podcasts will feature short interviews with alums running for Trustee positions with the Alumni Association in the East and Central regions. We chat with Devin Winklosky '93 (East) and Darryl Smith '88 (Central). Voting opens for the elections 17 Feb. That and more on America’s best Alumni Association Podcast. Beat Army.

Happy Holidays, teammates. The holidays are always brighter with a win vs Army in our pocket. The boys chat about the big game, the awesome alumni presence and what we're looking forward to for the Cincy Bowl Game. Hint - It's a live pod and watch party at Dry 85 in Annapolis. We also talk about a major $15 million gift from Ernst '55 and Sara Volgenau, and chat with Natalie Brianas from the Foundation about that gift and the importance of alumni philanthropy. She also riffs on some unique family connections she has. And we chat with the amazing team at Synchrony...a company that has some great opportunities for alums, advice for transitioning out of the service and more. And we have a quick convo with an alum at Synchrony, Gabriel Ives 04 from the class of 2004. This is the last pod until January 6th, so happy holidays and safe travels! That and more on America’s best Alumni Association Podcast. Beat Army.

Happy Holidays, teammates. The holidays are always brighter with a win vs Army in our pocket. The boys chat about the big game, the awesome alumni presence and what we're looking forward to for the Cincy Bowl Game. Hint - It's a live pod and watch party at Dry 85 in Annapolis. We also talk about a major $15 million gift from Ernst '55 and Sara Volgenau, and chat with Natalie Brianas from the Foundation about that gift and the importance of alumni philanthropy. She also riffs on some unique family connections she has. And we chat with the amazing team at Synchrony...a company that has some great opportunities for alums, advice for transitioning out of the service and more. And we have a quick convo with an alum at Synchrony, Gabriel Ives 04 from the class of 2004. This is the last pod until January 6th, so happy holidays and safe travels! That and more on America’s best Alumni Association Podcast. Beat Army.

We rang in the Army-Navy game with a special podcast from Checkerspot. We chat with alums, USNA staff and bring in Jeff Webb ‘95 at the end for some final thoughts on a great rivalry, a great game and an amazing tailgate for our alums. Colin Schofield does a little guest hosting in place of Bill Wagner. We made some predictions. Some came through (the under). Some didn’t (Navy covering). But all that matters is that we had great conversations. A great game was played. And Navy Sang Second. Enjoy.

Today's show features interviews, game and season analysis and commentary from the team. Go Navy, Beat Army!

Phew…we made it. That was a long week. Chris and John close out 5 Days of Army Pods with our final predictions and observations about the events happening around the big game. We talk a little bit about the O’s first baseman of the future…but only a little bit…and close out the week with an appreciation of the greatest rivalry in sports. Our featured interviews are big ones. The first female veteran to ever be elected Governor of a U.S. State? Come right up! Mikie Sherrill joins the boys to talk about her 1-3 record vs Army, the origins of her USNA journey and her philanthropic drive as an alumna. And Tim Sheehy went from SEALs to Senator. That’s No small feat. Tim talks about the great class of ‘08, what part of Montana is the most beautiful and his drive to continue his service to the nation in DC. That and more on America’s best Alumni Association Podcast. Beat Army.

Army Week. Day 4. Let’s go. We get ready for the big game with some Q&A with head football coach Brian Newberry, and our feature interview this week is with Mike Canders ‘77 (the pilot), Corky Gardner ‘77 (the BATT-O) and ADM Gary Roughead ‘73 (the Dant), who in 1998 pulled off a pretty daring stunt that got Army Week really revved up. We chat with them about a great prank. We also chat about the days ahead and an amazing gesture by Landon Robinson in the patch he chose for his Army-Navy uniform. Hope you’re up for a great listen. That and more on the very best Alumni Association podcast there is. Beat Army...always.

Army Week. Day Three. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, people. We jump into Hump Day with Big News. We have four new Distinguished Grads. Congratulations to ADM Patrick Walsh ‘77, VADM Mark Fox ‘78, Lt. Gen. Dave Beydler ‘81 and Capt. Chris Cassidy ‘93. Pretty amazing group. We talk about it and debut the big news that DGA ceremonies will now take place in the fall on a football weekend instead of March. We also talk about the Pep Rally, the Holiday Market and the greatest thing that happened for Chris and John this Christmas - Orioles Opening Day tickets. Our feature interviews this week is Don Bouchard ‘86 and Jason Salata ‘94 from BlackSea Technologies. That’s a lot. Hope you’re up for a great listen. That and more on the very best Alumni Association podcast there is. Beat Army...always.

Day two of the Army Week pod-a-thon hits hard with a little Monday night recording from friend of the pod and sponsor Dry 85. We chat a little but more about the Monday pep rally, the chilly forecast for Saturday and a discussion about favorite Army-Navy game memories. Jason Salata ‘94 and Don Bouchard ‘86 from BlackSea stop by the bar to say hi. They’ll be featured on the Wednesday pod. And our feature interview is former boss to Chris and John - Admiral Harry Harris, USN (ret) ‘78. We talk to Harry about the heady days on the N3 staff at the Pentagon, his time as INDOPACOM and Ambassador to South Korea, but also about his three years chairing the Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award (DGA) selection committee. AA&F just selected the next set of DGs this weekend…and we will announce them Wednesday. Adm Harris gives us some perspective on the honor it was to chair a group with such a tall and important task. That and more on the best Alumni Association & Foundation Podcast there is. Beat Army…always!

Season 6 - Episode 16. It’s Army Week. Chris and John do their best work during this week. We got it started with Steelers-Ravens in freezing conditions in Baltimore. The next teams suiting it up on that field? Army and Navy. A lot to chat about as we kick off Army Week. Navy got matched up with Cincy in the Liberty Bowl Jan 2nd. We break that down. Navy got two swimming stars over the weekend. And we set some crazy records on Giving Tuesday. Our interview today is with Jeff Eggers ‘93. Jeff went from USNA to Oxford…and then to the SEAL Teams. He saw it all in uniform and out on the National Security Council and with the McChrystal Group. Now he’s on a more entrepreneurial path. He talks to the boys about his journey. That and more on the very best Alumni Association podcast there is. Beat Army...always.