Tango Alpha Lima Podcast

Jeff pops a few buttons with pride over two new American Legion initiatives: the newly unveiled MyLegion.org membership platform and 100 Miles of Hope fundraising and fitness challenge.

Ashley shares updates on the progress of a Global War on Terror Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. after a bipartisan panel of 25 veterans in Congress penned a letter asking President Biden to publicly support the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location Act.

CV bring troubling news of tension rising after a Chinese fighter pilot cruised into Taiwanese air space.

Rapid Fire

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• MyLegion.org
• The American Legion 100 Miles For Hope
• Global War On Terrorism Memorial Foundation - Advocating for a memorial on the mall for GWOT servicemembers.
• Global War on Terrorism Memorial proposed sites
• American Legion Resolution No. 16: National Global War on Terrorism Memorial
• Chinese Fighter Pilot Says Taiwan 'All Ours' After Being Asked to Leave Airspace
• Join The American Legion
• American Legion Post 64 Smithfield, RI | Facebook
• Veterans Voice: American Legion post seeks new members

Team Tango visits with Melissa Washington, Navy veteran and founder of the Women Veterans Alliance.

She talks about her military and civilian career, how she started her organization and grew it to a national resource for women veterans and their families.

She highlights the importance of increasing awareness about women veterans as well as bringing awareness about to the benefits to all veterans and how traditional veterans service organizations can help be a resource.

Special Guest: Melissa Washington.

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Military - Restaurants Recruit
• Find an American Legion Service Officer
• Women Veterans Unconference
• Get Back to Work by Melissa Washington | The FriesenPress Bookstore
• Women Veterans Alliance
• What Does A Woman Veteran Look Like | Women Veterans Alliance
• Center for Women Veterans (CWV)

Ashley takes the helm and leads Team Tango through a series of stories of women who made history serving in the U.S. military.

CV celebrates a trio of young female sailors who serve as master helmsmen, qualified to take the wheel of the $4.5 billion aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Jeff makes plan to virually visit The Color of Freedom: Honoring the Diversity of America's Service Women, an exibit at the Military Women's Memorial.

Rapid Fire

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• Mary Ludwig Hays aka Molly Pitcher | National Women's History Museum
• Frances Clayton | History of American Women
• The Hello Girls
• Mary Edwards Walker | National Women's History Museum
• Leigh Ann Hester - Wikipedia
• Women's Armed Services Integration Act - Wikipedia
• President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Public Law 90-130. The Nov. 8, 1967, event opened promotions for women to general and flag ranks, lifted ceilings on other ranks and removed the 2 percent ceiling on the number of women allowed on active duty. Courtesy Women's Memorial
• American Legion National Commander Denise Rohan | The American Legion
• Ann E. Dunwoody, General, U.S. Army - Foundation for Women Warriors
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Military - Restaurants Recruit
• Meet the helmsmen, the Navy ship drivers just barely out of high school
• The Color of Freedom: Honoring the Diversity of America's Servicewomen · The Military Women's Memorial - Exhibits
• 100 Miles For Hope | The American Legion
• ALA Girls State
• GENERAL JACQUELINE D. VAN OVOST > U.S. Air Force > Biography Display
• Laura J. Richardson - Wikipedia
• Resolution No. 110: Support for Congressional Gold Medal for Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators of WWI
• S.692 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the female telephone operators of the Army Signal Corps, known as the "Hello Girls". | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Team Tango learns some American Legion lore during a visit with American Legion Media & Communications Division Director and 100th Anniversary Observance Committee staff co-chairman Jeff Stoffer.

In celebration of the Legion's 102nd Birthday, the team takes a look back at key historic moments, monumental social impact and a few tales of rowdy conventions. They discuss the ways in which these historic moments formed the foundation of how Legion members continue to serve their communites, states and the nation today.

Special Guest: Jeff Stoffer.

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Military - Restaurants Recruit
• The American Legion Centennial
• First Legion victory in Washington | The American Legion Centennial Celebration
• The GI Bill | The American Legion Centennial Celebration
• The Vietnam Wall | The American Legion Centennial Celebration
• To Strengthen a Nation Documentary Series
• Genesis of The American Legion | The American Legion
• American Legion Parade passing reviewing stand, Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 1, 1921 - digital file from intermediary roll film copy | Library of Congress
• Legion On Parade In New York - 1937 | The American Legion
• Sgt. Stubby | The American Legion
• Century of Service Bookazine
• Headlines | The American Legion
• 100 Miles for Hope | The American Legion
• Washington, Idaho are air rifle champions | The American Legion
• Department Spotlight: Nevada gives new beginnings to hearing impaired youth | The American Legion
• OUR WWII STORY: Post pool, recreation center opened for trainees | The American Legion
• A moment in time: Hamilton Fish
• A moment in time: Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
• Arizona Legion post providing free COVID-19 testing | The American Legion
• Phoenix Post 65’s restaurant serves comfort, healing to at-risk population | The American Legion
• Veterans Day in East L.A. | The American Legion
• Veterans vaccinated at LA-area American Legion posts | The American Legion
• COVID Operations - American Legion Flag & Emblem

Ashley shares a report of “highly inadequate" food given to National Guardsmen still protecting the Capitol.

Jeff gets pumped up for the 2021 American Legion 100 Miles for Hope Challenge.

CV shares news of a 60 Minutes report that revealed new details about how Iran tried to use commercially available satellite imagery to monitor Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq as it prepared to launch more than a dozen ballistic missiles at U.S. and coalition forces in January, 2020 - and celebrates the Space Force’s missile warning satellite operators who foiled Iran's attack with critical intelligence that showed an attack was imminent.

Rapid Fire

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• Michigan lawmakers slam "highly inadequate" food given to National Guardsmen still protecting the Capitol - CBS News
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Military - Restaurants Recruit
• The American Legion 100 Miles for Hope 2021 Challenge
• Get your 100 Miles for Hope gear
• Report: Iran used commercial satellite images to monitor US forces before attack
• Navy WAVE, WWII Code Breaker Will Celebrate 100th Birthday with Her Own Parade | Military.com
• Top Gun: Maverick - Official Trailer in LEGO - Side by Side Version - YouTube
• Crayons Ready-to-Eat – CRE's Writable, Colorable, Crayons
• Army veteran who witnessed 1941 Pearl Harbor attack dies in Texas at 102 - Veterans - Stripes
• Military Women's Memorial | Military Women's Memorial Website

CV, Ashley and Jeff get moving with Dr. Theresa Larson, a Marine Corp. veteran and and former professional athlete who now helps adaptive athletes and others with physical therapy. Together they talk about adaptive sports for veterans, movement as therapy and setting new and realistic goals when tackling the "COVID 25."

Special Guest: Dr. Theresa Larson.

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Military - Restaurants Recruit
• Adaptive Training | Courses for Athletes & Trainers | MRx
• Nationwide Adaptive Training Course | Movement Rx
• San Diego Adaptive Training Course | Movement Rx
• Join The American Legion
• My New Normal Podcast with Dr. Theresa Larson
• MVP | Merging Vets & Players
• 100 Miles for Hope | The American Legion
• Corporate Wellness Platform & Physical Therapy | Movement Rx
• Amazon.com: Warrior: A Memoir (Audible Audio Edition): Theresa Larson, Gabra Zackman, HarperAudio: Books
• Find an American Legion Service Officer

In honor of Black History Month, Team Tango has collected a group of stories about Black members of the military.

Ashley shares the story of Retired Adm. Cecil Haney, who was one of the first Black four-star admirals in Navy history, serving as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the U.S. Strategic Command, where he oversaw nuclear weapons before retiring in 2017.

Jeff shares a historical story of German POWs at a camp in Texas who were shocked by the shoddy treatment of the Black Americans who were their guards and who they worked alongside at local farms.

CV shares the Medal of Honor story of Army Sgt. William H. Carney, who posthumously recieved the honor in 1900 for his actions during the charge of Fort Wagner in Charleston, S.C. during the Civil War.

Rapid Fire

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• Suggest a Guest
• He became one of the Navy’s first Black four-star admirals. The military has work to do on diversity, he says.
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Home
• Even Nazi prisoners of war in Texas were shocked at how black people were treated in the South | by Heather Gilligan | Timeline
• John R. Fox | World War II | U.S. Army | Medal of Honor Recipient
• William H. Carney | U.S. Civil War | U.S. Army | Medal of Honor Recipient
• Indivisible - The Story of Our Flag - American Legion Flag & Emblem
• Lift Every Voice and Sing | An African American History Month Tribute - YouTube
• US Navy's first Black female tactical jet pilot gets her 'wings of gold' - CNN
• Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote
• Retired Col. Paris Davis may finally receive the Medal of Honor
• American Legion Post 67
• TAL Episode 9: Race and Law Enforcement - Part I
• TAL Episode 9: Race and Law Enforcement - Part II

Marine and Navy veteran and psychologist David Fisher joins the Team Tango to discuss Moral Injury. Fisher, who founded and runs the Moral Injury Institute, defines moral injury as “witnessing whether in person, through reporting, or some other means something that causes a crisis of conscience due to a violation of one’s deeply held moral, religious, or ethical beliefs such that one psychically suffers in a materially adverse way.”

Special Guest: David Fisher, PhD.

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• The Road Back: A Novel (All Quiet on the Western Front) (9780449912461): Remarque, Erich Maria, Wheen, Arthur Wesley: Books
• Reading Bibliography & Resources – The Moral Injury Institute
• The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology: Bly, Robert, Hillman, James, Meade, Michael: 9780060924201: Amazon.com: Books
• War and Moral Injury: A Reader: Meagher, Robert Emmet, Pryer, Douglas A., Nash, William P., Acampora, Christa Davis: 9781498296786: Amazon.com: Books
• Moral Injury and the Promise of Virtue (9783030329365): Wiinikka-Lydon, Joseph: Books

Ashley questions the wisdom of a group of soldiers on a field exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas, who thought they'd sneak a round of drinks, but instead ended up hospitalized after ingesting antifreeze.

Jeff gets passionate about writing resolutions.

CV shares the saga of the U.S. Navy band's cover of a Taylor Swift song remade a sea shanty, the Twitter backlash, and the band member's redemption when they followed up with a mean Tweets video in response.

Rapid Fire:

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• Join The American Legion
• American Legion Resolutions
• Learn how to write a resolution
• We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together | A Sea Shanty Parody - YouTube
• U.S. Navy Band Mean Tweets - YouTube
• The American Legion Veterans & Children Foundation
• William Shatner wants to know: What the heck is wrong with you, Space Force?
• Maine Legionnaires continue effort to assist homeless veterans | The American Legion
• (20+) American Legion Post #36 | Facebook
• BOOTHBAY V.E.T.S. - Home
• Sea Shanty Challenge — Post your Legion sea shanties to Instagram, tag @theamericanlegion and use #TALseashanty

Former FBI double agent and Navy Intelligence Officer Naveed Jamali joins Team Tango to share stories of his time spent as a Russian double-agent, his transition into the military, mentorship and Hooters.

Special Guest: Naveed Jamali.

Links:

• Watch video of this episode on YouTube
• Send us your feedback!
• Naveed Jamali
• How to Catch a Russian Spy: The True Story of an American Civilian Turned Double Agent: Jamali, Naveed, Henican, Ellis: 9781476788821: Amazon.com: Books