WEBVTT 00:06.440 --> 00:08.890 Welcome to Beyond the Battlefield 00:08.890 --> 00:10.779 Stories of Mountain and Air , the 00:10.779 --> 00:12.834 podcast that delves into the diverse 00:12.834 --> 00:15.039 and compelling careers of the Vermont 00:15.039 --> 00:17.559 National Guard and its members . I'm 00:17.559 --> 00:19.559 your host , Sergeant Dennis Nunez , 00:19.559 --> 00:21.448 public affairs specialist for the 00:21.448 --> 00:23.392 Vermont National Guard Joint Force 00:23.392 --> 00:25.879 Headquarters . Each episode features a 00:25.879 --> 00:27.712 candid conversation with current 00:27.712 --> 00:29.879 military personnel in order to shine a 00:29.879 --> 00:32.860 light on their personal experiences in 00:32.860 --> 00:35.319 and out of uniform . Join us as we 00:35.319 --> 00:37.909 uncover the untold stories behind these 00:37.909 --> 00:39.909 soldiers and airmen and explore the 00:39.909 --> 00:42.020 motivations that drive individuals to 00:42.020 --> 00:44.131 pursue a career in the armed forces . 00:45.169 --> 00:47.169 Our guest today has been one of the 00:47.169 --> 00:49.280 vital members of the Vermont National 00:49.280 --> 00:51.225 Guard's flood response team . As a 00:51.225 --> 00:53.391 member of the Quick reaction force for 00:53.391 --> 00:55.391 state emergencies , he has provided 00:55.391 --> 00:57.113 critical life saving maneuvers 00:57.113 --> 00:59.169 utilizing high water rescue vehicles 00:59.169 --> 01:01.169 and transporting swift water rescue 01:01.169 --> 01:03.459 teams and civilians in and out of flood 01:03.459 --> 01:05.403 zones . Thank you for being here , 01:05.403 --> 01:07.459 Staff Sergeant Niels Heisman . Thank 01:07.459 --> 01:09.570 you , Sergeant Nunez . My pleasure to 01:09.570 --> 01:11.626 be here . Now you're a member of the 01:11.626 --> 01:13.848 40th Army band , which also serves as a 01:13.848 --> 01:15.792 component of the QRF for the quick 01:15.792 --> 01:17.792 reaction force . What's that like ? 01:17.792 --> 01:20.015 What's the feeling you receive when you 01:20.015 --> 01:21.959 get that call ? I think it kind of 01:21.959 --> 01:24.292 depends on the time of day a little bit . 01:24.292 --> 01:24.209 Sometimes I'm , I'm wiping the sleep 01:24.209 --> 01:26.320 out of my eyes when we get the call . 01:26.389 --> 01:28.278 Uh , it's , it's a bit of a mixed 01:28.278 --> 01:30.389 feeling . It's , it's a great feeling 01:30.389 --> 01:32.556 and a bit of a sad feeling , uh , when 01:32.556 --> 01:34.819 we get the call to do something . It's 01:34.819 --> 01:36.708 usually because something bad has 01:36.708 --> 01:38.763 happened to the state of Vermont and 01:38.763 --> 01:40.708 we're being called to uh help some 01:40.708 --> 01:42.763 people out who are probably having a 01:42.763 --> 01:44.819 pretty bad day so I'm I'm sad that I 01:44.819 --> 01:47.041 have to get called up to do something , 01:47.041 --> 01:49.041 but at the same time I'm , I'm very 01:49.041 --> 01:48.980 grateful and very proud of the fact 01:48.980 --> 01:51.202 that I can , I can do something . I can 01:51.202 --> 01:53.258 be a part of the solution I can be a 01:53.258 --> 01:55.699 part of the rescue attempt and trying 01:55.699 --> 01:57.921 to make things just a little bit better 01:57.921 --> 01:59.866 and give back to the state and the 01:59.866 --> 02:01.977 community that helped take care of me 02:01.977 --> 02:04.310 and get me to where I am . That's great . 02:04.310 --> 02:06.532 Um , can you tell me a little bit about 02:06.532 --> 02:08.532 like what it is you and the rest of 02:08.532 --> 02:10.755 your team do during these type of state 02:10.755 --> 02:12.977 emergencies ? It depends on the type of 02:12.977 --> 02:14.977 emergency . The last two that we've 02:14.977 --> 02:17.255 responded to were both flooding events . 02:17.255 --> 02:19.366 So what will normally happen is we'll 02:19.366 --> 02:21.477 get the call , we'll assemble at Camp 02:21.477 --> 02:23.532 Johnson or one of the other armories 02:23.532 --> 02:25.588 around the area and . Get all of our 02:25.588 --> 02:27.755 equipment together , go out , uh , and 02:27.755 --> 02:29.921 meet with the local fire departments , 02:29.921 --> 02:32.143 swift water teams , uh , the people and 02:32.143 --> 02:34.310 the civilian our civilian counterparts 02:34.310 --> 02:36.532 who are on the ground . And really know 02:36.532 --> 02:39.029 the area well and are trying to provide 02:39.029 --> 02:41.196 response as quick as possible and some 02:41.196 --> 02:43.362 relief . We'll meet with them and find 02:43.362 --> 02:45.362 out what their needs are and do our 02:45.362 --> 02:47.529 best to fill in . Uh , oftentimes what 02:47.529 --> 02:49.473 we've been doing is providing high 02:49.473 --> 02:51.696 water support . We have some very large 02:51.696 --> 02:53.640 trucks that can drive through some 02:53.640 --> 02:55.585 pretty deep water without too much 02:55.585 --> 02:57.696 difficulty , and that can be of great 02:57.696 --> 02:59.751 use to fire departments swift , uh , 02:59.751 --> 03:01.973 swift rescue teams , swift water rescue 03:01.973 --> 03:03.918 teams , excuse me , um , and urban 03:03.918 --> 03:06.529 search and rescue . Uh , so that's most 03:06.529 --> 03:08.473 of what we do sometimes we're just 03:08.473 --> 03:10.410 helping , uh , at the local fire 03:10.410 --> 03:12.354 department just be an extra set of 03:12.354 --> 03:14.521 hands to just help get people to where 03:14.521 --> 03:16.949 they are . Uh , get people to where 03:16.949 --> 03:19.060 they're going , get them a hot meal , 03:19.339 --> 03:22.059 um , be a smiling face , uh , as part 03:22.059 --> 03:24.059 of the band , one of the fun things 03:24.059 --> 03:26.779 that we get to do is , uh , we get to 03:26.779 --> 03:28.890 play a bit of music . So if we're not 03:28.890 --> 03:31.112 immediately going out to provide , uh , 03:31.112 --> 03:34.179 rescue or life saving services , a lot 03:34.179 --> 03:36.346 of us will bring an instrument with us 03:36.346 --> 03:38.346 and we'll just play a little bit of 03:38.346 --> 03:40.568 music , uh , in the area for the people 03:40.568 --> 03:42.846 who might have just lost their home or . 03:42.846 --> 03:42.820 Potentially lost a family member or a 03:42.820 --> 03:44.820 pet or something that they're going 03:44.820 --> 03:46.899 through a bad time . We try and ease 03:46.899 --> 03:48.899 their mind just a little bit . What 03:48.899 --> 03:50.979 does that , um , scene like do you 03:50.979 --> 03:53.201 think like it , it seems like that that 03:53.201 --> 03:55.660 would be very uplifting in such a 03:55.660 --> 03:57.779 moment of crisis for , you know , a 03:57.779 --> 04:00.001 group of people that are there together 04:00.001 --> 04:02.619 as a huddled mass and you bring in this 04:02.619 --> 04:06.440 music . It can be , uh . This 04:06.440 --> 04:08.839 last , uh last flood response , my team 04:08.839 --> 04:10.783 was up in Lindonville and Sergeant 04:10.783 --> 04:12.839 Jason Allen was with us . He brought 04:12.839 --> 04:14.672 his guitar with him and while we 04:14.672 --> 04:16.895 weren't going out on missions , we were 04:16.895 --> 04:18.950 looking to be useful around the fire 04:18.950 --> 04:18.920 department . He brought out his guitar 04:18.920 --> 04:21.709 and I saw a lot of people just . Uh , 04:21.748 --> 04:23.748 open up just a little bit . They're 04:23.748 --> 04:25.304 having a bit of a bad day , 04:25.304 --> 04:27.304 understandably , and you just see a 04:27.304 --> 04:29.415 smile come across their face and they 04:29.415 --> 04:31.839 get to . Just be happy or or not think 04:31.839 --> 04:33.783 about the terrible thing that just 04:33.783 --> 04:36.006 happened for just a couple of minutes . 04:36.006 --> 04:38.172 It can really raise spirits , it can . 04:38.172 --> 04:40.283 Ease a bit of suffering . It can just 04:40.283 --> 04:42.339 it can help people , uh , help their 04:42.339 --> 04:44.506 morale just a little bit and help them 04:44.506 --> 04:46.506 find the strength to go through and 04:46.506 --> 04:48.561 move on with the unfortunate part of 04:48.561 --> 04:48.450 dealing with the loss of a house . Yeah , 04:48.529 --> 04:51.489 I can imagine . Um , can you speak to 04:51.489 --> 04:53.656 some of the rescues that you've been a 04:53.656 --> 04:55.767 part of ? I know last year I was able 04:55.767 --> 04:57.878 to tag along , uh , with you for some 04:57.878 --> 04:59.933 of those rescues , um . I , I wasn't 04:59.933 --> 05:02.045 there this year . Um , could you talk 05:02.045 --> 05:04.045 about that a little bit and tell us 05:04.045 --> 05:05.933 kind of what was happening on the 05:05.933 --> 05:08.100 ground during the flooding events were 05:08.100 --> 05:11.339 sore . I'm sad not to have you with us . 05:11.709 --> 05:13.931 Uh , if you remember the things that we 05:13.931 --> 05:16.042 did last year , it was very similar . 05:16.042 --> 05:18.098 Uh , a lot of the rivers and streams 05:18.098 --> 05:19.987 had flooded their banks sometimes 05:19.987 --> 05:22.153 pretty severely . Uh , there was a lot 05:22.153 --> 05:23.876 of runoff coming down from the 05:23.876 --> 05:26.042 mountains to lower levels . So we just 05:26.042 --> 05:28.600 had anywhere from 2 to 5 ft of water to 05:28.600 --> 05:30.679 go through , um , various parts of 05:30.679 --> 05:32.901 different communities were cut off from 05:32.901 --> 05:35.660 main roads , uh , bridges were out . It 05:35.660 --> 05:37.827 was just going through some high water 05:37.827 --> 05:39.993 with swiftwater teams and urban search 05:39.993 --> 05:42.104 and rescue and checking on the people 05:42.104 --> 05:44.438 in the various locations . Are you safe ? 05:44.438 --> 05:46.438 Are you OK ? Um , if the swiftwater 05:46.438 --> 05:48.438 teams looked around and said , OK , 05:48.438 --> 05:50.382 this is high ground . They have an 05:50.382 --> 05:52.549 option whether they would like to stay 05:52.549 --> 05:54.549 and ride it out . We feel safe with 05:54.549 --> 05:54.299 them staying here or if they wanted to 05:54.299 --> 05:56.649 leave if they wanted to get out , um , 05:57.260 --> 05:59.371 it was about a it was a mixed bag I'd 05:59.371 --> 06:01.482 say about half and half . People were 06:01.482 --> 06:03.427 happy to just stay where they were 06:03.427 --> 06:05.482 knowing that we had hit at one point 06:05.482 --> 06:07.427 we'd hit kind of the highest water 06:07.427 --> 06:09.593 levels that we were expecting to see , 06:09.593 --> 06:11.316 uh , and that the flooding the 06:11.316 --> 06:11.220 floodwaters would recede , so they were 06:11.220 --> 06:13.220 fine . They didn't have anything to 06:13.220 --> 06:15.276 really be concerned about their home 06:15.276 --> 06:17.442 was fine , their cars were fine . They 06:17.442 --> 06:19.664 were just cut off for the next 12 to 16 06:19.664 --> 06:21.553 hours . And sometimes people were 06:21.553 --> 06:23.831 saying , you know , get me out of here . 06:23.831 --> 06:23.769 uh , I'm not convinced that the 06:23.769 --> 06:25.936 floodwaters won't rise higher . I need 06:25.936 --> 06:28.369 to get out or I have uh a medical 06:28.369 --> 06:30.591 condition I need to be able to get to a 06:30.591 --> 06:32.758 doctor in case something bad happens . 06:32.758 --> 06:34.869 Uh , a team that I was overseeing but 06:34.869 --> 06:36.869 was not with them at the time where 06:36.869 --> 06:38.869 there was a car pinned up against a 06:38.869 --> 06:41.036 tree , uh , with a civilian inside and 06:41.036 --> 06:43.091 we were able to get uh uh one of our 06:43.091 --> 06:45.279 large vehicles out to that . Close 06:45.279 --> 06:47.446 enough to that vehicle where the swift 06:47.446 --> 06:49.223 water teams could take over and 06:49.223 --> 06:51.446 actually rescue the individual that was 06:51.446 --> 06:53.612 trapped in that car . So that was kind 06:53.612 --> 06:55.779 of cool . I , I . Unfortunately it was 06:55.779 --> 06:58.001 not a part of that but the people I was 06:58.001 --> 06:59.946 working with were um those are the 06:59.946 --> 07:02.112 moments where it's like yeah we did we 07:02.112 --> 07:04.279 didn't just check on people we saved a 07:04.279 --> 07:06.501 life um not to say that we didn't um in 07:06.501 --> 07:08.612 those other situations , but that's a 07:08.612 --> 07:10.779 it's a very tangible this person might 07:10.779 --> 07:12.890 have died if we had not taken care of 07:12.890 --> 07:15.001 them . That's pretty incredible and I 07:15.001 --> 07:17.390 know last year it was something like 20 07:17.390 --> 07:20.559 plus people were rescued . Um , do you 07:20.559 --> 07:22.781 know what the numbers were looking like 07:22.781 --> 07:24.892 this year ? I , I , I had read , uh , 07:24.892 --> 07:27.239 19 perhaps something in that in that 07:27.239 --> 07:30.920 ballpark . I believe that . I think 07:30.920 --> 07:34.489 that it's not , um . A local flood 07:34.489 --> 07:36.322 response team or or the state of 07:36.322 --> 07:38.545 Vermont put out something like that . I 07:38.545 --> 07:40.711 know that my team up in Lindonville we 07:40.711 --> 07:42.933 were based in Lindonville , but we kind 07:42.933 --> 07:44.933 of took care of the whole Northeast 07:44.933 --> 07:44.609 Kingdom . There were people in Saint 07:44.609 --> 07:46.929 Johnsbury and Peacham and Barnet and 07:46.929 --> 07:49.809 all over the kingdom , um , I think we 07:49.809 --> 07:53.730 did . 50 to 60 missions and I 07:53.730 --> 07:55.970 think we took in we specifically 07:55.970 --> 07:58.529 rescued about 10 people um that were in 07:58.529 --> 08:00.751 danger of of needing serious rescue and 08:00.751 --> 08:02.807 brought in just from uh uh these cut 08:02.807 --> 08:04.862 off areas that I mentioned earlier , 08:04.862 --> 08:06.751 probably another 30 or 40 . Wow , 08:06.751 --> 08:09.239 incredible can't thank you enough , uh , 08:09.250 --> 08:11.361 for what you've done out there , what 08:11.361 --> 08:13.250 for what the emergency management 08:13.250 --> 08:15.417 services doing out there and the swift 08:15.417 --> 08:17.528 water rescue teams that came from out 08:17.528 --> 08:19.809 of state last year and this year to 08:19.809 --> 08:22.459 assist Vermont and . In such a a dire 08:22.459 --> 08:26.130 time , um . Lastly , on the , on the 08:26.130 --> 08:28.186 flooding , I , I'd like to ask , you 08:28.186 --> 08:30.297 know , since you were there two years 08:30.297 --> 08:32.408 in a row , and we're seeing this kind 08:32.408 --> 08:36.039 of perpetual , uh , happening , uh , 08:36.049 --> 08:38.409 can you tell me what you've seen from 08:38.409 --> 08:41.419 as a difference from 2023 on to 08:41.419 --> 08:43.890 2024 ? Has there been any stark 08:43.890 --> 08:46.112 differences ? Is it kind of more of the 08:46.112 --> 08:48.409 same that you've noticed or is anything 08:48.409 --> 08:51.580 that is of note ? Well , each , each 08:51.580 --> 08:53.747 natural disaster , each emergency is a 08:53.747 --> 08:55.913 little bit different , um , and as you 08:55.913 --> 08:58.024 know , last year we were in Cambridge 08:58.024 --> 09:00.136 and Jeffersonville for a good part of 09:00.136 --> 09:02.247 it . My team was at least , uh , this 09:02.247 --> 09:01.940 year I was up in the Northeast Kingdom , 09:01.979 --> 09:03.535 so there are gonna be those 09:03.535 --> 09:06.359 geographical differences . But in terms 09:06.359 --> 09:09.409 of uh the flooding , I mean a flooded 09:09.409 --> 09:11.520 river is a flooded river they tend to 09:11.520 --> 09:13.576 have very similar behaviors . We had 09:13.576 --> 09:15.809 some deep water we had uh roads being 09:15.809 --> 09:17.698 washed out bridge abutments being 09:17.698 --> 09:19.920 washed out , um , there were definitely 09:19.920 --> 09:21.809 a couple points where we got to a 09:21.809 --> 09:24.031 section of road and we stopped , looked 09:24.031 --> 09:26.087 around and realized there is no soil 09:26.087 --> 09:28.198 underneath this asphalt , which was a 09:28.198 --> 09:30.365 very similar thing to last year , just 09:30.365 --> 09:32.531 different areas are being washed out . 09:32.531 --> 09:34.753 This year I think the response was uh a 09:34.753 --> 09:36.976 little bit better . We learned a lot of 09:36.976 --> 09:38.920 lessons from last year . We were a 09:38.920 --> 09:41.031 little bit more proactive and we were 09:41.031 --> 09:40.820 able to get people to where they needed 09:40.820 --> 09:44.020 to be a little bit quicker so it was uh 09:44.020 --> 09:46.076 an improvement of last year , not to 09:46.076 --> 09:48.242 say that we did things badly last year 09:48.242 --> 09:50.353 we did the the best we could and we I 09:50.353 --> 09:52.409 think we did an excellent job but it 09:52.409 --> 09:54.464 was nice to see that uh . With every 09:54.464 --> 09:56.353 situation there are lessons to be 09:56.353 --> 09:58.076 learned we learned them and we 09:58.076 --> 10:00.187 implemented some solutions to try and 10:00.187 --> 10:02.242 and head certain problems off before 10:02.242 --> 10:04.409 they became problems um but just as as 10:04.409 --> 10:06.576 last year communities getting together 10:06.576 --> 10:08.853 everybody pitching in to help out , um , 10:08.853 --> 10:10.631 the local fire departments were 10:10.631 --> 10:12.853 excellent hosts to us this year as they 10:12.853 --> 10:14.576 were last year , uh , it was . 10:14.576 --> 10:16.353 Unfortunate that it had to be a 10:16.353 --> 10:18.576 disaster , but it's always heartwarming 10:18.576 --> 10:20.742 to see communities get together , take 10:20.742 --> 10:20.400 care of each other , and , and let us 10:20.400 --> 10:22.622 into their community for a little while 10:22.622 --> 10:25.239 to help out and I'm sure that the 10:25.239 --> 10:28.520 people that you've helped to have been 10:28.520 --> 10:30.576 greatly appreciative of your efforts 10:30.576 --> 10:33.400 and I know from what I saw so many 10:33.400 --> 10:35.400 people had been reaching out saying 10:35.400 --> 10:37.622 thank you for you and your services and 10:37.622 --> 10:40.280 for the rest of the QRF team and folks 10:40.280 --> 10:43.590 and uh uh that were out there . Um , so 10:43.590 --> 10:45.646 again , thank you so much for that . 10:46.729 --> 10:48.673 I'd like to kind of switch gears a 10:48.673 --> 10:50.840 little bit here because , you know , I 10:50.840 --> 10:53.062 don't want to end everything on uh such 10:53.062 --> 10:55.062 a stark and dire note . I'd like to 10:55.062 --> 10:57.229 come back to maybe your musical career 10:57.229 --> 10:59.229 a little bit more , um , and see if 10:59.229 --> 11:01.062 maybe you'd talk me through your 11:01.062 --> 11:03.349 journey , talk talk to me about what . 11:04.549 --> 11:06.979 Uh , or what , what it is that you went 11:06.979 --> 11:09.349 through to become a member of the band 11:09.669 --> 11:11.780 and , and just kind of the steps that 11:11.780 --> 11:13.891 it took to get there . Well , first , 11:13.891 --> 11:16.058 let me just say I love my job . I love 11:16.058 --> 11:18.169 what I do as a bandsman . It's , it's 11:18.169 --> 11:20.391 also very rewarding to be part of the , 11:20.391 --> 11:22.502 the quick reaction force , but my day 11:22.502 --> 11:24.725 to day job as a bandsman , what a great 11:24.725 --> 11:24.570 way to serve my country and my state , 11:24.710 --> 11:27.820 uh , to play music . Um , I joined , uh , 11:27.830 --> 11:30.052 a little bit later than a lot of people 11:30.052 --> 11:33.760 joined the military . I was 21 . Um , I 11:33.760 --> 11:35.927 got out of high school kind of floated 11:35.927 --> 11:37.982 around , didn't really have a lot of 11:37.982 --> 11:40.359 direction and decided I needed to get 11:40.359 --> 11:42.026 some direction , get a bit of 11:42.026 --> 11:44.248 discipline , and looked around , talked 11:44.248 --> 11:46.359 to a couple of recruiters and found , 11:46.359 --> 11:48.470 uh , my recruiter at the time , Staff 11:48.470 --> 11:50.637 Sergeant Chris Cover , shout out Chief 11:50.637 --> 11:52.803 Warrant Officer 3 Chris Cover . I know 11:52.803 --> 11:54.859 you're still around . um , thank you 11:54.859 --> 11:56.859 for getting me in . We talked for a 11:56.859 --> 11:58.803 little while , he found out that I 11:58.803 --> 12:00.859 played music and said , hey , do you 12:00.859 --> 12:03.137 know we have a band here ? I said , no , 12:03.137 --> 12:05.415 that's awesome . I'd love to meet them . 12:05.659 --> 12:08.020 And like most bands , like most musical 12:08.020 --> 12:10.020 organizations , there's an audition 12:10.020 --> 12:12.242 process you generally will go meet them 12:12.242 --> 12:14.242 and hang out with them for a little 12:14.242 --> 12:16.242 while , which is what I did . I , I 12:16.242 --> 12:18.409 spent a drill weekend working with the 12:18.409 --> 12:18.239 band and just meeting everybody seeing 12:18.239 --> 12:20.461 who they were seeing what kind of music 12:20.461 --> 12:22.572 they played , and , and if I could be 12:22.572 --> 12:24.683 uh a positive addition to the group , 12:24.683 --> 12:26.739 it took one drill weekend and I said 12:26.739 --> 12:28.850 this is great . I'd love to work with 12:28.850 --> 12:31.017 these guys I wanna play with them um I 12:31.017 --> 12:33.239 could see myself doing some really cool 12:33.239 --> 12:35.570 stuff here . I took an audition uh 12:35.570 --> 12:37.960 about a month later and uh Chief David 12:37.960 --> 12:40.016 Myers , the commander of the band at 12:40.016 --> 12:42.071 the time said , You're great , we'll 12:42.071 --> 12:44.293 have you in , sign the papers and off I 12:44.293 --> 12:46.349 went to basic training . Um , that's 12:46.349 --> 12:48.571 been about 20 years ago , a little over 12:48.571 --> 12:50.404 20 years ago . They kept putting 12:50.404 --> 12:52.516 reenlistment paperwork in front of me 12:52.516 --> 12:54.627 and and I kept saying , yeah , no , I 12:54.627 --> 12:56.849 could keep doing this . This is great . 12:56.849 --> 12:58.909 God , this is awesome , um , it's , 12:58.940 --> 13:00.996 it's great . I get to play music . I 13:00.996 --> 13:02.996 get to go to different parts of the 13:02.996 --> 13:05.162 state , play for different civilians . 13:05.162 --> 13:06.996 I get to support , uh , military 13:06.996 --> 13:09.051 activities , um , there's a , uh , a 13:09.051 --> 13:11.218 national competition happening here in 13:11.218 --> 13:13.384 Vermont , uh , pretty soon . And there 13:13.384 --> 13:15.551 will be an awards banquet and I get to 13:15.551 --> 13:17.718 go and play for the awards banquet for 13:17.718 --> 13:17.460 this military , uh , military 13:17.460 --> 13:19.349 competition for change of command 13:19.349 --> 13:21.571 ceremonies , change of responsibility , 13:21.571 --> 13:23.682 um , ship commissionings , you know , 13:23.682 --> 13:25.849 it's great it's , it's such a cool job 13:25.849 --> 13:27.960 to have in the in the military and in 13:27.960 --> 13:29.960 the National Guard . I get to do so 13:29.960 --> 13:31.682 many cool things , very , very 13:31.682 --> 13:33.738 rewarding career that's amazing . Is 13:33.738 --> 13:35.849 there uh anything you'd like to share 13:35.849 --> 13:37.719 with the people , maybe a really 13:37.719 --> 13:41.039 memorable experience or a favorite gig 13:41.039 --> 13:43.317 of some type that you've done ? Oh man , 13:43.919 --> 13:45.919 there's so many cool gigs that I've 13:45.919 --> 13:48.086 done so many , so many cool gigs . I'd 13:48.086 --> 13:50.849 have to say the most recent , uh , most 13:50.849 --> 13:53.400 recent high profile like gig was high 13:53.400 --> 13:55.511 profile gig I did was probably one of 13:55.511 --> 13:57.622 the coolest in my 20 year career . So 13:57.622 --> 13:59.678 Vermont has a state partnership with 13:59.678 --> 14:02.390 the Republic of Austria . Which we got 14:02.390 --> 14:04.549 I think about 2 years ago , um , the 14:04.549 --> 14:06.716 Austrians found out that Vermont has a 14:06.716 --> 14:09.219 band and we played for them at , uh , 14:09.830 --> 14:11.997 kind of a welcome event for them and , 14:12.309 --> 14:14.420 uh , where General Knight and a bunch 14:14.420 --> 14:16.476 of delegates from Austria had dinner 14:16.476 --> 14:18.642 and we played a dining and this is a a 14:18.642 --> 14:20.753 pretty common thing for us to do . We 14:20.753 --> 14:22.753 provide some musical background and 14:22.753 --> 14:22.710 they said , man , your band's really 14:22.710 --> 14:25.289 good . We've got this officer's ball 14:25.289 --> 14:27.770 that we have every year in Vienna . We 14:27.770 --> 14:30.049 would love to have the 40th Army band 14:30.049 --> 14:33.130 be a guest artist for this event . We 14:33.130 --> 14:35.130 said , of course , absolutely , you 14:35.130 --> 14:37.297 know , go to Austria and and represent 14:37.297 --> 14:39.519 Vermont and the United States at at the 14:39.519 --> 14:42.969 officer's ball . We didn't realize 14:43.229 --> 14:45.630 how big an event this was when until we 14:45.630 --> 14:47.686 got there . This was at the Hoffberg 14:47.686 --> 14:49.869 Palace , which is the the main palace 14:49.869 --> 14:51.925 in Vienna . It's the , the head of , 14:51.925 --> 14:53.925 it's the seat of government for the 14:53.925 --> 14:56.036 entire country . And I don't know any 14:56.036 --> 14:58.349 way to describe it other than it was a 14:58.349 --> 15:00.880 Disney princess ball . Think of the 15:00.880 --> 15:03.380 most lavish ending ending credits 15:03.380 --> 15:05.380 Disney princess movie you've seen . 15:05.559 --> 15:08.830 That's what we did . It was incredible , 15:09.200 --> 15:11.520 um , uniformed service members of all 15:11.520 --> 15:14.280 branches , uh , for the US and for 15:14.280 --> 15:17.119 Austria . Beautiful , uh , beautiful 15:17.119 --> 15:20.039 ballroom dancers , multiple ballrooms . 15:20.099 --> 15:22.960 It was absolutely incredible . We sent 15:22.960 --> 15:24.849 our rock band over . I'm the bass 15:24.849 --> 15:26.960 player for the rock band . By the end 15:26.960 --> 15:28.960 of the night , it was standing room 15:28.960 --> 15:31.127 only in our ballroom . We were pulling 15:31.127 --> 15:33.849 people from all over the event . And 15:34.049 --> 15:36.609 they loved us , they kept , kept asking 15:36.609 --> 15:38.720 for more . We were done at 4 a.m. and 15:38.720 --> 15:41.053 they said one more song , one more song , 15:41.053 --> 15:43.109 like we're tired , but OK , we'll do 15:43.109 --> 15:45.460 one more . It was great . It was an 15:45.460 --> 15:48.549 absolutely incredible experience and uh 15:48.549 --> 15:50.660 hey Austria , I'd love to come back . 15:50.669 --> 15:52.725 That's amazing and you guys were the 15:52.725 --> 15:54.891 guest of honor . We were the guests of 15:54.891 --> 15:57.058 honor . Uh , it was to celebrate the , 15:57.058 --> 15:59.058 the recent , uh , state partnership 15:59.058 --> 16:01.225 program , and we got to be the musical 16:01.225 --> 16:03.336 guests of honor , um , for the entire 16:03.336 --> 16:05.502 event . It was absolutely incredible . 16:05.502 --> 16:07.669 That's amazing . So , Sergeant , I'd , 16:07.669 --> 16:09.613 I'd like to ask you , is there any 16:09.613 --> 16:11.669 advice , uh , anything you'd like to 16:11.669 --> 16:13.780 share or give anyone that is thinking 16:13.780 --> 16:16.190 about joining . A , maybe the band , or 16:16.190 --> 16:18.369 B , the National Guard , the Vermont 16:18.369 --> 16:21.400 National Guard , um , just anything 16:21.400 --> 16:23.599 that you think would set them up for 16:23.599 --> 16:27.260 success . This is one of the best 16:27.260 --> 16:29.260 organizations I've worked for in my 16:29.260 --> 16:31.371 life . I'm 41 years old . I've done a 16:31.371 --> 16:33.204 ton of jobs . I've done a ton of 16:33.204 --> 16:32.989 different things in my life . The 16:32.989 --> 16:35.045 Vermont National Guard is one of the 16:35.045 --> 16:37.322 greatest organizations I've worked for . 16:37.322 --> 16:39.489 Reach out to a local recruiter . Reach 16:39.489 --> 16:41.656 out to anybody that you know who is in 16:41.656 --> 16:43.767 the Vermont National Guard air , Army 16:43.767 --> 16:45.822 doesn't matter , reach out , talk to 16:45.822 --> 16:47.989 them . They're gonna tell you the same 16:47.989 --> 16:49.933 thing . Um , a lot of times we can 16:49.933 --> 16:51.989 bring you in to meet people and just 16:51.989 --> 16:54.156 kind of see some things that you might 16:54.156 --> 16:55.878 be interested in whatever your 16:55.878 --> 16:57.711 interests are , I'm sure there's 16:57.711 --> 16:59.933 something in the Vermont National Guard 16:59.933 --> 17:02.045 that will align with them whether you 17:02.045 --> 17:04.100 like to do we wield vehicle repair , 17:04.100 --> 17:06.267 whether you wanna fly planes , whether 17:06.267 --> 17:08.489 you wanna join the band , the best unit 17:08.489 --> 17:10.545 in the Vermont National Guard , um , 17:10.545 --> 17:12.711 come talk to us , we'd love to talk to 17:12.711 --> 17:14.878 you . Uh , we're not scary . I know we 17:14.878 --> 17:17.100 put on the uniform and we look , we can 17:17.100 --> 17:19.267 look intimidating at times . What some 17:19.267 --> 17:18.848 of the friendliest people I've ever met , 17:18.889 --> 17:21.167 some of my best friends that I'm gonna , 17:21.167 --> 17:23.500 I'm gonna know and be friends with , um , 17:23.500 --> 17:25.500 past the time I retire and past the 17:25.500 --> 17:27.278 time they retire . It's a great 17:27.278 --> 17:29.529 organization . Come say hi , come talk 17:29.529 --> 17:31.473 to us . We'd love to talk to you . 17:32.109 --> 17:34.276 Sergeant , thank you so much for being 17:34.276 --> 17:36.331 here . It's fantastic to have you on 17:36.331 --> 17:38.920 and hear these incredible stories , um , 17:39.160 --> 17:41.420 and again , you know , I think I can 17:41.420 --> 17:43.839 speak for every Vermonter and say thank 17:43.839 --> 17:46.209 you for what you've done the last two 17:46.209 --> 17:49.489 years in aiding , uh , during a time of 17:49.489 --> 17:52.920 crisis here in our state . Um , and I 17:52.920 --> 17:54.864 appreciate your time . Thank you , 17:54.864 --> 17:57.087 Sergeant . Thank you so much for having 17:57.087 --> 17:56.599 me and thank you to all the communities 17:56.599 --> 17:58.766 for letting us in for a little while . 17:59.920 --> 18:02.031 So everyone , thank you for tuning in 18:02.031 --> 18:03.920 again and joining us today on the 18:03.920 --> 18:05.809 Beyond the Battlefield Stories of 18:05.809 --> 18:07.809 Mountain Air podcast . I'm Sergeant 18:07.809 --> 18:09.753 Dennis Nunez . Stay curious , stay 18:09.753 --> 18:11.864 inspired , and we'll catch you in the 18:11.864 --> 18:13.698 next episode . Until then , keep 18:13.698 --> 18:14.359 ascending .