1 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,560 Do you want to win some money? I bet you do. 2 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:14,080 Do you care about civil affairs? Yes, I know for sure. 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:15,600 Because you're listening to the show. 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:18,840 Check out the call for issue papers. 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,040 The new theme is campaigning and civil affairs. 6 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:26,400 Some questions to answer include how can see it contribute to 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,480 campaigning. Beyond policy, what changes can 8 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,479 better operationalize and integrate C A's role in 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,040 campaigning? How would CA even measure 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,320 progress in campaigning? And how would a full concept of 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,360 the CA role in campaigning apply to conflict prevention, security 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,680 cooperation, irregular or Gray zone warfare? 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,440 So put that thinking cap on and submit your papers by Friday 15 14 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,120 September. For more details, visit 15 00:00:54,120 --> 00:01:00,600 civilaffairsasocial.org. Hi, this is Message for Jack. 16 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,160 This is John. You're doing a great job of the 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:05,480 show. It's really awesome. 18 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:07,600 We appreciate everything you've been putting out to the 19 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:12,080 community. So some older episodes that I'd 20 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,480 love for you to run back again. If you've got time one is the 21 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,440 95th CA Brigades Advanced Skills Detachment. 22 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,920 That, of course, is John Mcellegate calling in to 23 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,360 recommend some episodes that deserve a second listen. 24 00:01:26,090 --> 00:01:28,970 As you know, I use one week out of the month to bring in guest 25 00:01:28,970 --> 00:01:32,570 shows that I think John has a great idea to also introduce 26 00:01:32,570 --> 00:01:35,250 shows from the archives that complement today's topics. 27 00:01:35,730 --> 00:01:40,090 So let's get started. All right. 28 00:01:40,090 --> 00:01:43,530 Welcome to the One CA Podcast. I am your host, Shawn Acosta, 29 00:01:43,690 --> 00:01:48,330 and today I have Joe Pistoric with me, who is the former NCIC 30 00:01:48,330 --> 00:01:50,690 of the 95th Advanced Skills Detachment. 31 00:01:51,150 --> 00:01:53,070 And today we're going to be talking a little bit about what 32 00:01:53,230 --> 00:01:58,910 95th ASD offers for the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade and for 33 00:01:58,910 --> 00:02:00,270 the greater civil affairs community. 34 00:02:00,270 --> 00:02:03,150 So Joe, welcome to the to the One CA podcast. 35 00:02:03,150 --> 00:02:04,950 Really appreciate you coming on. Yeah. 36 00:02:04,950 --> 00:02:06,470 No thanks for having me. It's a pleasure. 37 00:02:07,790 --> 00:02:10,830 So Joe, before we get started, could you just kind of give give 38 00:02:10,830 --> 00:02:14,270 the audience A brief background on kind of your military 39 00:02:14,270 --> 00:02:17,270 experience and why you came over to CA what you you've done in 40 00:02:17,270 --> 00:02:20,180 your civil affairs career? Sure. 41 00:02:20,260 --> 00:02:25,220 So join the Army in September of 2000 as a chemical operations 42 00:02:25,220 --> 00:02:30,220 specialist, I spent my first eight years in the 82nd Airborne 43 00:02:30,220 --> 00:02:35,980 Division here at Fort Bragg in, let's see when Civil Affairs 44 00:02:36,220 --> 00:02:40,460 Assessment Selection in 2011. I actually worked with Civil 45 00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:44,460 affairs in Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006. 46 00:02:45,460 --> 00:02:50,350 So you know glean some of the. Some of what they do and it's 47 00:02:50,350 --> 00:02:51,950 different. It was reserved civil affairs, 48 00:02:51,950 --> 00:02:54,470 but I was still very interesting to be able to you know, do the 49 00:02:54,470 --> 00:03:00,350 things they were doing. So 2012 graduated the civil 50 00:03:00,350 --> 00:03:06,350 affairs qualification course was sent to the 91st as a team 51 00:03:06,350 --> 00:03:11,630 member and team Sergeant I, we deployed to East Africa and you 52 00:03:11,670 --> 00:03:16,390 know, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti and then. 53 00:03:17,290 --> 00:03:21,250 Moved on to the as a cmark into IC or Operations Sergeant, 54 00:03:22,130 --> 00:03:26,850 Deployed a company to North and West Africa and served in the 55 00:03:27,850 --> 00:03:30,170 Special Operations Command forward in North and West 56 00:03:30,170 --> 00:03:35,010 Africa. And then in September of 17, I 57 00:03:35,010 --> 00:03:39,970 was asked to go up to the Brigade Headquarters and start 58 00:03:40,170 --> 00:03:44,490 the 95th Advanced Skills Detachment and that's where I 59 00:03:44,490 --> 00:03:49,350 worked for my last three years. And now it's on to retirement. 60 00:03:49,590 --> 00:03:53,670 So that's where I'm at now. Some some people may not be 61 00:03:53,670 --> 00:03:56,510 familiar with the Advanced Skills Detachment. 62 00:03:56,510 --> 00:04:00,430 I mean, you were saying that it just stood up in 2017, so in 63 00:04:00,430 --> 00:04:02,550 late 2017. So really it's only been around 64 00:04:02,550 --> 00:04:07,430 for about 2 1/2 years. Maybe you could explain a little 65 00:04:07,430 --> 00:04:10,470 bit more about like how that came to be, how it was created 66 00:04:10,510 --> 00:04:13,710 and and some of the different things that it that it offers. 67 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,000 Yeah. So in 2017, I was looking to 68 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:24,040 come out of the operation starting position and star Major 69 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,880 Derek Riley asked me if I would come up to the brigade and start 70 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,760 the Advanced Skills Detachment. The Advanced Skills Detachment, 71 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:32,440 It's not a new thing, right? We didn't invent it. 72 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,400 Colonel Burnett, the former Brigade commander, actually 73 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:41,520 wrote it in to the, you know, five year plan, I want to say in 74 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:49,170 2000. 14 or 15, maybe 13 when he was up at Proponent and it takes 75 00:04:49,170 --> 00:04:50,690 a while to, you know, get started. 76 00:04:51,330 --> 00:04:54,450 All the groups started as, you know, Sophalic Detachments and 77 00:04:54,450 --> 00:04:57,090 then you know, grew into advanced skills companies. 78 00:04:58,010 --> 00:05:00,490 So we had to start somewhere. So the Advanced Skills 79 00:05:00,490 --> 00:05:06,730 Detachment was I went up there in September of 2017, you know, 80 00:05:06,730 --> 00:05:12,320 from just an Idea. Inception to actually manning 81 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,800 and and beginning training. We actually started training in 82 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:23,200 March of 2018, so we started with just basic committees of 83 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:31,040 tactics, mobility, combatives and at the time we did a Civil 84 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,560 Information Management slash Human Network analysis 85 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,620 committee. And that's grown into what it is 86 00:05:38,620 --> 00:05:41,180 today, which we still have advanced tactics, mobility, 87 00:05:41,900 --> 00:05:45,340 combatives. We also manage the civilian 88 00:05:45,340 --> 00:05:49,060 trainer integrators up at Brigade for counter ID and 89 00:05:49,060 --> 00:05:53,220 counter UAS. And there's now a civil 90 00:05:53,220 --> 00:05:55,500 reconnaissance, advanced Civil Reconnaissance Committee. 91 00:05:56,340 --> 00:05:59,700 So you know from what it started to what it is it we went through 92 00:05:59,700 --> 00:06:02,220 a lot. It was difficult, but I think 93 00:06:02,220 --> 00:06:06,400 well worth it. So you're talking about some of 94 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,880 these committees that you began with. 95 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,040 Has anything evolved from that? I know you, I've seen some stuff 96 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,760 the training catalog offers you know, advanced tactics, some 97 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:19,400 unconmissional warfare stuff and you guys are even getting into 98 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:24,520 some counter UAS as well. So is there there anything 99 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,000 outside of like the typical shoot move, communicate civil 100 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,040 affairs I guess skills that you guys offer? 101 00:06:32,190 --> 00:06:32,710 Sure. Yeah. 102 00:06:32,910 --> 00:06:37,710 So you know we started my, my goal was to really what the, 103 00:06:37,710 --> 00:06:41,870 the, the charter of the Advanced Skills detachment was to offer 104 00:06:41,870 --> 00:06:47,470 internally resourced and manned instructed training comparable 105 00:06:47,470 --> 00:06:50,910 to a contracted training. So to save money a lot of the 106 00:06:50,910 --> 00:06:56,350 training have become you know it it's sort of infiltrated its way 107 00:06:56,350 --> 00:06:59,070 into the brigade and became the norm so. 108 00:06:59,670 --> 00:07:03,590 You know, we started with my, my goal was to start, you know, I 109 00:07:03,830 --> 00:07:06,390 didn't want to to move to failure too quickly. 110 00:07:06,390 --> 00:07:09,270 So I thought if we start with the basics with shoot, move, 111 00:07:09,270 --> 00:07:15,870 communicate, medicate, that was the the way to success that has 112 00:07:15,870 --> 00:07:18,510 grown into aside from those things that are still running 113 00:07:18,510 --> 00:07:21,590 and still, you know, doing great things and evolving every day. 114 00:07:22,030 --> 00:07:25,070 Now we added the silver reconnaissance piece and I said 115 00:07:25,070 --> 00:07:29,030 we started with the H and a kind of committee the idea. 116 00:07:29,910 --> 00:07:37,590 Was to you know offer training that that generally was it's 117 00:07:37,750 --> 00:07:40,910 really one of our core tasks but it was you know difficult to get 118 00:07:40,910 --> 00:07:42,710 a lot of people in the training. It was expensive. 119 00:07:43,510 --> 00:07:46,590 It didn't really work what we did we we ended up just 120 00:07:46,590 --> 00:07:49,950 facilitating training for a lot of the for social network 121 00:07:49,950 --> 00:07:52,870 analysis and critical infrastructure vulnerability 122 00:07:52,870 --> 00:07:56,920 assessment but that. Through into what is now civil 123 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:03,200 reconnaissance which is you know it's it's growing rapidly. 124 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:09,600 So one of you know commands on Major Swaggert's initiatives in 125 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,280 in coming up to be operations before he was the brigade. 126 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,800 So our major was to figure out how to offer the civil 127 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,320 reconnaissance training we have Civil reconnaissance is one of 128 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,280 our core tasks right. But there was really there 129 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,880 really wasn't any any formal training that you could. 130 00:08:25,410 --> 00:08:28,850 You could participate in and come out of it and say okay I'm 131 00:08:28,850 --> 00:08:32,130 trained in civil reconnaissance it was just kind of well all 132 00:08:32,130 --> 00:08:36,250 these things we did Now I I know civil reconnaissance but adding 133 00:08:36,250 --> 00:08:38,770 in the you know army reconnaissance and the 134 00:08:38,770 --> 00:08:41,169 principles of reconnaissance and then adding in like you had 135 00:08:41,169 --> 00:08:46,290 talked about the the UAS and counter UAS as a reconnaissance. 136 00:08:47,650 --> 00:08:50,890 You know resource was very important to us and it's 137 00:08:50,890 --> 00:08:53,250 actually worked out really well. They're they're doing a lot of 138 00:08:53,250 --> 00:08:57,390 training now with. Units from all over uses are you 139 00:08:57,390 --> 00:08:59,990 know, especially now with you know the way things are there's 140 00:09:00,430 --> 00:09:04,150 you know well over 80 students that sign up for these courses 141 00:09:04,150 --> 00:09:09,950 from civil affairs, SIOP, special forces groups, you know 142 00:09:10,030 --> 00:09:13,430 a WG from everywhere. So it's it's really grown into 143 00:09:13,430 --> 00:09:17,830 something pretty special. That's great to hear, especially 144 00:09:17,830 --> 00:09:20,390 with the the Silver Constance piece. 145 00:09:20,950 --> 00:09:23,750 I know being at Special Warfare Center in school like we teach. 146 00:09:24,550 --> 00:09:28,950 A very and and I'll just be frank a very a rudimentary form 147 00:09:28,950 --> 00:09:34,470 of civil reconnaissance. I was happy when the additional 148 00:09:34,470 --> 00:09:38,190 10 weeks for soft civil affairs was implemented into the pathway 149 00:09:38,190 --> 00:09:40,670 They they were able to go into a little bit more in depth talking 150 00:09:40,670 --> 00:09:43,390 about the you know principles of reconnaissance and so on like 151 00:09:43,390 --> 00:09:46,830 you guys are like you were discussing and I think one of 152 00:09:46,830 --> 00:09:49,430 the biggest issues that we've had in CA is not having a. 153 00:09:51,180 --> 00:09:54,900 I guess an additional course, I'm hesitant to say advanced 154 00:09:54,900 --> 00:09:59,620 course, but an additional course for those currently serving that 155 00:09:59,620 --> 00:10:02,060 come back on it and kind of refine or hone those additional 156 00:10:02,060 --> 00:10:04,140 skills like social network analysis etcetera. 157 00:10:04,580 --> 00:10:06,860 I think a lot of times we focus a lot on gathering the 158 00:10:06,860 --> 00:10:11,540 information, but then we don't focus so much on, on analyzing 159 00:10:11,540 --> 00:10:14,620 and then refining and modeling that information so that we can 160 00:10:14,620 --> 00:10:18,780 use it for targeting and other things later on and sharing that 161 00:10:18,780 --> 00:10:21,550 with other communities. And that's one of the things we 162 00:10:21,550 --> 00:10:24,350 figured out was you know civil reconnaissance, when you say 163 00:10:24,350 --> 00:10:28,350 that and you tell people we do that, it really encompasses a 164 00:10:28,350 --> 00:10:31,830 lot of different things, right. It's so Army reconnaissance is 165 00:10:31,870 --> 00:10:34,110 they they have their principles and how they train. 166 00:10:34,950 --> 00:10:40,350 What we did was we got former 19D Cav scouts and said you know 167 00:10:40,350 --> 00:10:44,150 reconnaissance right now you also know civil affairs. 168 00:10:44,150 --> 00:10:46,910 So let's let's meld these two things together and figure out 169 00:10:46,910 --> 00:10:48,550 the best way to do it And we've added. 170 00:10:49,380 --> 00:10:51,940 PAO does photography training during the course. 171 00:10:52,620 --> 00:10:56,580 The bargaining officers do non lethal targeting and targeting 172 00:10:56,580 --> 00:10:58,940 principles. The S2 comes and does 173 00:10:58,940 --> 00:11:03,180 intelligence integration. So it's all really it's it's 174 00:11:03,180 --> 00:11:06,860 really, you know all the plethora of things that go into 175 00:11:06,860 --> 00:11:09,340 when you add the civil in front of reconnaissance. 176 00:11:10,740 --> 00:11:13,340 It's it's a really good course and I think it's only going to 177 00:11:13,340 --> 00:11:16,530 get better. I think you brought up another 178 00:11:16,530 --> 00:11:18,770 good point too with ASD and what it offers. 179 00:11:18,770 --> 00:11:21,850 And that was the like the being able to kind of steer away from 180 00:11:21,850 --> 00:11:25,250 the contracting portion. I know when I first came to CA 181 00:11:25,650 --> 00:11:29,610 and got to a unit 2012, like people were talking about how we 182 00:11:29,610 --> 00:11:31,570 need to do this training. Let's go to Griffin group for 183 00:11:31,570 --> 00:11:34,130 this. And in my head as a young NCL is 184 00:11:34,130 --> 00:11:36,810 like, why aren't why aren't we doing this? 185 00:11:36,810 --> 00:11:38,770 Like, I thought this was a whole purpose of having 186 00:11:38,850 --> 00:11:42,570 noncommissioned officers. So, like, it's for me. 187 00:11:43,650 --> 00:11:46,490 I only have positive things to say about ASD and and what what 188 00:11:46,490 --> 00:11:48,130 you guys have done. I think that it's it's giving 189 00:11:48,130 --> 00:11:50,570 the onus back to the Nco's inside of our regiment which is 190 00:11:50,570 --> 00:11:52,530 great. You know as you see the guys 191 00:11:52,530 --> 00:11:55,010 that are get trained on this either at the unit level and 192 00:11:55,010 --> 00:11:59,130 they can spread that knowledge or the the instructors 193 00:11:59,130 --> 00:12:01,130 themselves once they're once they're done with their time at 194 00:12:01,130 --> 00:12:04,090 ASD go back to the operational. You know all this knowledge is 195 00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:06,290 now institutionalized or becoming institutionalized in 196 00:12:06,290 --> 00:12:08,770 the brigade. So I think that's great and. 197 00:12:09,530 --> 00:12:13,210 That's that's really. As like you had talked about as 198 00:12:13,250 --> 00:12:18,330 a not a young NCO but a young civil affairs specialist, I I 199 00:12:18,330 --> 00:12:21,170 realized that and I'll say a quick story. 200 00:12:21,170 --> 00:12:25,410 I went to a company to do training for predeployment. 201 00:12:25,410 --> 00:12:28,250 It was basically and a requirement to deploy. 202 00:12:28,770 --> 00:12:33,730 We went out and had a, you know, a guy from the Delta Force and 203 00:12:34,010 --> 00:12:37,250 he teach you basic pistol marksmanship and it really 204 00:12:37,250 --> 00:12:40,050 bothered me that. You know NC O's train and lead 205 00:12:40,050 --> 00:12:42,970 soldiers, what we do, I've invented my whole career and I 206 00:12:42,970 --> 00:12:45,410 didn't understand. There are certain things you 207 00:12:45,570 --> 00:12:48,170 know that that require some some outsourcing. 208 00:12:48,170 --> 00:12:51,530 But for the most part the things that we've been doing in civil 209 00:12:51,530 --> 00:12:55,650 affairs could be done by NC O's. And the added benefit is that 210 00:12:56,010 --> 00:13:00,730 not only can NC O's do this on several fronts, it improves our 211 00:13:00,730 --> 00:13:03,610 force. So you have the NC O's that are 212 00:13:03,610 --> 00:13:07,370 being trained and highly specialized areas of of training 213 00:13:07,370 --> 00:13:10,050 and instruction. So as you said, they go back to 214 00:13:10,050 --> 00:13:12,490 the force that much better. We already have, you know, 215 00:13:13,170 --> 00:13:15,850 instructors that have gone back to units and they they train 216 00:13:15,850 --> 00:13:18,970 those units at a higher level than they've ever been trained. 217 00:13:19,810 --> 00:13:24,650 And the other thing is I think people kind of misses when when 218 00:13:24,810 --> 00:13:29,610 you send a team or a company to arrange as an example and they 219 00:13:29,610 --> 00:13:35,250 see these, these instructors from their own unit that guys 220 00:13:35,250 --> 00:13:36,610 that they've known and worked with. 221 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,440 And they see them teaching these, you know, very highly 222 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,960 advanced tactics and and weapons training and different things 223 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,440 that they do. And they're so impressed by it. 224 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,640 And what that does is it empowers those NCO's to also 225 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,120 realize that hey, I can do that stuff too. 226 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,440 I can, I can actually do what I'm supposed to do. 227 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,520 And it gives them confidence and instills that, that that idea 228 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,690 that. You know, you don't have to to 229 00:14:02,890 --> 00:14:06,250 figure out who you have to pay to be trained. 230 00:14:06,370 --> 00:14:11,290 For the most part you can do it internally and that's that's 231 00:14:11,290 --> 00:14:13,650 really an added benefit of the advanced skills attachment A. 232 00:14:15,690 --> 00:14:20,210 100% agree. And I think that's that's key to 233 00:14:20,210 --> 00:14:22,610 what you're saying, like instilling that confidence not 234 00:14:22,610 --> 00:14:24,970 only in themselves, but you know, when the other guys in 235 00:14:24,970 --> 00:14:27,490 that unit look around, they're like, okay, yeah, we've got some 236 00:14:27,490 --> 00:14:28,890 guys in here that are knowledgeable. 237 00:14:28,890 --> 00:14:30,050 They know what they're talking about. 238 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,080 And I think this continues to professionalize the regiment. 239 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:36,800 Absolutely. And those guys, they want to, 240 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:43,400 after they attend ASD training, I get, oh, I did get emails 241 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,440 constantly, three or four a week of guys saying, hey, how can I 242 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,040 come to the ASD and be an instructor. 243 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,960 I was, you know, I have this experience and I want to do this 244 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,360 and so many that we actually turn people away and say, hey, 245 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,760 you know, we have to actually do packets and have a select, which 246 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,650 is not how it started, right. So that's really good. 247 00:15:01,650 --> 00:15:04,850 It shows you that you know, people want to train and people 248 00:15:04,850 --> 00:15:07,890 are interested in taking ownership of the training for 249 00:15:07,890 --> 00:15:09,570 their team. So it's it's really good. 250 00:15:10,370 --> 00:15:13,170 I'm sure Battalion Csm's love that, all their guys trying to 251 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:19,570 come up to the ASD. Yeah, there's a. 252 00:15:20,090 --> 00:15:24,370 There's a point of contention at you know, you got on the one 253 00:15:24,370 --> 00:15:26,970 hand, they're like, why do you need the ASD to train you? 254 00:15:26,970 --> 00:15:28,450 You should be doing this yourself, which? 255 00:15:28,790 --> 00:15:30,830 Is the goal right? It's not train the trainer in 256 00:15:30,830 --> 00:15:35,750 the sense of certifying guys to train, but it is giving them the 257 00:15:35,750 --> 00:15:39,870 tools to be better trainers and better NCO's and officers. 258 00:15:39,870 --> 00:15:44,590 So yeah, you know, like anything, all the summer ages, 259 00:15:45,350 --> 00:15:47,670 they're not looking to go with their best people to leave. 260 00:15:47,670 --> 00:15:51,950 So it's it can be tough, but we've had pretty good support 261 00:15:52,550 --> 00:15:56,660 over the years. So you guys not only train 95th, 262 00:15:56,660 --> 00:15:59,460 but I saw I think it was a few months back where you guys are 263 00:15:59,460 --> 00:16:03,460 trained at 412th CA Battalion as well, which is a part of KPOC. 264 00:16:03,900 --> 00:16:08,260 Was that a, was that coordinated or was that by chance or how did 265 00:16:08,260 --> 00:16:10,660 that, how did that training event work out? 266 00:16:11,220 --> 00:16:14,900 Yeah. So from the beginning of the the 267 00:16:14,900 --> 00:16:18,020 Advanced Skills Detachment, what we found very quickly was that. 268 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:23,640 The brigade was not the only unit that were looking for, you 269 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:28,280 know, this sort of training and we forget sometimes being in 270 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,440 special operations that not a lot of units just have all this 271 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,920 money to throw around to, to pay for, you know, $25,000 for some 272 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:38,640 some weapons training for three days. 273 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,880 So. We started out, you know, very 274 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,920 quickly training units from all over the United States, actually 275 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,510 getting, you know, requests to. You know send our guys down to 276 00:16:50,790 --> 00:16:55,910 you know, Savannah, we sent our guys to San Antonio, we sent our 277 00:16:55,910 --> 00:16:59,590 guys to Fort Sam Houston. You know our instructors have 278 00:16:59,590 --> 00:17:02,950 gone all over the place and part of that you know that the 279 00:17:02,950 --> 00:17:05,510 networking and marketing that you have to do with the new unit 280 00:17:06,349 --> 00:17:11,550 of the the you know the 83rd was an I I saw it as very important 281 00:17:11,550 --> 00:17:16,319 to offer this training. And to be successful, the ASD 282 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:20,000 would have to market itself. We would have to advertise and 283 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:25,680 market and prove that it was a viable, a real option to be 284 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,440 comparable to contracted training so that commanders and 285 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,200 and everyone else would know that this is a legitimate, you 286 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,600 know programs of instruction that they could use to actually 287 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,200 validate teams. The 412 CA battalion which we've 288 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:41,960 trained with twice now that came out of. 289 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,280 Of the brigades validation exercise, the operation 290 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,280 Stockham. So what had happened as the 4/12 291 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,240 was participating in Stockham once they learned that the 292 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,880 advanced skills attachment, the tactics instructors were going 293 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,840 to be there. They you know asked if you know 294 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,280 they could they could participate in a range and we 295 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,000 thought it was very important to to help them and show their 296 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,040 commander and their their NCO's that. 297 00:18:10,820 --> 00:18:14,340 What the 95th is offering in terms of a SD and training. 298 00:18:15,180 --> 00:18:18,940 So yeah, they did go down there. They got advanced skills or 299 00:18:18,940 --> 00:18:22,860 advanced tactics training and combat management, marksmanship 300 00:18:22,860 --> 00:18:26,180 system and low visibility training with concealed pistol 301 00:18:26,180 --> 00:18:28,900 training and a lot of training that they don't get to get very 302 00:18:28,900 --> 00:18:32,500 often. And what was really good about 303 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:34,620 it is, you know, aside from the glowing. 304 00:18:36,270 --> 00:18:39,230 You know the glowing review of of the training and how how well 305 00:18:39,230 --> 00:18:40,630 it went and how much they liked it. 306 00:18:40,950 --> 00:18:46,270 We actually had tangible scoring data to show their commander how 307 00:18:46,270 --> 00:18:51,110 they improved from day one when they did these marksmanship 308 00:18:51,110 --> 00:18:57,110 tables to the last day when they actually it was a 99% 309 00:18:57,110 --> 00:19:00,830 improvement. So only one one of their members 310 00:19:00,830 --> 00:19:04,270 didn't get worse but didn't improve markedly so. 311 00:19:05,220 --> 00:19:10,700 You know, being able to show a commander a tangible, you know, 312 00:19:11,060 --> 00:19:15,580 the training improvement in a in a percentage, they were very 313 00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:20,260 impressed by that and they we've trained with them since and I've 314 00:19:20,420 --> 00:19:21,500 planned to train with them again. 315 00:19:21,780 --> 00:19:25,260 This is very good. That's great to hear because I 316 00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:28,620 know recently there's been a lot of talk about integrating active 317 00:19:28,620 --> 00:19:32,380 duty and KPOC and I think it's important that we continue to 318 00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:35,180 kind of integrate. Yeah, and it helps with 319 00:19:35,180 --> 00:19:38,260 relationships, right? I absolutely we've reached out. 320 00:19:38,300 --> 00:19:42,980 So social network analysis training are suet training that 321 00:19:42,980 --> 00:19:45,540 we do the Unconventional Warfare exponential training. 322 00:19:46,340 --> 00:19:50,780 We've actually, I invite guys from 3rd and 7th and 10th and 323 00:19:50,780 --> 00:19:54,900 5th group by SIOP guys, guys from the 83rd. 324 00:19:55,340 --> 00:19:59,140 So we try to get all these units and it's on a few levels to show 325 00:19:59,140 --> 00:20:02,140 that you know the cooperation is very important to me. 326 00:20:02,750 --> 00:20:05,110 I always wanted to. I believe we're one team. 327 00:20:05,110 --> 00:20:07,670 I know people say it and they don't always, you know, practice 328 00:20:07,670 --> 00:20:09,670 what they preach. But I feel like it's very 329 00:20:09,670 --> 00:20:14,030 important to to, you know, help out these other units and 330 00:20:14,030 --> 00:20:17,630 especially when you get to like the 83rd is a good example. 331 00:20:18,510 --> 00:20:21,990 They got, you know, with Forcecom and you know, being 332 00:20:21,990 --> 00:20:26,110 under the MP brigade, they're the same people we are, right. 333 00:20:26,830 --> 00:20:28,510 So I thought it was very important to offer them some of 334 00:20:28,510 --> 00:20:30,030 these trains that they didn't have to pay for. 335 00:20:30,650 --> 00:20:33,330 That they could get these skills and come back and you know 336 00:20:33,330 --> 00:20:36,090 again, hopefully, you know, spread to the word about the ASD 337 00:20:36,130 --> 00:20:38,650 and and and how how good the training was. 338 00:20:39,890 --> 00:20:43,250 So you guys, I mean we're talking about these, you know 339 00:20:43,250 --> 00:20:47,050 the relationships with the 83rd and then I used to kpoch, but 340 00:20:47,490 --> 00:20:50,410 you guys have also been able to establish some relationships 341 00:20:50,410 --> 00:20:54,050 outside of that. I know from your Instagram page 342 00:20:54,050 --> 00:20:57,010 there's been a, it looks like you guys have developed a pretty 343 00:20:57,010 --> 00:20:59,210 close relationship with the Army and Worksmanship Unit. 344 00:21:00,060 --> 00:21:01,860 So how did that come to being? What are you? 345 00:21:02,020 --> 00:21:05,700 I'm assuming, probably rightfully so, that it has a lot 346 00:21:05,700 --> 00:21:10,020 to do with, you know, pistol and long gun stuff, but how does 347 00:21:10,020 --> 00:21:14,940 that relationship work out? Yeah, so the another thing we 348 00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:19,580 did which was on a couple, on a couple of different levels was 349 00:21:19,660 --> 00:21:23,260 recruiting was something that I also kind of took hold of and as 350 00:21:23,260 --> 00:21:26,500 a recruiting lead for the brigade to try to liaise between 351 00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:29,810 the the SORB and. You know, civil affairs 352 00:21:29,810 --> 00:21:32,610 recruiting and make sure the brigade had a had a voice in 353 00:21:32,610 --> 00:21:36,810 recruiting. So I thought sending our our 354 00:21:36,810 --> 00:21:40,850 instructors, our tactics instructors to in combat it, we 355 00:21:40,850 --> 00:21:42,290 send all our guys to different things. 356 00:21:42,290 --> 00:21:45,450 But the tactics instructors specifically, I thought sending 357 00:21:45,450 --> 00:21:49,850 them to national shooting championships and different 358 00:21:49,850 --> 00:21:52,650 events would help with recruiting. 359 00:21:53,330 --> 00:21:57,490 It would help with our guys, our instructors being. 360 00:21:58,660 --> 00:22:01,940 You know, developing and improving their proficiency and 361 00:22:01,940 --> 00:22:05,620 also it's a good incentive and it's good to say hey the, you 362 00:22:05,620 --> 00:22:09,620 know a SD tactics instructor was second in the use of stock 363 00:22:09,620 --> 00:22:13,940 pistol championship and you know the our two instructors have, 364 00:22:15,180 --> 00:22:19,140 you know, developed these relationships with the AM U 365 00:22:19,140 --> 00:22:24,300 through these, you know through these events and what came of it 366 00:22:24,300 --> 00:22:29,750 was the AM U Sergeant major. Actually contacted me to tell me 367 00:22:29,750 --> 00:22:33,750 how impressed he was with our with our tactics instructors 368 00:22:33,750 --> 00:22:37,870 during the event. And you know our our instructors 369 00:22:37,870 --> 00:22:40,430 really wanted to go over there and see that's that's who you go 370 00:22:40,430 --> 00:22:43,750 to when you talk about marksmanship and you know the 371 00:22:43,910 --> 00:22:45,990 the different things that they're doing, the innovative 372 00:22:45,990 --> 00:22:47,270 things they're doing with marksmanship. 373 00:22:47,270 --> 00:22:51,990 So they brought our our instructors over and they toured 374 00:22:51,990 --> 00:22:56,110 their facility and gave them a lot of ideas, things that we use 375 00:22:56,110 --> 00:22:59,610 today. We developed a zero target 376 00:22:59,610 --> 00:23:03,530 system that one of our instructors was, you know, had 377 00:23:03,530 --> 00:23:07,650 been working on for a while and they actually adopted it and 378 00:23:07,650 --> 00:23:10,090 took it. And so all those things were 379 00:23:10,090 --> 00:23:13,650 very, very good for that relationship as well as the Army 380 00:23:13,650 --> 00:23:15,370 Remarksmanship Units Commission is. 381 00:23:16,010 --> 00:23:18,850 So for us and so affairs, recruiting is very important. 382 00:23:19,610 --> 00:23:21,570 So it helped on a lot of different levels and that 383 00:23:21,850 --> 00:23:25,530 relationship has only improved and I'm sure we'll continue for 384 00:23:25,650 --> 00:23:28,310 for a very long time. That's a credit to the 385 00:23:28,310 --> 00:23:31,870 instructors and you know the those those instructors that 386 00:23:31,870 --> 00:23:34,510 went down there and and did all those things. 387 00:23:35,230 --> 00:23:38,110 The tactics instructors took second in the You Suck Pistol 388 00:23:38,230 --> 00:23:39,950 Championship. Yeah. 389 00:23:39,950 --> 00:23:43,550 So one of our tactics instructors was second place in 390 00:23:43,550 --> 00:23:50,430 the pistol and basic pistol championship are two of our two 391 00:23:50,430 --> 00:23:53,150 other instructors. Our tactics instructors actually 392 00:23:53,150 --> 00:23:57,790 went to the. The President's 100, The annual 393 00:23:57,790 --> 00:24:02,070 President's 100, and up near Lake Erie, they were in the top 394 00:24:02,070 --> 00:24:09,070 30% for the nation in rifle and then a little higher in pistol, 395 00:24:09,070 --> 00:24:11,950 but still pretty good. And one of our instructors 396 00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:18,070 actually was awarded the US Army Excellence in Competition badge 397 00:24:19,270 --> 00:24:23,190 for pistol marksmanship, and I didn't know that badge existed. 398 00:24:25,300 --> 00:24:27,780 Right. So until he showed me this badge 399 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:32,140 I had, I've never heard of it. I didn't know what it was and 400 00:24:32,140 --> 00:24:35,300 it's, it's permanent orders and it's an actual award that he 401 00:24:35,300 --> 00:24:37,900 gets to wear. And so that's really and that's 402 00:24:37,900 --> 00:24:39,540 their work. They work on their own time. 403 00:24:40,020 --> 00:24:45,980 They're very, very, very serious about, you know, being in front 404 00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:48,700 of in the level that they're at which I kind of push them to. 405 00:24:48,700 --> 00:24:52,020 And they, you know, are all of a sudden they're in front of 406 00:24:52,180 --> 00:24:55,480 entire units and. Looking at them and you know 407 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,440 hoping that they're the experts that they've heard they are so 408 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,680 they take it very seriously and they they train a lot and you 409 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:09,360 know civil affairs soldiers going to the Special Forces 410 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,680 Advanced Urban Combat or Sophalic is be daunting right. 411 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,720 Do you have all SF guys that are there and it's it's a 412 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,120 requirement for them and they don't all pass because it's very 413 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:22,660 difficult course so. Our guys are very serious. 414 00:25:22,660 --> 00:25:25,740 They really want to they really want to improve themselves and 415 00:25:25,740 --> 00:25:28,900 it's it's really a testament to all of their all of their 416 00:25:28,900 --> 00:25:32,700 character and their hard work because it's yeah, they they all 417 00:25:32,700 --> 00:25:35,940 these instructors really they they amazed me every day that we 418 00:25:35,940 --> 00:25:39,620 were up there and you know being in the Detachment like that is 419 00:25:39,620 --> 00:25:44,860 very unique in that it's you have to be self motivated. 420 00:25:44,900 --> 00:25:48,580 I can't, you know, as a overseeing as the NCIC or the 421 00:25:48,580 --> 00:25:52,900 Detachment Sergeant, I can't. I can't be available at every 422 00:25:52,900 --> 00:25:54,500 training event. There's training going on 423 00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:57,020 constantly, every day, every week. 424 00:25:57,420 --> 00:26:01,700 So those guys, you know, they, they're not the type of soldiers 425 00:26:01,700 --> 00:26:03,500 that sit around and wait for someone to tell them to do 426 00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:04,860 something. They go out and do it. 427 00:26:05,300 --> 00:26:07,780 And a lot of times I get a lot of credit for all these great 428 00:26:07,780 --> 00:26:09,260 things they do. But that's them. 429 00:26:09,340 --> 00:26:12,820 They're going out and they're they're contacting people and 430 00:26:12,820 --> 00:26:15,820 starting and developing these relationships and you know, like 431 00:26:15,820 --> 00:26:17,900 I said, coming back with badges I've never heard of. 432 00:26:17,900 --> 00:26:19,780 And so it's really. It's. 433 00:26:20,450 --> 00:26:23,530 It's pretty pretty humbling to see these, these, these 434 00:26:23,530 --> 00:26:27,650 instructors do what they do. Yeah, I just wanted to confirm 435 00:26:27,650 --> 00:26:30,450 about the second place in the pistol so I could talk crap to a 436 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:32,770 bunch of BB. I have his buddy. 437 00:26:35,930 --> 00:26:41,370 Staff Sergeant Promotable court is He was actually the first one 438 00:26:41,370 --> 00:26:44,290 of the first people in the ASD. He reenlisted. 439 00:26:44,930 --> 00:26:47,650 So. He came to the ASD and. 440 00:26:48,430 --> 00:26:52,390 He's he basically him and some first class words started that 441 00:26:52,590 --> 00:26:54,950 committee where they started that was the first thing we did 442 00:26:55,430 --> 00:26:59,870 And yeah the things that they do are he he participates in 443 00:26:59,870 --> 00:27:03,430 contests all the time. He's a nationally ranked shooter 444 00:27:03,430 --> 00:27:08,390 and yeah he's he's the one that developed that that proprietary 445 00:27:08,390 --> 00:27:13,710 0 target and you know yeah he's he's pretty good. 446 00:27:13,950 --> 00:27:16,790 It's pretty good with a pistol and a rifle but especially a 447 00:27:16,830 --> 00:27:19,180 pistol. Oh, that's great to hear. 448 00:27:20,460 --> 00:27:23,900 That was crazy because we have so much talent inside of inside 449 00:27:23,900 --> 00:27:26,260 of the brigade that it's just sitting there. 450 00:27:26,340 --> 00:27:31,380 And that's one thing I'm like over the past six months since 451 00:27:31,660 --> 00:27:33,460 the Civil Affairs Association started the, you know, me a 452 00:27:33,460 --> 00:27:35,300 journal. And I've become involved in 453 00:27:35,300 --> 00:27:38,220 that. Like the the stuff that's coming 454 00:27:38,220 --> 00:27:41,060 out of the woodworks now, like all this talent that's just been 455 00:27:41,060 --> 00:27:43,020 sitting there basically. And once they have an outlet to 456 00:27:43,020 --> 00:27:45,610 do it, it's like. Really all you've got to do is 457 00:27:45,610 --> 00:27:47,650 give them an end state, like this is what we're looking for. 458 00:27:48,250 --> 00:27:52,130 And they go, you know, we just turned our the You Know Me 459 00:27:52,130 --> 00:27:57,010 Journal's Instagram page over to a young staff Sergeant and I was 460 00:27:57,010 --> 00:28:00,210 running it terribly, to be honest, for about a month. 461 00:28:00,250 --> 00:28:02,690 I think we had like 12 followers or something ridiculous. 462 00:28:02,730 --> 00:28:05,530 I don't know. Anyways, earlier this week, you 463 00:28:05,530 --> 00:28:08,010 know, he's taking that from the 12 followers we had and 464 00:28:08,010 --> 00:28:11,450 surpassed, you know, the Brigade followers now. 465 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,560 And you know me, a journalist and those followers on on 466 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,360 Instagram for for civil affairs and he's done that all on his 467 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:22,200 own, you know? Well, I find, you know, yeah, 468 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:25,560 you it's really and you're a good example of that all this 469 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,280 all these things that we've been doing and if you think about it, 470 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,600 you would have never heard any of these things when I first 471 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,120 came to civil Affairs in 2012. Before that you certainly would 472 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:36,320 not have heard any of these things. 473 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,920 But these are all in my opinion or we you give people. 474 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,160 The ability to innovate and we talk about it, right, it's on 475 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:49,320 our, it's on the it's on our evaluation for is it to for 476 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,320 innovation. But you know do people really, 477 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:57,440 truly have the ability to to do those things And I found that 478 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:01,440 once you give them that opportunity, they will run with 479 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,440 it. And maybe it's not always 480 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,240 successful, but I found that, you know, I, I, I bring 481 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,680 instructors into the ASD after they're selected. 482 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,000 And I go over there initial counseling and I basically tell 483 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,320 them this is yours. Whatever you choose to do with 484 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,000 this, I'm oversight, but this is yours. 485 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,960 So I want them to take ownership of it and I want them to take it 486 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:29,000 where I know it can go. And they really, I find once you 487 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,560 give younger NCO's in senior NCO's that that kind of freedom, 488 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,640 they can do amazing things and. Like I said, the ASD, I get a 489 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,400 lot of credit because I founded it and I started it. 490 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,520 But these instructors have done all of this work. 491 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,440 All these things are are a result of theirs, their blood, 492 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,240 sweat and tears, and it's pretty amazing. 493 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,720 So you're talking about the, you know, bringing these instructors 494 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,840 up and you alluded to it a little bit earlier. 495 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,640 What's the process? So if there's a guy or gal 496 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,280 sitting somewhere in the brigade that wants to. 497 00:30:03,860 --> 00:30:05,220 Come up to be an instructor. Who do they? 498 00:30:05,220 --> 00:30:07,100 Who do they contact now, and what do they need to do in order 499 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:12,300 to try to get up there? So they usually will send out 500 00:30:12,300 --> 00:30:15,060 things and we talk about it all the time. 501 00:30:15,060 --> 00:30:19,020 We have a quarterly newsletter we send out, we have a portal 502 00:30:19,020 --> 00:30:22,140 page that's that's pretty user friendly and then we have the. 503 00:30:23,620 --> 00:30:25,700 The. What we call soft cop, which is 504 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:29,140 the orientation program for the brigade that we do and what we 505 00:30:29,140 --> 00:30:32,300 do is and we also brief the classes, the C8, the graduating 506 00:30:32,300 --> 00:30:36,450 CAQC classes. So what we do is we tell people 507 00:30:36,450 --> 00:30:39,450 that you know if you're looking to do something and your your 508 00:30:39,450 --> 00:30:43,610 time obviously has to kind of match up to just contact us. 509 00:30:44,010 --> 00:30:47,410 And I usually ask people to send me their ERB and some of their 510 00:30:47,410 --> 00:30:50,610 experience and why they want to be an instructor in the the 511 00:30:50,610 --> 00:30:55,490 advanced skills attachment. So it's the process is simply 512 00:30:55,490 --> 00:30:58,770 just send me an e-mail, I'll ask for ERB if they didn't send it 513 00:31:00,050 --> 00:31:02,840 and then. Once you know you review their 514 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,520 their file you know we'll we'll bring them in and do an 515 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:09,240 interview. And the final the final decision 516 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,200 the the ASD instructor positions as well as my position, those 517 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,920 are command selected positions. So the command * major actually 518 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:20,600 selects people and and approves them going to the ASD but the 519 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,720 operation * major at the brigade is also involved so it's. 520 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,200 You know, it's a it's a good process. 521 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,040 Now it's hard to you know, in the beginning saying that hey, 522 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,680 we're going to interview you and you're going to interview with 523 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:35,080 the command * major and people like. 524 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:39,280 What is this thing? But yeah, now it's it's much, 525 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,040 you know it's established and it's it's a real thing and. 526 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,280 So one of the things that you just you mentioned and I briefly 527 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,200 heard about it, but I don't know if anybody else has. 528 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,000 So maybe have you described that a little bit you talked about 529 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,200 soft copy orientation program at the brigade, what what exactly 530 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,870 is that? So I've got one of the first 531 00:31:57,870 --> 00:32:01,910 things I did when I when I started the ASD concurrently, 532 00:32:01,990 --> 00:32:04,150 you know, setting up the committee's, you know, getting 533 00:32:04,150 --> 00:32:07,630 the instructors trained and you know, developing the programs of 534 00:32:07,630 --> 00:32:08,990 instruction we were going to use. 535 00:32:09,670 --> 00:32:13,670 One of the first things I started doing outside of that 536 00:32:13,670 --> 00:32:18,030 was developing the A program. One of the things that I always 537 00:32:18,070 --> 00:32:21,670 thought was the brigade did not do well. 538 00:32:22,150 --> 00:32:25,240 Was. Bringing people into the 539 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:30,120 brigade, right, an orientation program or they, you would call 540 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,000 it indoctrination. I didn't like the idea of a 541 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,600 green platoon or anything like that, and I didn't want it to be 542 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,880 any kind of selection process. These people have already been 543 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,720 selected. So I thought it was very 544 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,280 important and something that I thought the brigade was missing. 545 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,880 So I started to develop this program and think about how. 546 00:32:49,460 --> 00:32:52,820 I would want it to look if I were I think back to when I came 547 00:32:52,820 --> 00:32:54,700 to the brigade which was much different. 548 00:32:54,700 --> 00:33:00,540 But so I developed this program and it's the soft CA orientation 549 00:33:00,540 --> 00:33:05,900 program which is soft cop. And what it is, is at this point 550 00:33:05,900 --> 00:33:09,260 with within 60 days of of reporting to the brigade and in 551 00:33:09,260 --> 00:33:12,300 the future hopefully before you even report to the brigade. 552 00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:16,100 So while you're sitting there, you know as you're waiting to 553 00:33:16,100 --> 00:33:18,180 report they would actually they can. 554 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,600 Come to soft cop and and go through soft cop and it will be 555 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,600 a requirement for all new members of brigade and we run 556 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:30,040 the pilot course last year, late last year and it went great, got 557 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,200 all the feedback. So the next course I believe 558 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:37,040 will be in after it was supposed to be after this graduating 559 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:38,880 course but it'll probably be after the next one with 560 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:40,440 everything COVID and everything going on. 561 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,080 Basically what it is, is the introduction to the brigade you 562 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:50,060 get introduction briefings by. The the language lab, you get 563 00:33:50,980 --> 00:33:53,300 all the different staff sections and what they do. 564 00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:55,740 You get some training, development, the collective and 565 00:33:55,740 --> 00:33:57,660 individual training from the S37. 566 00:33:58,420 --> 00:34:01,060 The commands are major in the Colonel address the course, we 567 00:34:01,060 --> 00:34:06,140 go over recruiting, obviously the ASD, the S3X things that we 568 00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:08,620 thought people don't know what they are and you don't want 569 00:34:08,620 --> 00:34:11,659 people sitting down in a battalion on a team not knowing 570 00:34:11,659 --> 00:34:15,179 the resources they have at hand up at the brigade because. 571 00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:18,840 As you know, and I know when we came to the brigade, I didn't 572 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:24,760 have in the battalion, I didn't have much interaction with the 573 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,960 brigade headquarters at all. I didn't think, I mean, the 574 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,159 brigade didn't provide us anything that I knew of. 575 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:34,600 So the brigade, the way it's set up now with a lot of good 576 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,920 people, you know, really transform that brigade into what 577 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,120 it is, is, you know, supporting these battalions. 578 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,440 So you want to make sure everybody comes and knows these 579 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,480 things and gets a good baseline. Now the same with civil 580 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:51,080 reconnaissance. You know the the, the key to 581 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,560 these training is to get everybody baseline trained. 582 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:59,440 The advanced stuff comes later. So give everyone that baseline 583 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:02,320 the knowledge of you know. A good example is I was in, I 584 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:05,560 grew up in the 91st. I didn't know what any other 585 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,240 battalion did aside from where they were. 586 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,280 I didn't know. I didn't know much about anyone 587 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,080 else because you're coming in your own world. 588 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:15,080 So we want. People to have a more broad 589 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,680 picture of a better picture of what the brigade does and what 590 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:19,440 these other battalions do and what we offer. 591 00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:23,920 So they go through, it's two weeks of training and they'll 592 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,120 get advanced tactics introduction. 593 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:31,840 They'll get licensed on M Razor and the Hilux or the nonstandard 594 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:34,800 vehicle inventory. They'll go through all the staff 595 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:38,080 briefings like I talked about, and they'll also do a little bit 596 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:41,560 in processing things that we can take care of and the main goal. 597 00:35:41,990 --> 00:35:44,590 Aside from the baseline of training is to relieve the 598 00:35:44,590 --> 00:35:49,630 burden of some of the companies. So these these people come to 599 00:35:49,630 --> 00:35:52,630 the brigade and they do advanced marksmanship. 600 00:35:52,630 --> 00:35:55,030 They kind of get some of the stuff out of the way. 601 00:35:55,030 --> 00:36:00,270 We also do the ACFT, so you know they get that, they get all 602 00:36:00,270 --> 00:36:03,550 those things that otherwise companies would have to scramble 603 00:36:03,550 --> 00:36:07,430 and kind of try to schedule which kind of gets in the way of 604 00:36:07,430 --> 00:36:11,180 their own training plan, so. Who was successful? 605 00:36:11,180 --> 00:36:16,500 The first, the pilot iteration of it and and I'm sure the next, 606 00:36:16,940 --> 00:36:19,060 the next course will be even better and just continue to get 607 00:36:19,060 --> 00:36:21,980 better. So you mentioned recruiting. 608 00:36:22,660 --> 00:36:25,860 I did want to talk to you a little bit about that because I 609 00:36:25,860 --> 00:36:30,860 know ASD is involved in that. You're mentioning Sword and you 610 00:36:30,860 --> 00:36:33,500 guys have a pretty robust Instagram page. 611 00:36:33,980 --> 00:36:36,260 I think you. Guys are over 2000 right now. 612 00:36:36,260 --> 00:36:39,400 Followers on there. And if it's been anything like 613 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:42,840 the you know Mia journal has taken off to we there are people 614 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,800 from all over that are are you know army just other MO s's 615 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:50,000 that'll message us and be like how do I become CA you know what 616 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,840 do I got to do to be soft CA and we can put them in contact with 617 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,520 so we're recruiters or put them in contact with mentors which is 618 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,640 something we've been doing find somebody with their prior MOS 619 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:02,680 and link them in. So maybe you can help talk a 620 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,680 little bit about that what you guys been doing with recruiting 621 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:07,160 and then maybe where they can go find the. 622 00:37:07,670 --> 00:37:12,870 The Instagram page for 95th ASD. It's 95th under score ASD that's 623 00:37:12,870 --> 00:37:17,070 our ASD Instagram page And one of the things I did when I went 624 00:37:17,070 --> 00:37:20,550 up to Brigade and you know at the same time of you know 625 00:37:20,550 --> 00:37:22,670 standing up ASD and developing that. 626 00:37:22,670 --> 00:37:25,990 I also we realized there was there's a gap, right there's a 627 00:37:25,990 --> 00:37:30,510 gap in in recruiting and you can see it if you know if you were 628 00:37:30,510 --> 00:37:34,590 to look three years ago at some of the you know whether it's on 629 00:37:35,070 --> 00:37:39,610 Facebook or Instagram or. The different pages, even the 630 00:37:39,610 --> 00:37:43,130 the trifolds that you would see people hand out and those things 631 00:37:43,130 --> 00:37:45,610 did not represent soft civil affairs. 632 00:37:46,530 --> 00:37:52,930 And with recruiting you, you want to get people to want to be 633 00:37:52,930 --> 00:37:56,890 civil affairs, right? And from my perspective, I 634 00:37:56,890 --> 00:38:01,730 didn't think any of the things that the sword were were 635 00:38:01,770 --> 00:38:05,090 producing were things that would make me say, oh, I want to be 636 00:38:05,090 --> 00:38:06,490 civil if I didn't know anything about it. 637 00:38:07,140 --> 00:38:08,460 And that wasn't the fault of the sword. 638 00:38:08,820 --> 00:38:12,980 That was the brigade not having a hand in the recruiting, right. 639 00:38:12,980 --> 00:38:14,740 The sword was only going to put out what they have. 640 00:38:15,340 --> 00:38:19,140 So the sword puts out pictures that is actually not a civil 641 00:38:19,140 --> 00:38:22,540 affairs person. You know, those the famous 642 00:38:22,540 --> 00:38:26,940 pictures of a guy or a girl just sitting down eating with 643 00:38:26,940 --> 00:38:31,380 children or you know, handing somebody a soccer ball or 644 00:38:31,380 --> 00:38:34,220 digging a well or, you know all those kinds of things that. 645 00:38:35,140 --> 00:38:38,820 Was kind of a joke about civil affairs and not really showing 646 00:38:38,860 --> 00:38:41,300 the other side of civil affairs and all the different things 647 00:38:41,300 --> 00:38:43,860 that we do and what what we offer. 648 00:38:43,860 --> 00:38:49,460 So aside from you know just linking up with the sword, I 649 00:38:49,460 --> 00:38:51,700 actually established relationships with all sort of 650 00:38:51,700 --> 00:38:54,700 recruiters. I traveled all over the world to 651 00:38:54,700 --> 00:38:58,900 the sea sword recruiters and and I briefed every sword recruiter 652 00:38:58,900 --> 00:39:01,140 and every sword station commander on. 653 00:39:02,660 --> 00:39:05,580 You know Civil Affairs and and the the real picture of what 654 00:39:05,580 --> 00:39:09,420 civil affairs does and is and the best way for them to 655 00:39:09,420 --> 00:39:11,700 explain. A lot of places don't have civil 656 00:39:11,700 --> 00:39:12,860 Affairs sword. Recruiters. 657 00:39:13,420 --> 00:39:18,300 So one of the things that came out of that was some 658 00:39:18,580 --> 00:39:24,380 disappointment in in our social media footprint and I actually 659 00:39:24,380 --> 00:39:28,060 have to credit some first class deal one our senior tactics 660 00:39:28,060 --> 00:39:33,020 instructor and he. Decided hey, we're doing all 661 00:39:33,020 --> 00:39:35,780 this cool training like all the things that we do that we have 662 00:39:35,780 --> 00:39:39,580 video and pictures and those are the things people want to see. 663 00:39:40,540 --> 00:39:46,180 So he went to the PAO and started the the Instagram page, 664 00:39:46,180 --> 00:39:52,340 the ASD Instagram page and very quickly was over 2500 followers. 665 00:39:53,020 --> 00:39:56,820 He's getting recruiting like requests for information from 666 00:39:56,860 --> 00:39:59,210 you know just. People that are interested in 667 00:39:59,210 --> 00:40:02,650 civil affairs and want to know what it is, you know, getting 668 00:40:04,050 --> 00:40:07,610 contacted by use of stock and first special forces command and 669 00:40:08,130 --> 00:40:10,290 it's really grown into something, you know, pretty big 670 00:40:10,290 --> 00:40:11,770 and originally just started because he said. 671 00:40:11,770 --> 00:40:14,650 I want, I want to put out these these pictures. 672 00:40:14,650 --> 00:40:17,730 I want people to see what we're actually doing and it turned 673 00:40:17,730 --> 00:40:19,530 into something that's actually turned into. 674 00:40:19,530 --> 00:40:20,730 A. A valuable. 675 00:40:20,730 --> 00:40:24,970 Recruiting tool and you know so that's it's. 676 00:40:25,850 --> 00:40:28,810 You know I think it's it's again a testament to that if you give 677 00:40:28,810 --> 00:40:32,810 them the freedom and they have the opportunity to to you know 678 00:40:32,810 --> 00:40:35,770 look at you know how can I improve the branch and how can 679 00:40:35,770 --> 00:40:37,530 I, how can I make these things better. 680 00:40:37,530 --> 00:40:39,810 And they get to actually implement the things that they 681 00:40:40,130 --> 00:40:42,890 they innovate and think of it's pretty amazing. 682 00:40:42,890 --> 00:40:47,810 So again 95th under score ASD is the Instagram page and encourage 683 00:40:47,810 --> 00:40:51,330 everyone to go and at the very least see what the ASD is doing 684 00:40:51,330 --> 00:40:54,940 and see if you know these are. You know, these are guys that 685 00:40:54,940 --> 00:40:58,460 work very hard and pretty special. 686 00:40:59,140 --> 00:41:04,820 Joe, I just want to say thanks for coming on in 95th A SD in 687 00:41:04,820 --> 00:41:06,860 general what you have done and what what all the other 688 00:41:06,860 --> 00:41:08,940 instructions done has been incredible over the last couple 689 00:41:08,940 --> 00:41:11,700 years. I feel good about what we're 690 00:41:11,700 --> 00:41:15,540 doing as a branch, you know the way that we are moving forward 691 00:41:15,540 --> 00:41:20,300 and I think that 95th A SD has has had a huge role in that and 692 00:41:20,300 --> 00:41:23,290 improving you know. I guess our not our own 693 00:41:23,290 --> 00:41:25,810 perceptions, but just and not even improving, really just 694 00:41:25,810 --> 00:41:28,170 getting the word out about what it is that we do and what we 695 00:41:28,170 --> 00:41:30,730 offer. And that's I think that's helped 696 00:41:30,730 --> 00:41:33,290 immensely with with soft CA recruiting. 697 00:41:33,650 --> 00:41:37,490 And I and I honestly think that it's helped the other tribes and 698 00:41:37,490 --> 00:41:40,890 1st SFC understand what it is that we bring to the table. 699 00:41:40,970 --> 00:41:42,890 Like you're saying, it's not soccer balls and wells, there's 700 00:41:42,890 --> 00:41:45,970 so much more. It goes back to the old, you 701 00:41:45,970 --> 00:41:48,570 know, leave, leave everything better than the way you found 702 00:41:48,570 --> 00:41:48,970 it. That's. 703 00:41:49,470 --> 00:41:50,470 I was taught. That at A. 704 00:41:50,910 --> 00:41:55,070 Young age as a young soldier. And it's once you get the 705 00:41:55,070 --> 00:41:58,110 opportunity to actually do it and you can look back, and I can 706 00:41:58,110 --> 00:42:00,110 now, right. I'm retiring and I look back at 707 00:42:00,110 --> 00:42:04,470 what we did and it's pretty amazing right, that you know me 708 00:42:04,470 --> 00:42:08,790 a journal, the 1C, a stuff that the advanced skills detachment, 709 00:42:08,790 --> 00:42:11,470 the silver reconnaissance, all of these things. 710 00:42:11,870 --> 00:42:13,590 You know. People can take for granted 711 00:42:13,590 --> 00:42:15,470 while you're in it, right? You're just doing a job and 712 00:42:15,470 --> 00:42:17,350 you're doing the best you can and you're trying to do all 713 00:42:17,350 --> 00:42:22,460 these things, but you look back. And people are changing the 714 00:42:22,460 --> 00:42:26,780 branch, people are changing the army, people are changing civil 715 00:42:26,780 --> 00:42:28,980 affairs. And it's it's really amazing. 716 00:42:29,020 --> 00:42:32,460 You get to look back and see that you did something that I 717 00:42:32,460 --> 00:42:35,460 really believe all these instructors. 718 00:42:35,460 --> 00:42:38,220 And I tell them, you know when when people would come to the 719 00:42:38,220 --> 00:42:42,780 ASD to be an instructor, I would say you have the chance to 720 00:42:43,220 --> 00:42:45,860 change this brigade, to make this brigade everything you've 721 00:42:45,860 --> 00:42:50,050 complained about for. You know, who knows how long you 722 00:42:50,050 --> 00:42:53,890 actually have the chance to change it to to affect change in 723 00:42:53,890 --> 00:42:56,890 a real way. And I'm in it and looking back, 724 00:42:56,890 --> 00:42:58,970 it's pretty amazing. And seeing all the things that 725 00:42:58,970 --> 00:43:04,050 have just happened in the last couple years, it's, I mean it's 726 00:43:04,090 --> 00:43:07,770 it's big and I hope people realize all the things that that 727 00:43:07,770 --> 00:43:12,570 people are doing and it's really a testament to to the quality of 728 00:43:12,730 --> 00:43:16,010 people that are coming into soft civil affairs. 729 00:43:16,130 --> 00:43:19,120 And it's. Yeah, it's it's pretty cool to 730 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,920 see and I'll be very interested to come you know if I come back 731 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:26,640 and you know five years and just see I, I I'm can't imagine what 732 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,160 it'll look like if it continues on this trajectory. 733 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:34,560 So a. 100% agree. And you know, thank you for all 734 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:36,640 the the hard work that you put into the branch. 735 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:41,120 I don't think you realize what an impact you've made and I hope 736 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:43,720 that you enjoy retirement down in Florida. 737 00:43:44,530 --> 00:43:47,090 And soaking up some some rays, maybe getting on a boat, fishing 738 00:43:47,090 --> 00:43:49,370 a little bit. And I won't be far from you 739 00:43:49,370 --> 00:43:51,570 still hit me up if you ever want to get out on a boat and go 740 00:43:51,570 --> 00:43:53,330 fishing sometime. So thanks again man. 741 00:43:53,330 --> 00:43:55,490 I really appreciate you coming on the One CA podcast and for 742 00:43:55,490 --> 00:43:57,770 all you've done for the branch. I appreciate it. 743 00:43:57,770 --> 00:44:00,090 Thank you. Thanks for listening. 744 00:44:00,330 --> 00:44:03,690 If you get a chance, please like and subscribe and rate the show 745 00:44:03,850 --> 00:44:05,450 on your favorite podcast platform. 746 00:44:06,330 --> 00:44:09,010 Also, if you're interested in coming on the show or hosting an 747 00:44:09,010 --> 00:44:13,050 episode, e-mail us at capodcasting@gmail.com. 748 00:44:13,690 --> 00:44:16,650 I'll have the e-mail and CA association website in the show 749 00:44:16,650 --> 00:44:19,530 notes. And now most importantly to 750 00:44:19,530 --> 00:44:22,450 those currently out in the field working with a partner nation's 751 00:44:22,450 --> 00:44:25,250 people or leadership to forward US relations. 752 00:44:25,770 --> 00:44:27,130 Thank you all for what you're doing. 753 00:44:27,730 --> 00:44:31,130 This is Jack, your host. Stay tuned for more great 754 00:44:31,130 --> 00:44:33,610 episodes, one CA podcast.