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Conversations With A Vet - Army NG Veteran Wayne Thompson · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

1:06
Well, good evening, everybody. Happy Sunday.
1:10
Welcome to Conversations with a Vet.
1:12
My name is Carol Lee. I wanted to start off by talking
1:16
a little bit about some books that had been given to me, sent
1:20
to me, and written by veterans. The first one is Unshaken
1:26
Resolve, that is by Michael Alexander Payne and that can be
1:31
found on Michael's website at michaelalexanderpayne.com or you
1:37
can go to Walmart and you can get it there.
1:39
The second book, another favorite of mine is Internal
1:44
volume. I know my my screen is a little
1:47
wonky. That's the I think thinks it's a
1:51
green screen. But this is by Lee Allen
1:55
Deckleman and this is you can get it at Amazon as well as any
2:01
other locations that you get your reading from.
2:05
And then the third one tonight is Tim Thomas, Fight, Flight and
2:10
Feel, and that is also available from Amazon as well as any other
2:16
place that you get your books from.
2:18
So if you're interested, go give a veteran some likes, find their
2:24
books and enjoy a really great read.
2:28
So without further ado, please help me welcome my guest
2:32
tonight, Wayne Thompson. Good evening, Wayne.
2:36
How are you doing? Great, thank you for having me
2:40
and and for your patience. I know we had to reset this
2:44
before, but I'm glad to make the connection.
2:47
No worries at all, I'm just happy to have you here and thank
2:51
you so much for taking the time from your family.
2:54
It's much appreciated to have you here.
2:58
You're welcome. I'd like to ask my guests to
3:00
start to tell me just a little bit about who you were as a
3:05
child. Oh goodness.
3:07
Well, did a lot of moving around growing up.
3:10
My dad was an architect and in the construction field, so we
3:15
made the rounds between several different cities and Texas.
3:20
And so that was, you know, almost like being in the
3:24
military, except not and and we made our rounds to to Austin and
3:29
Vidor and Beaumont, pretty much most everywhere.
3:33
Not fun to be in Texas, but I had a good childhood.
3:40
We were, we were probably low to middle income family.
3:44
So there was nothing fancy, you know, we knew both my sister and
3:50
I knew that if college was in the future, there's going to be
3:53
some military involved probably or some or some other way win
3:57
the lottery. But grew up with mom, dad and a
4:01
younger sister and eventually made my way to Marine Military
4:06
Academy in Harlingen during a middle school time frame and
4:10
then. Oh wow.
4:12
OK. Oh yes, there's more.
4:14
And so after that, in high school, I went to three years of
4:17
Navy JROTC, and then I was picked by the school district to
4:24
be the first cadet corps commander of an Air Force unit.
4:28
It it a new high school. And also that summer I swore
4:33
into the Texas Army National Guard.
4:35
So I've actually worn the uniform of four of the Armed
4:39
Services, minus the Coast Guard and Space Force.
4:42
Wasn't a thing at the time. But you know, I always had a
4:47
heart for service. I knew I wanted to be in the
4:50
military and law enforcement, firefighting.
4:52
And so that was kind of my childhood growing up.
4:57
Let's go back just a little bit. So as far as school goes, were
5:02
you studious? Did you enjoy it?
5:04
I hate school, but the thing that the thing that made it to
5:10
where I was engaged, I guess, or, or kept me in it was the
5:17
fact that I had some, some military at the Military Academy
5:21
and then ROTC. That was my that was my thing.
5:24
Probably much like somebody that plays football, you know, that
5:28
was the thing that kept me moving forward in school.
5:32
I, I, I did, I did not enjoy most learning unless it related
5:37
to, well, like ships navigation and Navy ROTC or how to do land
5:44
navigation, those kind of things.
5:46
So, so it was probably a godsend that that I had those programs
5:50
available to me because I really didn't care for for school much.
5:55
Did you do any sports? I mean, I know you obviously you
5:59
know being in ROTC was important, but were you involved
6:04
in any sports? So no other sports, mainly
6:07
because the the ROTC was pretty labor intensive.
6:11
I mean, we did do physical training as part of that.
6:14
I was on the arm drill team. So of course, you know, anytime
6:18
you're on a special team, there's more push ups, sit ups,
6:21
higher stress, but it was very physical.
6:24
I was on an orienteering team as well as honor guard.
6:29
So, so it still was a physical workout.
6:32
You know, we didn't, we didn't go out and just throw rifles
6:35
around. I mean, you have to have upper
6:37
body strength to do that. You have to have a good
6:39
coordination and, and and doing all the marching on a hot day in
6:44
Texas, you know, you have to have some physical stamina.
6:48
So I would say that my experience was probably no less
6:52
physical than somebody on the football team, but no other
6:55
other outside sports. OK.
6:58
Well then that's fair. And now you said that you
7:01
started, was it ROTC in middle school?
7:06
Right, Yeah, I was spent some time at Marine Military Academy
7:10
in the middle school time period.
7:13
It is so very young, you know, I was a kid all the way around.
7:18
But the thing about MMA is you have the both the learning side
7:23
and the military side. So you're you're kind of getting
7:25
it from both both ends. And so spent some time there and
7:32
then went back to public school system for high school.
7:38
And now you were saying that you know you you've worn the uniform
7:44
in ROTC and in your from middle school through high school, all
7:51
different branches with a few exceptions.
7:54
With that being said, what was it that made you determine what
7:59
branch you wanted to actually join, and specifically, what
8:04
branch was that? Yeah.
8:06
So, you know, I got to experience the best of all of
8:09
them, like I said, minus Space Force and Coast Guard, and I
8:14
enjoyed my time in each of those.
8:16
But at first I thought I was going to go in the Marine Corps,
8:22
you know, that's kind of where I got, got my start.
8:24
And as I, you know, continue to educate myself about the career
8:30
skills, I realized that, you know, Marines don't have medics.
8:33
Their medics come from the Navy. And I wanted to be a a medic,
8:38
combat medic. And so, you know, the best place
8:43
for that at the time was was the Army.
8:47
Otherwise I probably would end up in the Marine Corps.
8:49
But there's, you know, you have to join the Navy to be a medic
8:52
for Marines. So.
8:54
I'm going to assume being that you were so young when you got
8:57
into ROTC that you, your parents, were behind you and
9:05
supportive of all of those. Yes, yes, they were my dad.
9:10
Neither my mom or dad were in the military, but both of my
9:13
grandparents were. And of course, they were World
9:16
War 2 vets. And so that's, that's kind of
9:19
where I'd hear some stories and some, you know, some of the cool
9:24
things from them while while they were alive.
9:27
But yes, my parents supported it and to the point that they, they
9:33
signed the paperwork. I swore in on my 17th birthday.
9:36
I spent my 17th birthday at the MEPs building.
9:39
And of course, at 17, your, your parents can, can sign you over.
9:44
Otherwise you got to wait till you're 18, so.
9:46
Right, right. So did you have to then with all
9:51
of the training that you had had previously to signing at 19, did
9:57
you still have to then go to basic training?
10:00
Yeah, signed at 17, yeah, 17 years old and at the time,
10:06
because I had had ROTCII went in as an E3 private first class and
10:12
the delayed entry program is a little bit different than what
10:15
they do now. Now they kind of show up on
10:17
weekends and shorts and, you know, I don't know, play tug of
10:21
war or whatever they do. But I was actually a drilling
10:24
member, a uniformed drilling member of my unit with the rank
10:30
of E3, and it's 17 years old. I had guys that I technically
10:37
outranked that that that were older than me.
10:40
You know, I was still a kid. You can go back and look at that
10:43
picture from my military ID card and you know, I, I look like a
10:46
little kid, but you know, yet some of those guys were buck
10:52
privates or private. And then, you know, I came in as
10:55
an E3 and then yes, had to finish do basic training and
11:02
AIT. OK, now when you start this
11:07
journey, did you already know you wanted to go into the guard
11:12
or were you hoping to go full active duty?
11:17
So initially I had thought that I would go full active duty, but
11:23
as I got closer to the time frame where I was going to have
11:27
to start making decisions, This may sound horrible, but I, I was
11:31
almost worn out of military stuff.
11:33
I, I had had, you know, almost six years of nothing but
11:37
military and wearing uniforms. And I think all those were great
11:41
experiences. But at the end of the day, I was
11:44
like, let me try that, that the National Guard 1st and if
11:48
everything's peachy keen, you can always go and and go to
11:51
active duty, which I never ended up doing.
11:55
But but it also, you know, I wouldn't exchange it.
11:58
I got right into the firefighting, the fire service
12:02
and civilian EMS right after I got my military training and
12:06
continued to drill land and do the civilian side.
12:10
So I'd say it all worked out. Nice.
12:13
And so tell me a little bit about basic training.
12:17
What? How different was basic training
12:19
from your ROTC training that you had?
12:23
So having come from Marine Military Academy and, and some
12:28
of the other training I had actually basic training was
12:31
fairly enjoyable for me. I, I thought it was some of the
12:34
easier training that I've been to because I had been exposed
12:39
to, to all of those things. And, you know, when you're
12:43
exposed to him at a young age and, and that's, you spend time
12:47
in that world, you, you become a little bit more impervious to
12:51
the yelling, the screaming, the, the stress, inoculation.
12:55
None of that bothered me. You know, I, I don't, never
13:01
struggled with that part. So I think that made basic
13:04
training much easier for me, having those experiences.
13:08
Nice. Can you think of any funny
13:10
stories that may have happened in basic training?
13:15
Well, see if I can make this sound sound appropriate.
13:21
When I joined in 1992 and then I turned 18 and basic training,
13:26
the Army had started integrating the females into the same
13:34
barracks. Now we weren't on the same they,
13:37
they put a sheetrock divider between the male and female and
13:41
we go out and do formations together and do some training
13:44
together. But I, I really never thought
13:47
that that was a wise idea because that sheetrock wall
13:51
could move up and down. And so there were some, some
13:55
people that got in trouble. But, but what it did do is, you
13:59
know, we, we were used to seeing females in our barracks and
14:04
there was a day where nice looking female soldier was
14:09
walking in the building. And unfortunately some, some
14:14
people did some cat calling and it turned out that was the drill
14:17
instructor's wife. And so that it wasn't funny at
14:22
the time, there was there was a lot of physical exercise we did
14:27
after that. But you know, I look back at it
14:31
now and I guess I'd say that's that's kind of one of the more
14:34
interesting or funny stories from from Basic.
14:38
Now, while you're in basic training, were you allowed back
14:43
then? Obviously at that time there
14:44
were no cell phones, so were you allowed then or told you needed
14:50
to write home often or as much as possible?
14:55
Yes, yes. In fact, you're right.
14:58
Yeah. Cell phones weren't a thing.
15:01
Writing a mail, which I was not as diligent about, of course, my
15:06
parents were. You know, I, I just never felt
15:10
like I had a lot, a lot of time to send a long letter out.
15:13
But you know, we were allowed to use the, the pay phone after, I
15:19
don't know, it was a couple weeks.
15:20
And I do remember being so nervous.
15:23
So you had to have a phone card to, to use the pay phone.
15:28
And I do remember being so nervous about either not having
15:31
access to that phone card or, or losing it that I memorize that
15:37
number. And, and still to this day, of
15:39
course it won't work. But 855-0801, 666-4369 is still
15:45
stuck in my brain because I didn't want to not be able to
15:49
make a phone call. So.
15:51
That's great, right? But you know, that's true
15:54
though, back in that time frame, which I don't even want to think
15:58
about how long ago that was, but because then I feel really old.
16:02
But yeah, we we memorized phone numbers and memorized numbers
16:08
because we didn't have a place to store them.
16:10
That was easy access, especially when we were out and about so.
16:15
Yes, yeah, very true. So, yeah, I, I held on to that.
16:19
And I mean, even today, I just can't get it out of my brain.
16:22
And so we, we made, we were able to make phone calls.
16:26
You know, now I know some people at basic training, they get
16:29
access to their phone on the weekend and probably get on
16:33
Facebook without, without would have been unheard of.
16:36
Not even if there were cell phones at that time, we wouldn't
16:39
have been allowed to use them. You know, the Army has changed a
16:41
little bit and, and it's how they deal with the new
16:45
generations. And and, you know, I think
16:49
that's one of the things they they probably did because of
16:53
that was that, you know, people rely on that so much so that you
16:57
almost can't not have it. So.
17:00
Yeah, it it's a huge withdrawal when you don't have it.
17:04
And yeah, I, I completely understand that.
17:07
So you tell me what it was like for a graduation.
17:13
From basic training or from? Basic training.
17:18
Yeah, it will. You know, probably like for
17:20
everybody, it was a relief. I did get injured.
17:22
So I had to stop and then and then pick back up while I was
17:26
there. Nothing serious but a little
17:28
knee injury. And, you know, I think basic
17:31
training for me was just the culmination of everything that I
17:35
had done up until that time. And it, it felt good.
17:41
Obviously it's a relief #1 to get that over with and to get
17:45
back to having some privacy and, you know, that kind of thing.
17:51
But, but I also felt, you know, a sense of duty like it, it, it,
17:56
you know, things get a little more real as you as you get done
17:59
with basic training and then with your advanced training
18:02
later on down the road because you realize, you know, you, you
18:07
finally got your money where your mouth's at, right.
18:10
You said you would serve. You said you would do the
18:12
dangerous things. And and when you graduate basic,
18:17
that's the one of the first steps for that.
18:20
So when you first signed up, what was the MOS you signed up
18:26
for? So at the time it was called 91B
18:30
which was combat medical specialist.
18:32
Now it's called a 68W but combat medic 91B.
18:38
OK. And then you graduate and you go
18:42
on to AIT and is that what you study?
18:45
Yes, Fort Sam is where all the, the, well, actually most of the
18:50
services send their combat medics or field medics and even
18:56
allied medical professions doctors and nurses will usually
18:59
spend some time at, at Fort Sam. That's kind of the medical Mecca
19:03
for, for army training. And so yes, that was that was
19:09
the next step. Nice.
19:12
Was there any time when you were going through the medical
19:15
training AIT where you were questioning your choice?
19:23
No, ma'am, I, I, I knew that that's what I wanted to do it.
19:28
It was what I wanted to do since the beginning.
19:30
And you know, I'd even told my recruiter that if I can't get
19:33
that from, from the Army National Guard, I'll get it from
19:36
the Air National Guard or somewhere else.
19:38
And so at the time they, they actually needed medic.
19:43
So it wasn't a problem. You know, it was my first and
19:47
only choice. And that's, that's what I,
19:50
that's what I got. So.
19:52
And how long was AIT for you? It was about 3 months roughly.
19:57
OK. All right.
19:59
Once you graduate AIT, where do you go?
20:02
So I went right back to my unit. I was already a drilling, you
20:06
know, as I stated earlier, I was always already a drilling member
20:10
of my unit, even while I was in my senior year in high school.
20:14
So I was wearing the Air Force uniform during the week and then
20:18
one week in a month where in the, the Army Woodlands, I've
20:21
been through three sets of camo clothes patterns, but I, when I
20:27
came in, it was still would like camo.
20:29
So my my first military unit was the 4th 49th Armored Division
20:35
which is referred to as the Lone Star and I was with the 4th, 4th
20:39
of the 112 Headquarters company which in is in Bryan College
20:43
Station. OK, did it ever get confusing
20:46
for you on what uniform you had to wear when?
20:52
So, so I, I, I had in high school, I, I did, you know, one
20:57
time start putting on the wrong uniform.
20:59
But probably what's harder for that for me is, you know, the
21:04
terminology that the, the maritime services uses versus
21:08
the Army is, is quite different. You know, they, they call a, a
21:12
wall, a bulkhead. They, you know, they're, they
21:16
left is port right as starboard. You know, the, the head is the
21:20
bathroom instead of the latrine. We call the defect dining
21:25
facility. They call it the mess hall.
21:27
So some of that, you know, I got to change my brain sometimes at
21:32
that time, going back and forth between some of the terminology
21:35
and and common words that are used.
21:38
But that was probably harder than the uniform part.
21:40
Most time I got the uniform right, or at least I caught
21:43
myself before I I made it out the door.
21:46
But but yeah, there's, there's a little bit.
21:48
And each service has kind of a different way that they run the
21:52
show. And, you know, I, I got to be
21:55
exposed to, to pretty much all of that.
21:57
So. Which I think I mean, I can't
22:01
speak that to the fact that I mean, I've not had a single
22:06
person that has been in more than two branches and generally
22:12
they're transitioning from 1 branch strictly to another
22:15
branch, never dueling, right? So.
22:19
Yeah, yeah, I was. I was very confused, is what my
22:22
friend said. So yeah.
22:26
Now tell me about So once again you graduate AIT and from there
22:32
you head to. Where was that again?
22:35
Yeah, that was a 49th Armored Division, which is I believe
22:41
it's the only armored division in the Texas National Guard.
22:45
And so, you know, being around armored unit, it was it was
22:49
tanks and armored personnel carriers.
22:52
And you know, I was a medic obviously to those guys, but you
22:56
still do what your group does. So, you know, although I wasn't
23:00
a tank driver, but I'm still getting in the armored vehicles.
23:04
I'm I'm still participating and being every bit of that.
23:08
You know, the medic pretty much adapts to you have your official
23:12
MOS and then you have whatever unit you're assigned to.
23:15
So if you were assigned to a helicopter unit, you're going to
23:18
be flying, you know, if you're, if you're in a tank unit or
23:21
armored unit, you're, you're going to be in those, those
23:25
massive vehicles that are up armored.
23:27
And, and I had a lot of fun with that, that group.
23:31
We got to do a lot of training at Fort Hood and tear some stuff
23:38
up and that was just good fun. Was there ever a specific thing
23:43
that you enjoyed doing as outside of the medical stuff
23:49
that you enjoy doing more than others?
23:53
It was in the military or just in.
23:55
General within the military. You know, I, I, I got the chance
23:59
to, I wasn't necessarily a trainer, but I, but I like
24:03
teaching other guys. So like I was able to help teach
24:08
kind of similar to what they would call a combat lifesaver
24:10
Now, you know, teaching the guys about tourniquets and what needs
24:16
to be done in emergency because, you know, the medics not always
24:19
there and the medic might get taken out in the fight and you
24:22
know, it might be up to them. So I enjoyed teaching whatever I
24:26
could. Usually at drills I would try to
24:28
find a couple, you know, medical things to do, some hip pocket
24:33
training with members of my unit.
24:37
You know, of course I was still APFC so I didn't have much
24:41
decision making capability and there were a lot of folks above
24:46
me and in that area. But but I did that.
24:49
I'd say that would probably be one of my more enjoyable things
24:52
was being able to teach a little bit alongside of that.
24:56
Nice, Now from there, Well, how long were you there for?
25:01
I was at that unit for about 3 or 4 years and then I
25:04
transferred to a combat engineer units in Houston and I was with
25:11
that unit for a couple years and then that unit disbanded.
25:15
They they morphed it into some other units.
25:18
And when that happened, I requested to go back to the
25:23
49th, which which is what I ended up doing.
25:26
So those were the 2 units that I spent all my time with was the
25:32
armored unit and then the combat engineers.
25:34
And you know, both of those, the combat engineers, they do build
25:38
things, but they also destroy a whole bunch of stuff and blow
25:41
things up and knock things down. And so, you know, once again, it
25:45
was, it was kind of fun. You know, you get to, you get to
25:49
mess, make a mess of things and you know, a lot of loud booms
25:54
and, and destruction and, and I enjoyed that time there.
25:59
That was the 386 combat engineers.
26:01
But again, it's, it was disbanded.
26:04
So then I went back. So total time was just about 10
26:08
years and in the National Guard. OK, what was it that made you
26:13
decide that you wanted to leave the National Guard?
26:18
I, I, I had, had made progress in my civilian career.
26:24
I've been a police chief twice. I've been an elected official.
26:28
And so as those responsibilities grew, you know, the being in the
26:34
National Guard, you're subject to being called out for
26:38
hurricanes and, and fires. And, you know, it, it, it was
26:43
kind of a conflict being in a position I was in as a, as a
26:46
chief or as a chief executive. And I felt like it wasn't going
26:52
to, to be very good for, you know, if I'm the head of an
26:57
agency and I have to leave, then it, it's difficult.
27:03
So eventually I decided that I I wanted to focus on my civilian
27:08
career and keep progressing in that way, yeah.
27:13
So let's go back a little bit and talk about how you ended up
27:16
going into the police force to begin with.
27:21
Well, so I'll switch that a little bit if you don't mind,
27:25
because I had to wait till I got to 21 to do that.
27:29
And you can be a firefighter and paramedic at 18.
27:34
So I started in the fire service almost immediately after getting
27:38
down with AIT because I had the, the medical experience and then
27:42
went through the fire Academy and then I went back through
27:45
civilian paramedic school. But it, so I did that
27:50
essentially for four years until I could go to the police
27:54
Academy, which I did. And then I, I made law
27:59
enforcement count of my home for a while, but I did continue
28:04
doing part time firefighting and, and EMS as well.
28:08
So, so I, I feel like they all kind of are similar, you know,
28:13
our public servants, military, law enforcement, fire, EMS or
28:17
paramilitary organizations is kind of a, a natural choice for
28:21
me. I'm used to wearing uniform and
28:22
following the rules and, and leading.
28:25
So that's how I ended up in in police work.
28:30
And when you go to, obviously you know, you've got your
28:34
training to be, you know, for your fire and paramedic, you've
28:39
got training that you have to go through and qualify for with
28:44
becoming a police officer. So how different were those
28:49
trainings and qualifications versus the Army basic training?
28:56
Well, you know, as far as the medical side goes at the time,
29:01
and you know, again, this was so I don't know, almost 30 years
29:05
ago that that 28I I tell people I hate math.
29:09
High school was the best seven years of my life.
29:11
I'm just kidding. But anyway, I don't like doing
29:13
math. But yeah, almost 30 years ago.
29:16
So in being as trained as a combat medic, you, you were told
29:22
and taught what you need to do to, to save lives.
29:26
But on the military side, at least for me at that time, the
29:32
concern wasn't for you to know all the reasons why you're doing
29:36
it. You know what's going on in the
29:38
body when this happens or that happens.
29:41
You just knew. This is what they told me to do.
29:44
If this happens on the civilian side, you have to know all of
29:49
the back story about, you know, acid base balance and all the
29:55
different body systems. And you know, it's essentially
30:00
like being in medical school. And as far as an Army medic,
30:04
though, if it was bleeding, I knew I needed to put a
30:06
tourniquet on it. If it was a chest wound, I did
30:08
this. I didn't, they didn't need to
30:10
give me the explanation of why. I just needed to know how to do
30:13
the skill. So I found that was a little
30:16
different as far as civilian versus military.
30:20
I mean, I think it both gets the job done.
30:23
But you know, as a military medic, you're, you're at the
30:27
time, like I said, we, we, we weren't, we didn't get lost in
30:30
the details. You know, we just, we trained on
30:33
what we needed to do so that it was an immediate reaction and
30:36
you didn't think a whole lot about why you were doing it.
30:40
On the civilian side, you do. Did that ever become frustrating
30:45
for you? It it, it probably well, it made
30:49
civilian EMS harder because, you know, you, you got to learn more
30:52
stuff. That was the.
30:54
Front and school was not your thing.
30:56
I did not like school, No. Yeah, terrible time.
31:00
So yeah, that, I mean, it does cause a little frustration, but
31:03
but also, you know, the military is a big organization and, and
31:08
when medics do their work, many times it's in combat.
31:10
Not always. But the reality is you don't
31:13
really need to know why. You just need to know this is
31:15
what they said to do and, and and and when to do it and keep
31:19
moving on because you're not going to get to spend all day
31:22
with one patient. You're probably going to have
31:24
several. And so you just need to get the
31:26
job done. Right, right.
31:29
So, OK, so you became with the Police Department, you said you
31:37
had been become police chief. Right.
31:40
Yeah. So after several years, it
31:43
coming in as a patrolman like most people do, I have been
31:46
promoted to Sergeant and then interim police chief.
31:51
I left law enforcement. I didn't leave law enforcement.
31:53
I left that job because I was running for an elected position
31:59
and and I won. And so I took that position as
32:03
an elected constable and then retired.
32:07
Well, theoretically I retired in 2020, but I did go back to work
32:11
as a police chief about two years ago.
32:14
And since that time I've I've gone back to retirement.
32:17
But yeah, police chief twice and and elected constable of the
32:21
ninth largest constable's office in the United States.
32:24
So pretty big operation. And tell me a little bit about
32:30
where you're at today, what you're what you're doing since
32:34
you've gotten out of the military, since you've gotten
32:38
out of policing and fire. Yeah, so, so the main thing that
32:43
I've I still continue to serve Texas has what's called the
32:48
Texas Military Department TMD. And then and then under that is
32:52
the Texas Military Forces and that covers the Army National
32:57
Guard, Air National Guard and State Guard.
32:59
We are all part of the Texas Military Department.
33:02
And so I got out of the National Guard and then I went and after
33:08
my elected time went into the state Guard and I serve as a
33:15
company commander now for a unit outside of the Austin area.
33:21
Prior to that, I was the company commander for a search and
33:24
rescue unit out of Dallas for four years.
33:27
So that that's kind of kind of where I ended up.
33:31
Other than that, I I usually don't do too much anything
33:33
unless we're on a deployment or training or or drill weekend
33:37
and. How How different is the
33:41
training for the Texas State Guard versus your government
33:47
training for the rest of the military?
33:50
So the, the the only real difference is, you know, our
33:54
people don't go out of state for a basic training.
33:57
They conduct that in state and you know, they break it up over
34:02
a certain amount of time. So, but, but the training is
34:05
almost identical as far as that goes.
34:10
You still get the training and drilling ceremony and all the
34:14
other things that the biggest difference is probably the fact
34:17
that there's no weapons training in the, what they call initial
34:23
entry training. But otherwise, that's about it.
34:26
I mean, we wear the same uniform that the National Guard wears.
34:29
We, we carry the, the rank and the, all the other things and,
34:33
and we work closely with the National Guard because like I
34:37
said, we're, we're all under the same umbrella.
34:41
And then you can, you know, I did schools, the search and
34:47
rescue school, for instance. I mean, my guys did a federal US
34:51
Air Force, it's our technician school.
34:54
So, you know, we, we, we do crossover and, and intermix for
34:59
training and, and some of our deployments too.
35:02
For instance, on the southern border, the State Guard works
35:06
right alongside of the, the Air Guard and the Army Guard.
35:09
So. And so with the southern border,
35:13
I can imagine that has comes with its own set of struggles.
35:21
Is that accurate? Yeah.
35:22
First of all, there's nothing pretty by the border.
35:25
So there's it, It is. It is kind of a, a, a dry
35:30
wasteland. You know, of course you got
35:33
almost 100 and something miles worth.
35:36
I forget the exact number, but you know, from El Paso all the
35:39
way down to South Padre. And number one, I mean that that
35:45
area is just dangerous in general because although we've
35:48
made a lot of improvements in border security and adding to
35:52
the wall or the fence line, you know, there are still bad, bad
35:56
people trying to cross. I'm not saying they're all bad,
35:59
but you know, there are some drug runners mixed in there.
36:02
There are some human traffickers that are mixed in there and
36:06
there's some terrorists that have been mixed in there.
36:08
So you, you are dealing with, you know, people that, that may
36:13
be very unfriendly to anyone that wears a uniform for that
36:17
matter, if you're eating chow and town, you know, you, you,
36:23
you do have to have your head on a swivel because you never know
36:26
who's watching you. You're following you.
36:29
Of course, we've had a guard members and Border Patrol and
36:32
ICE members that have been assaulted or rocks thrown at
36:35
them from across the river, you know, So it, it, it, it's almost
36:40
in some, maybe not right now, but it's almost in some respects
36:46
can be just as dangerous as an overseas deployment.
36:49
Right, right. And yeah, I can imagine where
36:52
you'd have to constantly be watching all around you and
36:56
making sure that, yeah, you're not being targeted.
37:00
Yeah, for sure. So as far as like the cartel and
37:05
such and now, you know, of course there's tunnels, you
37:07
know, we hear all about that in the news and primarily for the
37:12
guard would and the state guard is it's all surface.
37:18
Yes, yes, Most of the work we would do is is going to be above
37:23
ground. That could include building
37:27
areas or installing areas of the fence or the wall.
37:30
We have folks down there that do engineering type work.
37:34
We have folks down there that help run FOB Eagle, which is a
37:38
forward operating base there. They may do gate guard duty or
37:42
perimeter security, just a wide variety of things, but you know
37:50
that it's pretty much every job that you can think of anywhere
37:54
else you're you're going to have there with the added
37:57
responsibility of keeping the border secure.
38:02
And other as assigned. Oh yeah, always, always, always
38:07
that. Yeah, that's, that's always
38:09
there. You know, I will say, and I
38:12
don't want to anyone to confuse me and I, you know, certainly
38:15
I'm not saying that that is as dangerous as somebody that's
38:18
been over in the sandbox being shot at by the enemy.
38:22
But in some ways our enemy is unknown versus when you're over
38:27
overseas, you probably do know who your enemy is most of the
38:32
time. I mean, there, there can be some
38:33
occasions, but you know, it's still dangerous work.
38:38
And as I tell people, there's no safe day in the military.
38:41
What it could be training and and you could be training and
38:44
then a helicopter and helicopter can crash.
38:47
You know, that there's not a less dangerous thing in my
38:52
opinion. So whether you're deployed
38:55
domestically or overseas, I still think that every job comes
39:01
with its share of danger in the military and and that never goes
39:06
away. So let's talk a little bit about
39:10
your family, your your mother and father, and with all of the
39:15
different hats that you wore, was there ever a time that they
39:18
were more concerned about what you were doing than others?
39:22
Oh, I I think probably all parents would be concerned.
39:26
I don't know that they expressed it openly because they knew it's
39:33
what I wanted to do, but clearly they understood the the
39:37
possible. Well, everyone that serves is
39:39
making a sacrifice, but the possibility of the ultimate
39:42
sacrifice is, is got to be something that that weighed on
39:49
their mind, especially, you know, me being that young, not
39:54
that it maybe makes a difference, but you know, I was
39:57
like I said, I was 17 and I couldn't smoke, I couldn't
39:59
drink, I couldn't vote. And I was doing medical stuff
40:03
and, and carrying drugs and medication and military and I, I
40:06
couldn't do any of that in the civilian world, you know, So it,
40:10
it was a, you know, I'm sure it was a choice that.
40:16
They knew I was going to get in one way or the other.
40:19
If they didn't sign at 17, I'd have been there on my 18th
40:22
birthday. So, you know, they, they of
40:27
course, parents worry and, and moms worry and dads do too.
40:30
But it's, it's probably a little different.
40:33
But, you know, after that, several years later, my sister
40:37
joined up as well and she served as a air defense artillery
40:41
officer. And you know, I, I, we both did
40:46
it and and so far so good. That's amazing.
40:50
That is absolutely amazing. So kind of running through the
40:53
family there. Yeah, for.
40:56
Sure. Out of all of it, out of all the
40:58
different hats and uniforms that you have worn, what was your
41:02
favorite? Is is maybe are you referring to
41:07
which one did I think look the best or which one did I?
41:11
Well, let's start there. Which one did you think looked
41:14
the best on you? I like the army dress blue
41:19
uniform that's gradually I don't know if they're going to remove
41:22
that completely. You know, now we've gone back to
41:24
the pinks and greens, but but I I felt like that uniform looked
41:29
very nice. It was, it was very, you know,
41:32
nostalgic. It kind of, kind of went back to
41:35
the Civil War days and it, it meant a lot to me.
41:39
I, I, I'd say that was probably my favorite, but you know, I, I
41:45
could probably pick things about each one of those services that
41:48
they did good and, and bad. And, you know, the Army is a big
41:51
organization and sometimes you can get lost in the mix a little
41:54
bit or, you know, they don't maybe put as much care into
41:59
their people as say, like the Marine Corps because it's a
42:02
smaller branch and they don't want a high turnover, you know,
42:06
So. But anyway, I think my favorite
42:09
uniform was was that one for sure.
42:11
And then, yeah, so there you. Go.
42:15
And does that include your time with the police force and fire
42:21
department? You know, I, I, well, I, I think
42:25
it'd be hard to, to me, firefighting had more of the
42:31
camaraderie that I think you can get from the military, you know,
42:37
because firemen live in a fire station together for usually 48
42:41
hours. You know, you're eating, you're
42:43
spending almost as much time with, with those.
42:46
I say guys, but guys and gals that are there and, and you are
42:51
living together and, and so there's a certain brotherhood,
42:54
brotherhood and camaraderie there.
42:57
The, the law enforcement has that, but you're generally not
43:02
living with the folks and, and the days of two officers riding
43:05
in a car together aren't very practical just because of
43:09
manpower issues and all that. So, so I think you get more of
43:12
the sense of camaraderie. So for that reason, I, I would
43:17
say probably the fire service, because it, it just, it's, it
43:22
felt more like the military. Right right now, going back when
43:28
you were in basic training for the Army, have you been in
43:34
contact with any of those that you graduated with and went
43:37
through basic training with? There, there was a about three
43:41
people that for for several years we did, you know,
43:44
unfortunately that's kind of died off as life gets in the way
43:48
and time and distance and, you know, you start making a family
43:51
and but, but there were a few that that I did for several
43:55
years. And I still have the phone list
43:58
of all my guys that were in my, you know, 2 units in the
44:01
National Guard. But, you know, I, I, I regret
44:08
that, you know, we've lost kind of contact, but but it wasn't
44:12
due to anything bad. It just I think life gets in the
44:15
way sometimes, yeah. I want to know so again, the
44:20
math you went in in 1992 or 9392 and you were there for how long
44:27
in? 1010 years in the National Guard
44:29
side. OK, so that actually does work
44:33
for math wise, which I'm not great at, but easy numbers.
44:38
And So what was happening with the Guard when it came to 911?
44:48
Yeah. Well, you know, there there was
44:51
a lot of folks that were activated for various different
44:56
reasons, but at the time still being with an armored unit
45:02
there, there wasn't a huge need for armor in New York City or
45:06
you know, we, we, we there there was obviously a spin up on with
45:10
the War on Terror and you know, there was a round one of that
45:14
and around 2:00, but I never ended up going overseas.
45:19
And of course, I think as you know, the National Guard and Air
45:23
Guard and all that belong to the state unless they're
45:26
federalized. And I think there was probably a
45:28
sense that we couldn't send everybody over to war because
45:31
you got to have some people that stay here to take care of, you
45:35
know, if there was disturbances or natural disasters or
45:39
whatever. So, you know, I, I never made
45:43
that trip over over to the sandbox, but there were others
45:47
that did that were in the unit. But but yeah, I mean, it was a
45:52
scary time, you know, as we think this very week was the
45:56
25th anniversary of 911 and, you know, a pretty, I think that
46:01
anybody in the National Guard or reserves probably thought, hey,
46:04
I'm fixing to go to war, which is what we do.
46:08
But but not everyone gets every mission or every deployment.
46:12
You know, sometimes it's just not your turn and I'm not, you
46:16
know, they have a puzzle palace where they put all the pieces
46:19
together and, and those, those are the ones that make the
46:22
decisions. And so as I had mentioned to you
46:25
pre show, you know, I, I did what I was told to do and I went
46:28
where I was told to go. And you know, I, I certainly
46:33
have my share of deployments, but just on stateside versus
46:37
overseas. Well, and, and again, as you
46:41
said, we had a, we had a short conversation prior to the show.
46:43
And, and my thought to that is, is the same is that it doesn't
46:48
mean that your service was any less important because you guys
46:56
and gals are the ones that facilitate in every aspect what
47:03
happens for those who are deployed overseas.
47:06
So without you, I mean, because there's the very small amount in
47:10
the big scheme of things that become deployed in combat areas.
47:16
So, but they wouldn't be able to do that without your services.
47:22
So thank you for that. What was it like then?
47:29
I'm assuming you, you've got lots of different retirement
47:33
stuff happening for yourself with with all of that.
47:37
But if you can go back and try and recall, when you were
47:42
getting out of the National Guard for the Army, were there
47:48
anything, any packages that they provided you for transitioning
47:53
purposes to civilian life? Or was it just thank you,
47:57
appreciate you have a great life.
48:00
I think it leaned more toward the latter.
48:04
You know, I, I, I think the Army was probably not good.
48:08
And, and the fact of what they might call civilian crossover
48:13
training or whatever. I know that has changed greatly.
48:16
Now there, there are many programs where if you're getting
48:19
out of your cycling into retirement or just getting out
48:23
period, where you can spend time still get your government
48:26
paycheck, go to a school, let's just say welding or whatever it
48:30
is. And, you know, those, those
48:32
things weren't available quite, quite the same way.
48:37
I mean, I, I do have standard benefits of like, you know, I
48:40
used some of that money for college, the GI Bill and
48:43
Hazelwood Act. And, but, but the, you know,
48:49
career placement or planning and training was not, if it was
48:54
available, it wasn't made known to me.
48:56
So. Right right now, Speaking of
48:59
being aware, are you aware if the if the capability of
49:08
becoming a Guardsman for multiple branches is still
49:13
available today? Yeah, well, yes, So that not
49:18
every state has a state guard, although there's about 22 that
49:21
do. But yes, the Army National
49:24
Guard, Air National Guard still exists and and and still, you
49:29
know, need people to do all the same things you would do in the
49:33
full time active military. But you know, I, I, I, I don't
49:39
know. Hopefully that answered your
49:40
question. I'm.
49:41
Yeah, yeah. And just curious if it's
49:43
something that they still allow is to be wear the different hats
49:49
for, you know, Yeah, yeah, in a month wearing two to three
49:53
different hats. Probably not in a month's time.
49:56
You know, in my unit now in the State Guard and we've got
49:58
several people, Oddly enough, one of my senior NC OS went to
50:02
Marine Military Academy too, a little bit after I did.
50:05
And he spent a little time there and, and he wore the Marine
50:09
Corps uniform and went into the Marines and then got out and got
50:13
into the, the National Guard and then the State Guard.
50:16
So, but you know, at the same time, likely not, you know, the,
50:21
the, the only thing that was different in my time was I was
50:24
in high school on that Air Force program.
50:26
So, you know, you wear the Air Force uniform and then, and then
50:30
for drills once a month, I was back in the Army uniform.
50:33
But I I can't see a dual, you know, not at the same time.
50:41
For those of you who are watching, if you have any
50:43
questions for Wayne, go ahead and put those in the chats.
50:46
Now then, the question that I have for you is, throughout your
50:55
entire career, is there anything that you look back and think
51:00
that you would have changed? And the military career,
51:07
civilian, or both? Both.
51:11
You know, the, the on the civilian side, after I became an
51:15
elected official, I, I gave myself to the public that
51:21
elected me and neglected my family, not physically, not
51:27
physically, but my, my time was given to public service.
51:32
And that is hard, you know, and when your daddy, the two
51:38
daughters and, and a husband to a wife and you're, you're not
51:41
there. I mean, you can be home under
51:43
the same roof every night, but that doesn't mean that
51:47
everything else is, is, is great.
51:50
So, you know, I, I, I wish I would have done that a little
51:54
different. You know, I did I'm, I guess
51:57
maybe you could call it an overachiever.
51:59
A lot of military people are, you know, type a personalities,
52:03
you know, I tried to go to every school like a go to.
52:05
I tried to increase my resume portfolio, whatever you want to
52:10
call it. But that did come with a
52:13
sacrifice on the family side. And you know, the same can
52:17
happen in the military too. And of course, that's why we
52:20
acknowledge and we say that, you know, that that is the whole
52:24
family serving, right? They might, they might not be
52:28
the ones going to the front lines, but sometimes being in
52:31
the background without that loved one there is even harder.
52:35
And I. Can attest to that.
52:37
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
52:40
And if you had had someone come up to you and want to get
52:47
information from you about joining the military, regardless
52:52
of branch, what words of wisdom would you want them to know?
52:57
Yeah, so I would say #1 make sure that that you aware that
53:02
you're aware of of what the military does.
53:05
You know, I, I also think that prep prepping the family is
53:09
important, whether that's your parents or if you're already
53:12
married, you know, it's a full contact sport that you're gone a
53:15
lot of times for training or maybe deployments and, and also
53:20
really research the job that you're looking at.
53:23
You know, I've, I've had some friends and that joined up and
53:27
went into other services, you know, and one, just let the
53:31
recruiter pick his job specialty.
53:34
And I don't think that's ever wise.
53:35
I would tell him to make sure they're very, they stand firm on
53:38
the jobs they want. You know, I think if people do
53:42
those things, they will enjoy their military service most of
53:46
the time. Now, I know there are other
53:48
circumstances. Obviously it's where big
53:51
organizations and bad things happen to people or maybe it
53:56
didn't work out the way they thought.
53:58
But know the job we're getting into and, and, and don't take
54:02
anything less from, from the recruiter.
54:05
And I guess you don't have to memorize a calling card number
54:09
anymore. So otherwise I would tell them,
54:11
tell them to make sure they have those numbers.
54:13
But you know, I, I think if you go in with the right attitude
54:16
and you go in and wanting to learn and being part of an
54:22
organization that's, that's there to, to serve, that's the
54:28
main thing. And then educate yourself on the
54:30
jobs that are available and how that may work into your plan,
54:34
whether that is being part time in the reserves or or guard or
54:38
being full time. You know, think about college,
54:41
think about how that's going to all come together so that you
54:45
can make it work for you as well.
54:49
I mean, we, we serve, but there are benefits like being able to
54:52
pay for college and depending on how long you're in maybe medical
54:57
care. So that that's what I would,
54:59
that's the device I'd give. And then I would say, you know,
55:02
definitely speak to one or two people.
55:06
You know, if they came and asked me, I would give them my take on
55:08
it. But I'd say, hey, talk to this
55:10
person too. You know, they, they had a
55:12
different experience and maybe they've got some wisdom, You
55:15
know, which job which if you want to be an enlisted
55:18
personnel, which is greater if you want to be an officer, you
55:20
know, there's different things associated with that.
55:24
That those would be my biggest probably words of advice.
55:29
That's wonderful. So Timothy says you served in so
55:35
many facets. Thank you for your service,
55:36
Wayne. Thank you.
55:39
Jason says thank you for your time and service, Sir.
55:43
Thank. You.
55:44
And then Timothy was he missed some of your your talk about
55:49
your training with the maritime service.
55:51
He wants to know how that was for you.
55:54
Yeah. So obviously, you know, I had
55:57
three years in Navy JROTC and it was after the time that I came
56:02
back from Marine Military Academy.
56:05
However, because it was Navy ROTC, you can have a Naval
56:09
science instructor that's from the Marine Corps too, because
56:12
you can either have a Navy or a. So my first year I had a Marine
56:15
Corps drill Sergeant for Sergeant Martinez as my
56:19
instructor, and then my second year I had a Warrant Officer for
56:23
the Marine Corps. They call them Gunners, Gunnar
56:26
Wennick. And then, and then my third
56:28
year, I had a Navy commander and then I went to an Air Force
56:31
unit. So, you know, we got to do some
56:33
pretty cool things and, and, and that arena, I mean, obviously
56:37
we're in high school, but we did get to go on a couple of ships,
56:41
a mine clearing ship and a few other things.
56:45
But, you know, as a high school student learning how to
56:48
circumnavigate and move a ship and triangulation and all, all
56:54
those things are, are definitely interesting.
56:57
And, you know, I'd say that that was the fun part.
57:02
You know, I enjoyed the Naval Service, lot of tradition in
57:05
each branch. But the Navy has some that are
57:09
pretty cool. And, you know, I was glad to be
57:12
exposed, but I couldn't seem to get away from the Marine Corps
57:14
folks somehow. I don't know how that took
57:17
place, but. That's wonderful.
57:22
Well, I'm not seeing any other questions out there at this
57:24
time. So I do want to say, Wayne,
57:27
thank you so very much for coming on, taking time away from
57:32
your family for this conversation.
57:35
It has been a pleasure and an honor of mine, and I hope things
57:40
continue to go well for you in your retirement.
57:44
And yeah, so I appreciate it. If you wanna.
57:48
Hang tight. Yeah, absolutely.
57:50
If you wanna hang tight for me, I'm gonna go ahead and wrap this
57:53
up. For everybody else, please be
57:56
sure to join me at 6:00 PM Central, 7 Eastern on this
58:02
channel next Sunday. I have another wonderful guest
58:06
waiting for that as well. So again, thank you each and
58:11
everyone of you for coming out and supporting the channel and
58:14
our veterans. See y'all next week.
58:17
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