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Tracer Rounds with Navy Veteran Robert Jordan · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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MBR giving veterans a voice. And welcome back to the Tracer
1:09
Rounds show. I'm Terry, your host, and you're
1:11
on military broadcast radio where we're giving veterans a
1:14
voice and tonight's veteran and his.
1:16
And the voice is U.S. Navy veteran Robert Jordan.
1:22
Welcome, Robert. Well, thank you so much, Terry.
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It's an honor to be on the Military Broadcast Radio
1:29
Network, and I'm very honored, so thank you.
1:32
Well, we're honored that you've joined us tonight and we're
1:35
anxious to hear about your military service and about the
1:39
different things. We talked a little bit before
1:41
the show and all you told me was I, I got tired because I was
1:45
like, I don't know how you keep up with your schedule because
1:49
you've got a lot going on. So let's just start off, if you
1:52
don't mind with talking a little bit about your military service.
1:55
You are a Navy veteran, but it sounds like you've had a very
2:00
diverse career in the Navy. Like you were into a lot of
2:03
different things that maybe some other Navy veterans maybe would
2:07
never have done or would do because it's sounds like you
2:11
were in a couple different lanes.
2:13
Do you want to talk about your service?
2:16
Yes. Well, thank you so much.
2:17
Yes, well, my service was a little different than most.
2:22
First off, I did not enlist in, in the Navy like most joined the
2:30
military, you know, fresh out of high school or right out of
2:34
college. I first enlisted in the, in the
2:37
military when I was 34 years old.
2:40
So that's, that's different #1 I graduated from the university,
2:47
but I was so moved by the attacks on the World Trade
2:51
Center in 1993. And I just was, I was moved by
2:57
that. And, and I wanted to serve in
3:01
response, but I also wanted to serve publicly.
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And I grew up in a small, idyllic village in upstate New
3:07
York of about 300 people. And because I wanted to serve
3:12
publicly, I lacked this worldly view, worldly maturity, if you
3:16
will. And I wanted to attend law
3:19
school. And I thought, well, I need a
3:23
worldview. And so coupled with the attacks
3:27
on the World Trade Center, it was the right time to do it.
3:30
And so I entered into the the military, into the Navy.
3:35
And I thought, well, I'll serve for four years and then attend
3:40
law school, go back to the, you know, university.
3:43
And well, four years came and went and I, I really enjoyed
3:48
serving and seeing the world. Of course, my first duty station
3:53
was overseas. And so I re enlisted for six
4:00
years. And so that would have been a
4:02
total of 10. And then I thought, well, that
4:04
would have been the perfect time to, you know, return, go to law
4:11
school and then serve publicly. But then 9/11 occurred and I
4:18
knew right then and there that I would serve until the Navy no
4:23
longer needed my service. And, and again, that was that
4:27
would take another 18 years of service before I was
4:33
mandatorily, you know, retired because of my age and that was
4:38
at 60 years old. So it was incredible rewarding
4:44
career. As I mentioned to you before we
4:47
started the broadcast, I achieved rank very quickly
4:52
because of I had such great opportunity.
4:57
I served with the finest patriots, the most skilled
5:02
tactical technicians, the, you know, these incredible warriors.
5:08
And I, I, I achieved rank. I just never imagined myself at
5:16
that, you know, achieving the rank of Master Chief Petty
5:19
Officer E 9. And then I had the opportunity,
5:23
this was at the around the 13 year mark where I had a captain
5:30
who said, you know, if you really want to serve at a time
5:34
of war, you know, you've got to consider being a chief Warrant
5:40
Officer. And so that really stuck with
5:43
me. And I said, OK, that's, that's
5:45
just exactly what I'm going to do.
5:47
So I was commissioned a chief Warrant Officer and then
5:50
immediately found myself after commissioning back in
5:53
Afghanistan. I had served 2 tours previous to
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that and I would, I found myself right back in the mix in
6:01
Afghanistan again and I served 33 tours again in Afghanistan.
6:06
So 5 total tours in Afghanistan supporting Special forces as
6:13
well as Army operations and supporting the Afghan army.
6:22
But but I also served aboard Navy ships, amphibious assault
6:28
ships, aircraft carriers, excuse me.
6:33
And then in 2019, I retired from the Pentagon.
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And so it was a storied career. I never thought I would go to
6:45
the places I did see the places I went be introduced to
6:51
cultures, customs, ways of life, all of which was really the goal
6:57
of the initial enlistment back in 1993.
7:03
But I did gain a great affinity with my dad, who was a World War
7:07
2 veteran, because not only were we both veterans, but he, you
7:12
know, we both served at a time of war.
7:15
And so I, I really cherish that fact that we had that in common
7:21
and, and so I'm very grateful because of that so.
7:28
So is it would it be customary for Navy to serve in
7:32
Afghanistan, not on a vessel? Would it to to be like embedded
7:38
in another unit? Was that typical?
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Well, at the time, well given early on because of my
7:49
supporting Naval Special warfare, my, my background, my
7:54
specific training and the opportunities that arose, it
7:58
was, it was rather unique. But then given the, the
8:03
specific, my background with counterintelligence, human
8:08
intelligence, it opened up a specific roles for me,
8:13
especially as a chief Warrant Officer.
8:16
And so, yeah, it was very unique at the time, but also I did not
8:25
lose the sense of my, you know, being in the Navy.
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And so I would, I, I sought out opportunities to serve at sea as
8:35
well. And one of the really
8:39
interesting things that the from my career as I look back is
8:44
like, for instance, I did serve as AE8E9 or a senior chief Petty
8:49
Officer and a Master Chief Petty Officer on a, on a aircraft
8:54
carrier and as a chief Warrant Officer for on the same aircraft
8:59
carrier 10 years apart. So that was pretty neat.
9:02
Yeah, that was pretty neat. So, so I had these very unique
9:07
opportunities that were presented to me.
9:10
And so I, I just took them and you know, I always, I, I thought
9:13
of it at this way, you know what MEPs, when we enlist, you know,
9:17
we raise our hand to, you know, we volunteer for everything and
9:21
anything. So that was kind of my mantra.
9:24
And if there was opportunities, I just really just volunteered
9:29
for things like that. And so it, it turned out to be
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very rewarding from a career standpoint.
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And I, I was blessed to be able to serve with, like I said,
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these, you know, teams and, and great people and great leaders.
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And they just gave me such phenomenal opportunities in both
9:49
service and leadership and positional authorities.
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And, you know, I, I just really, I look back at my career and it
9:58
was just really just unimaginable the things I, I did
10:02
and the people I served with and the experiences that I came away
10:07
from my military career. So.
10:10
Was your dad in the Navy too? Was he a Navy veteran or what
10:14
branch did he serve in? He served in the Coast Guard
10:18
during World War 2. And he was, he served in the,
10:21
you know, like in the Lighthouse Service, a very unique.
10:25
Yeah. So he was assigned to the
10:31
Lighthouse Service off the East Coast for German Submarine
10:36
Watch. A lot of folks don't realize
10:38
that during World War 2, the Germans were very close off of
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our coast. And they, yeah, they sank, you
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know, hundreds and hundreds of tons of merchant shipping right
10:51
off of our coast. And so the Coast Guard
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positioned Coast Guardsmen at these very remote lighthouses
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for to, to, as you know, Watchmen as well as on along the
11:08
coast for, you know, to, to watch for infiltrators and
11:14
things of that sort. But my dad was, he was stationed
11:18
at these, at these islands for, to, to watch for German
11:23
submarines and things like that. But it's very unique service,
11:27
very remote. One of the nice things I, I did
11:29
with my dad before I left for my military service is we retraced
11:36
the steps of where he served prior to, like I said, be before
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I entered service. And we actually visited some of
11:47
the sites that he served at. And now of course, the, the,
11:51
the, all, the, all the island lighthouses are all automated
11:56
now. But it was neat to go there and
12:00
to see where he served. Some of these places are One in
12:04
particular is so remote. It's it's Saddleback Ledge
12:10
Lighthouse. And it is just a little outcrop
12:16
of rock miles off the coast of of Maine.
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And it's, it's just just so austere.
12:25
And back then in the 40s, Nineteen 40s, you know, there's
12:29
snow electric there. You know, they had to.
12:33
There's no entertainment like you would think.
12:35
Now today, you know, you're on this little teeny rock.
12:39
There's no place to go. You're just stuck there and and
12:45
the weather was so foul and you know, I mean, it was just at
12:51
times just so miserable out there.
12:54
But that's what they did, you know, in the defense of the the
12:58
home front. And my mom, as I mentioned to
13:01
you, is a Rosie the Riveter during World War 2.
13:05
And so, yeah, yeah. So just incredible stories of,
13:09
of service to our country during World War 2.
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And so I'm, I'm, I'm just so blessed by having that affinity
13:18
with both, you know, both my parents, who they both have
13:20
passed on now, but yeah. And they were very patriotic.
13:27
And yeah, I just, yeah. It was just so unique to have
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grown up in that era with them and listen to their stories of
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service. Definitely.
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So was the Navy your your choice or your dad's choice?
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Or why the Navy? Because if he was Coast Guard,
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were you just choosing something close to that, or did you just
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decide Navy was the branch for you?
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Well, it's the only branch that would take me because of my age,
13:57
so that that's it really in a. Nutshell, well, you know, the,
14:03
the service in general, they, they'll have different cut off
14:06
ages depending upon, you know, how low in manning they are or
14:11
how many they have. Because I know that that's
14:14
fluctuated so much over the years, you know, 3435 and then,
14:18
you know, they've kept it back down.
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But so must have been that they needed people at that time, you
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know, because it was another higher age bracket.
14:28
I went to basic training with someone, I think that was, she
14:31
was 34 or 33 and we called her grandma.
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But I was no spring chicken either 'cause I was in my 20s
14:38
when I went in too. I was at my later 20s when I
14:41
went in. So, you know, I was, I was right
14:44
behind her. But they I felt bad 'cause they
14:46
called her grandma and she, she wasn't old at all, but I think
14:50
she was 33. Yeah, it was funny.
14:53
When I went through basic training, my company commander,
14:56
who was a chief Petty Officer, you know, he used to call
15:01
everybody, you know, son, right? And, you know, I was, I, I think
15:08
I was older than he was, right? And but he used to take me
15:12
outside and we would talk like you and I are talking, you know,
15:17
and then he would go inside and then he would scream and holler
15:20
at me like he would scream and holler at everybody else, you
15:23
know. But I understood the whole
15:24
thing, you know, the but in the reason for it.
15:28
But it was funny that he would call me son and I would, you
15:31
know, but that's just the way of it, you know, how it is.
15:34
And basic training. But yeah, but that I think the
15:37
cut off at that time was 35 and I I think I just made the, I'm
15:44
trying to think, I think I was really close to the cut off if I
15:49
remember correctly. Yeah, I think so.
15:52
I think I was really pretty close.
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So anyway, but. So if going back and if you had
15:58
an opportunity, would you choose another service or would you go
16:00
back into the Navy? I don't know.
16:05
It's in hindsight, I don't know. I, I mean, I, I, my career was
16:10
the way it turned out to be what it was.
16:13
And, and again, I would have, I mean, to think what I did with
16:18
all my ground service. I mean, I would have never
16:22
thought that if you would told me that I would end up where I
16:24
did and, and do the things I, I did, I would have said no, I
16:30
don't think that's possible. I don't know.
16:34
I'm just, I'm just so glad I was, I had the opportunity just
16:37
to do what I did and, and serve in the capacity I did.
16:40
And I served my country at a time of war, you know, and have
16:47
an impact in some small way and serve a noble 'cause after 911.
16:53
So, you know, I, I, I'm, I'm real.
16:57
I am proud. I, I'm not, you know, pride is
17:00
a, is a can be a destructive thing, obviously, but I am proud
17:04
of the fact that I was a bearded American, you know, I, I didn't,
17:08
I didn't wear a uniform often in Afghanistan.
17:12
I, I, I had longer hair, beard and all that, you know, so.
17:16
Yeah, yeah. So.
17:18
Trying to fit in with. The yeah, so I think that was
17:22
pretty. I would never have thought that
17:24
either, but it was very special duty.
17:29
And, you know, so I, I kind of look back at that and who would
17:33
have thought, right? And so I had such unique
17:37
opportunities and I'm so grateful for all that.
17:39
So yeah. Where did you pick up the
17:42
nickname Father Bob? Oh, that's a great question.
17:46
Well, one thing, I, I think it's because of my age.
17:50
And two, I guess it's, I guess it's my demeanor, right?
17:55
I, I, you know, people used to come to me and they just always,
17:59
they, I guess they gravitated to me because of that, you know,
18:02
and so it's stuck. I mean, people used to say that
18:09
old guy, you know, it must be. So we just call him father,
18:12
father time, father Bob and it just stuck.
18:15
And then I get, you know, it was funny because when I, when I was
18:25
still active duty, the demeanor someone used, someone thought
18:32
just, they just thought that I was a chaplain for some reason.
18:38
But with the name Father? Yeah, because a Catholic priest.
18:41
Yeah, they just thought I was this chap, like, you know, that
18:44
that's that combat chaplain. And I'm like, there's no such
18:49
thing as a combat chap. There's chaplains in combat,
18:52
right. But there's no such thing as a
18:55
combat chaplain, you know. But anyway, so it just, it just
18:59
stuck, I guess. And then of course, you know,
19:03
then I finished my career and then I became a pastor.
19:07
So it just, it's just stuck, you know, so I'm not a Catholic
19:12
priest, but it just stuck. And so, you know, I guess, you
19:18
know, so the Father Bob thing just has stuck and people
19:22
continue to call me Father Bob. So that's where that came from,
19:29
so. That's awesome.
19:30
So what did you end up doing when you first left the service
19:34
and did you really find it on the transition?
19:36
I know you said you your last duty station was the Pentagon,
19:41
so how was that transition for you going to a civilian job or
19:45
civilian employment? What was next for you after your
19:49
service? Yes.
19:51
Well, I worked for a wonderful company and it was contracting
19:57
work. I worked as a contractor and
20:01
the, the contract was with the Navy and it was, it was, it was
20:07
difficult because you know, as a contractor you're responsible
20:14
for one thing and one thing only, right?
20:17
And so that that's difficult, I think, to transition.
20:23
But as I. I, I, you know, I took very, you
20:29
know, I was very focused on doing the best I could and I was
20:34
an instructor and, but I think, you know, as the, I did that for
20:44
two years. But as I graduated and you know,
20:48
what went through seminary, I knew there was something I, I, I
20:52
really needed to distance myself from the military, right?
20:57
I felt the draw away from the military and my conviction was
21:04
leading me elsewhere. And so when I did leave, you
21:11
know, some of the folks you know that knew me from the military,
21:14
like, what are you going to do? And I said, I'm going to work
21:18
for a non profit, a very successful, very large
21:21
international non profit, which at first they were, you know,
21:28
that they were kind of taken aback.
21:30
But I, I worked as an international disaster
21:36
operations manager and so kind of fit right with my military
21:44
background. And I did that for about a year
21:47
and a half. And I'd finished seminary and,
21:52
and, and so, but then, you know, again, I was convicted to and
21:58
the Lord spoke to me and I, I decided to leave that and really
22:04
pursue ministry and philanthropy and taking care of the poor, the
22:11
sick, those at risk, persecuted Christians, and really focus on
22:18
spreading the warmth of the gospel.
22:21
And so I, you know, again, I left a very successful position
22:27
and just struck out on my own. And, and you know, that's what
22:35
I've been doing since 2023. So yeah.
22:40
So it's quite a, a change going from special, your special
22:45
warfare in the Navy to being a chaplain or being a not in a
22:50
chaplain 'cause that's, that's in the service, but being a
22:53
pastor. So that's quite a, the dichotomy
22:57
there, I think is like, it's like, how do you, how do, how
23:01
does one transition that easily? You turn off this, this, this
23:05
mindset and you turn on another one.
23:07
I mean, service is service. So I understand that because you
23:11
know, if you're a pastor, you're serving others and, and if
23:13
you're in the military, you're serving others.
23:15
So, so service is still the same, but the way you serve or
23:19
what you're serving is kind of completely at at odds or
23:24
opposite. So did you have any challenges
23:27
around that thinking 'cause you were in a nine and you're used
23:30
to leading, you're used to, you know, ordering troops around and
23:34
used to doing, you know, that type of work.
23:36
And then you go to being a pastor and you're still like
23:39
leading a congregation. So you're still a leader, but
23:43
it's you're leading differently, I guess.
23:46
Well, that's a good question, and it often comes up.
23:50
And so, you know, the question will come up sometimes like,
23:57
well, you know, you spent you are an armed combatant in a
24:01
theater of war. And how do you wrestle with the
24:06
fact that, with what you did and what you do now?
24:14
And so that, that's that that I think is really the heart of
24:19
what you, you may be asking, right?
24:21
And so, so that comes up. And so, yes, I, I did have to
24:27
wrestle with that. But one of the things I learned
24:31
during my time wherever I went, and because again, early on, I
24:37
want to experience cultures and customs different than my own,
24:42
right. And so even what I learned was
24:45
even in a theatre of war on the ground, there's no, no more
24:56
deserving place to extend humanity than in a combat zone,
25:01
right? And so even though I was a armed
25:04
combatant and yes, I I served a great deal of time outside the
25:10
wire, right, in these clandestine operations, but I
25:16
always made it a point to extend humanity when I could to the
25:19
poor, widows, orphans and things unbeknownst to me that one day I
25:25
would be a pastor. So.
25:30
And then so people would say, well, yeah, but still you were
25:33
an armed combat and there was this and that.
25:35
And what about, you know, these terrible things?
25:37
Yes, I, I've been, I've experienced the worst of, of
25:42
humanity. Yes, I have.
25:46
And so you have to wrestle with this and it, the bottom line
25:52
really comes down to, you know, the enemy is the enemy because
25:57
they chose to be. But now I extend humanity to all
26:04
people, irregardless of who they are.
26:09
And it's kind of the olive branches.
26:12
I'm extending the olive branch now, right?
26:16
And, and so if they choose to accept it, that as it was when I
26:25
was an armed combatant, the same thing as we do, as when we were
26:29
in the military, because when a, when a armed combatant who is an
26:36
enemy is no longer able or willing to fight and it needs
26:42
medical assistance, we, we extend the same, right?
26:47
So it works the same way. And so that's one of the things
26:52
that makes us a great nation and makes us a great military
26:57
because we will extend, we will sacrifice for our enemy when
27:06
they're no longer our enemy, right?
27:10
That's what makes us great. And so I learned that from being
27:15
on the battle in, you know, in the combat zone on the
27:19
battlefield. And so I look back at that and
27:23
it really does carry over to who I am today.
27:28
And, and I do a lot of work in areas of the world where there
27:38
is a great deal of hatred towards Christians.
27:44
Yet, you know, the people that I help, not all of all the people
27:51
I help are Christians, but they're poor.
27:55
And I don't differentiate between who receives help
27:59
because of who, what they believe in.
28:02
I help. I help people because they're
28:05
poor and they're hungry. And I don't differentiate
28:08
because, well, they're not like me.
28:12
They don't believe like I do. They feel like I do.
28:16
And when they're hungry, they need what I have to offer.
28:21
And so that's how I extend the warmth of the gospel.
28:25
That makes sense. You know, God was just preparing
28:27
you for your what he was directing you to do later.
28:30
So he was getting your feet wet in this diverse community only
28:35
to serve them later in another capacity.
28:38
So I think he was just preparing you.
28:40
You just didn't know what you were being prepared for.
28:43
I think so, Sure. Yeah.
28:44
And I'm, I'm grateful for the the, the experiences that I've
28:48
had and the people I've met and the relationships that I've
28:52
built. And.
28:54
Yeah, you know, I am who I am. So I guess that's where the
29:01
father Bob comes in, right? So yeah.
29:05
Does work. So you've authored a lot of
29:07
books and so how did you how did you start in that?
29:11
And you have your own publishing company too, right?
29:14
So how did you start writing books or why did you decide to
29:18
start writing books? And what type of books have you
29:20
written? Well, the I didn't start out to
29:24
write books a book either. I it all started well, I guess
29:34
it would be early in the 2000. I guess I used to, I used to
29:41
write these memos and I, my inspiration was from a book
29:46
titled Lincoln on Lincoln on Leadership.
29:52
It's a very small book. And I was travelling across the
29:57
country on on an air flight and I read the book on this flight.
30:04
And one of the things that really took me from the book was
30:09
President Lincoln used to write all these letters right to
30:13
whomever himself. Right?
30:15
Yeah, and often he would write these letters to people who he
30:21
disagreed with or he found fault with or who found fault with him
30:26
or whatever. And I was so inspired by that
30:28
because like, you know, in, in, in the modern age, we just don't
30:34
do that right. We just don't write letters.
30:36
So I think memory serves correctly in 2006.
30:42
I, I thought, wow, I think I will, I will write letters to
30:48
some of these sailors that, you know, I, I, I work with.
30:54
So the first memo I wrote, I, I, I, I wrote the, you know, to, I
31:03
think there was like 5 sailors on the ship the next month, I
31:09
think I, I don't think I wrote it.
31:12
I typed it out now maybe to 10, then 15, then the next month it
31:17
was 20. And then and each month after
31:20
that, it just kept growing. And it was growing
31:22
exponentially. And for 10 years, every month I
31:27
wrote this memo, right? And the this memo went far and
31:35
wide through e-mail, of course, right?
31:37
So it went not only on the ship, it went to other people, you
31:43
know, uncles, aunts, brothers, cousins, you know, I don't even
31:49
know who got it right, but it was a wide district distro list.
31:55
And then of course, people would forward it non on.
31:57
And every once in awhile I'd get this an e-mail, you know, my, my
32:01
son's brother's cousin sent me this and I just want to thank
32:05
you for it or whatever. So when I was getting ready to
32:08
retire, I had a good friend. He's a retired Navy SEAL.
32:13
He's written a couple of books. He's an entrepreneur.
32:15
And he, and he really convinced me to, you know, you should
32:20
maybe compile these memos and, you know, into a volume, into a
32:26
book. How do I do?
32:28
I don't know how to do that. You know how, you know, you're
32:30
the expert. And so he helped me.
32:33
And that was my first book. And the first book was entitled
32:35
Faith, Flag and Family, A Purposeful Guide for Selfless
32:38
Service. Oh.
32:40
Wow. And so that was published right
32:43
before I was going to retire. I had no idea what I was doing,
32:49
but I, I, I published it. And that was, that was the first
32:54
book. And since then I've published 14
33:01
books after. And there different genres, some
33:05
are historical, autobiographical, philosophical.
33:09
I've published children's books, I've published T novellas and
33:16
I've published, in addition to the 14 books I've published,
33:26
9:50 volumes of colouring pages for those who are afflicted with
33:31
PTSD and ADHD. So I and so, yeah, who would
33:39
have thought? I mean, not me, I mean, so where
33:43
do I, who inspires this? It's not me, it's it.
33:46
I can only tell you it's the Holy Spirit that does all this.
33:48
It's not me 'cause I, I just, I don't know.
33:51
And I was just talking to an author today.
33:54
This gentleman, his name is David Healy.
34:02
He's authored 32 books. He sold 200,000 books, right?
34:08
Yeah. That's a lot and.
34:10
So that's a lot, right? And he was on my podcast today
34:17
and we were talking and, you know, you know, there's a
34:21
difference between being an author and a writer, right?
34:26
So Mr. Healy is a writer, right? I consider myself an author.
34:32
So there's, there's two different types, you know.
34:36
So he's definitely a writer. I, I consider myself an author
34:43
'cause I self publish everything.
34:45
He's a, he's definitely a writer.
34:47
But I do have my own publishing company.
34:51
It's Jordan Publications, LLC and Oh, thank you.
34:56
I I see it's on the screen there.
34:59
Thank you so much. That's what you see there.
35:02
Jordan publicationsllc.bigcartel.com is
35:07
there. You can see the whole library of
35:10
all my books. So thank you so much for
35:12
displaying that. But yeah, so.
35:15
And your newest book is is this one right the Amazon link for
35:21
your newest release? Yep.
35:24
And so I just published that. It's a teen novella.
35:29
It's a it's a just a nice little book.
35:33
It's it's it's called Butch and chants covered by Grace.
35:41
It's a little adventure book, short stories about a boy and
35:45
his dog. It's 14 boys.
35:48
I've written 3 teen novellas for girls and the characters are
35:57
with the girls novellas. They're based on my
36:01
granddaughter she's the main character.
36:04
Butch is me. My nickname as a kid was Butch
36:10
so and my and the dog Chance. That's my dog now.
36:13
Chance so so. But in the family into the
36:17
story. Yeah, yeah.
36:19
And my granddaughter, we collaborated on the children's
36:24
books. So they're they're bedtime
36:27
stories. So yeah.
36:30
So yeah, that's, it's wonderful that we did that.
36:34
Those are actually for, you know, those are bedtime stories.
36:37
They're, you know, for little children, but really neat little
36:42
books. But so the the wider range of
36:46
genres that I've written about, but I do plan on and there's my
36:52
website. Thank you so much.
36:53
So what is? What is somebody going to find
36:56
at Father bob.co? Oh, thank you.
36:59
On Father bob.co. If you go there, you'll find a
37:04
wide variety of, you know, background information, but also
37:07
you'll find links to not only the, you know, the Jordan
37:16
publications, you'll find bright future philanthropy.
37:21
That's the my, that is my philanthropy company where you
37:26
can, you can see all of the things that I'm involved with
37:31
overseas. There's specific projects that
37:38
I'm involved with, you know, feeding and caring for the poor,
37:41
the those at risk, widows, orphans, things of that sort.
37:47
And then also my podcast. So it's linked there and you can
37:53
you can see all the various episodes and I just recorded the
38:00
one with Mr. Healy that's episode 190.
38:05
So that hasn't been published yet.
38:07
But I think, I think I don't know what number has been
38:12
published. I think it's 180.
38:15
I think if I'm not, I think I'm not mistaken.
38:18
I think there's 180 episodes available.
38:20
Wow. So why did you decide to start a
38:24
podcast? What what inspired you to start
38:27
going down that Ave. You've got so many irons in the
38:30
fire. Did you have time for one more
38:32
thing? You know, I, I really don't.
38:37
I just decided one day just to let's try it and see what
38:43
happens. And I, and it's funny, it's a
38:45
funny story because had no idea what how to do it, what I needed
38:50
to do, how to set it up. So I, I remember my first, my
38:54
very first episode, a wonderful friend of mine, a veteran that I
39:00
served with, He's an entrepreneur.
39:03
I and I invited him on and we recorded the the episode and
39:09
then I had to call him back and I said, Jeff, I'm sorry, but I
39:12
forgot to hit record. So, so we, we had to do it all
39:19
over again. So I, you know, it's all trial.
39:21
Yeah, it's all trial by error. I I don't know, but it seems to
39:27
have matured a bit. I do all the post production
39:30
myself. I'm a, you know, one person show
39:32
here, but you know, it's it's it's come a long way, I guess.
39:39
And so but you know, I just decided, hey, why not try it and
39:44
see what happens? I never expected to be nearing
39:48
200 episodes and into my in January will be the start of my
39:52
fourth season so. That's awesome.
39:55
So the podcast is called the Veterans Outlook Podcast.
39:59
And So what do you, what's your focus of the podcast or do you
40:03
have a specific focus? Well, really it's a, you know,
40:08
we, we try to target the, the theme of the podcast on, you
40:14
know, that of course, veterans mental health, but really things
40:19
that would interest veterans. So specifically like today's
40:25
episode that it was recorded, we talk about, you know, maybe that
40:30
someone would be inspired on writing books, right?
40:34
So, you know, it's a daunting task.
40:39
But you take for instance, you know, how do you how does one do
40:44
that? Right?
40:46
And here's a gentleman who's just written and, you know, his
40:50
32nd book. And how can we talk about how
40:54
how he managed to do that, what what inspires him?
40:58
And it's really his love of history and you know, how he
41:02
grew up around history and in, you know, just this love of
41:09
history and a love of our country and, and things of that.
41:13
And it's just, it's, it's really if you just dedicate yourself
41:20
and, and just a little time each day to writing and, and
41:26
development, you know, you can, you can write a book.
41:30
I mean, that's how I started writing, you know, and that's
41:35
how I, when I go to write, I'm going to start another book and
41:39
it's going to be another teen novella.
41:41
I just, you know, OK, I'm going to write X amount of pages or a
41:46
page or two pages today or whatever.
41:49
And I just start to develop the story and I just let the spirit
41:55
move me. And that's how I do it.
41:57
And I really don't, one thing I don't do is map out, you know,
42:02
an outline. I just let the spirit move me.
42:05
And so I know people do things differently.
42:09
You know, they have, you know, they had a grand scheme, you
42:12
know, an outline. And this, you know, I just, I
42:15
just let it flow. Maybe that's why I haven't sold
42:18
200,000 books either. So perhaps.
42:23
But but that's how I do it and I enjoy doing it that way.
42:31
And I like to choose things that, you know, and things that
42:37
I can relate on. And that's really stories from
42:41
my youth, right? So it's pretty easy to write
42:45
about because it's about me or, you know, it's kind of, and we
42:49
branch off for about my, you know, what life was like when I
42:53
was a kid. So you know.
42:57
Well, I mean, I think that you're giving very good advice
43:00
on how to get started. I don't know if I'm still going
43:03
to get there, but I think that's very good advice because you
43:06
know, just it's small steps. You know, with anything it's
43:09
small steps and small steps become then bigger steps and
43:13
bigger progress. And you know, you get towards,
43:16
you start moving towards that finish line, whatever that looks
43:18
like. So very sage advice.
43:21
So kind of pivoting and talking about your bright future
43:24
philanthropy. How did you get started with
43:26
that? And, and what, how, how does it
43:29
go overseas and help people overseas?
43:33
Because, you know, you have to have a lot of resourcing behind
43:37
something like this because if you don't have the the people on
43:42
the ground overseas to receive whatever is delivered, you know,
43:47
it's just stuck. So how did you develop this
43:50
whole network of resourcing? Yes, that's a very good
43:55
question. And you do you need to have
43:58
trusted individuals overseas. Now for instance in like in
44:03
Afghanistan for instance, the question is often asked like if
44:10
you have do you work in Afghan, can you go to Afghanistan?
44:14
No, the question, the answer is no.
44:17
But in some of these countries, I, you know, you, you would have
44:23
to have a trusted agent. In other words, and I don't mean
44:27
a secret agent, I mean a trusted individual that that can handle
44:34
your affairs there and, and can receive goods and services and
44:41
can distribute goods and services on your behalf.
44:45
So it takes, you know, it takes time to develop relationships
44:52
and resources and there and you know, you, you just have to be
44:58
very, very mindful that you and very, very careful.
45:03
And so some areas are different, some areas they just cannot
45:07
operate because of the laws and restrictions of course.
45:12
So you have to be be mindful of that and it's it, it's tricky
45:20
and you just, you have to be led by the spirit and you have to be
45:25
very cautious because you know, it's wrought with the
45:33
corruption. You know, like every other, you
45:36
know, every industry there has it.
45:38
And of course, if you are not there, you have to you, you have
45:42
to have trusted individuals. But I'm very fortunate that I do
45:46
have trusted individuals that that can act on my behalf.
45:52
And we deliver food and to, to, to people that are in dire
46:00
straits. And that's, you know, and we
46:04
document. So if someone, you know, it's
46:06
all and you know, my philanthropy corporation is a
46:11
Virginia based 5O13C. So it's it's registered, of
46:17
course, with so people can when they make a donation, they, they
46:24
can be take, they can be confident knowing that that it's
46:28
on the up and up, right and the the IRS of all those things,
46:33
right? And that it's going to where
46:37
it's supposed to go. And I report back to them, you
46:42
know, and, and, and so we, you know, I, I and the, the, the
46:51
food and things get to the people and, you know, we report
46:55
back to the donor. And so it, it, it works well.
47:01
And it's been it, it's taken some time to, to get that
47:04
network in place, but it just, it's, I don't know, it's been
47:10
guided by the spirit. That's all I can tell you.
47:14
And I've been very fortunate because of that, you know, and
47:20
some people perhaps, you know, I know people that have had some
47:24
difficulty in that, you know, with that experience, but I've
47:30
been very fortunate. So and I'm, you know, it's a
47:33
small scale, but it it works out well for me.
47:37
How long have you been doing it now?
47:40
Since 2023. 2023 OK, yeah. And so how can people be
47:47
involved if somebody was wanting to be involved in helping to
47:51
partner, to send food overseas or to help, you know, struggling
47:55
communities overseas or wherever you're working, how do they get
48:00
involved in that? Yeah, well, the main thing is is
48:04
to contact me through the website and then, you know, I, I
48:10
encourage Father bob.co, right? And they can go to from there.
48:16
There's a link that's accessible with Bright Future Philanthropy.
48:22
They just Scroll down a little bit and they can go there and
48:26
then they can look at that website.
48:29
And from there they can, they can look at the areas that I'm
48:34
involved in and then they can I, I encourage them to contact me,
48:40
dialogue with me, ask me all kinds of questions.
48:44
I can show them some previous examples of what we've done.
48:49
They can look on the website, they can see videos that were
48:52
taken of deliveries, some some other things that were done from
48:58
this, from some St. activities and some of the countries that
49:02
we've worked in. So it's just that that gives
49:05
them the confidence that their money is going to what it is.
49:09
We don't ship food over there to wherever there is, right?
49:13
Because it's, you know, it's just so expensive to ship
49:16
commodities, right? So we can, we can trusted agents
49:21
can purchase food in in a in a country rather than ship it
49:27
over, obviously so. It's better for the economy
49:30
anyway to buy. It's better for the economy,
49:32
right? Right.
49:33
So, and it's fresh, you know, you could imagine how long it
49:36
would take something to get there.
49:38
So, but yeah, so it's all documented and, and I think it
49:43
works really well that way. And, you know, most people, if
49:50
you know, you know, they, they donate from the heart and
49:53
they're small donations, you know, and that's fine.
49:56
And one of the things so I, I try to instill in people is that
50:02
I match their donation. I, I'm a founder, what's called
50:07
a founder funded non profit. So meaning I fund the majority
50:14
of my, my operations. So yeah, I really take this to
50:20
heart. So I'm going to feed people.
50:25
If, if, if there's no donations this month, I'm going to feed
50:29
people anyway. I've got to do that.
50:32
So in other words, what I tell people is this, I believe I've
50:40
been, with all my military background and all the things
50:43
that I've been through, I, I, I really mean this from my heart
50:48
that I have been blessed with my disabilities so I can satisfy
50:54
the, the, the, the needs of others, right?
50:59
And so I live a very humble life and so I can take care of people
51:05
because of that. And so that's, that's just me.
51:09
Now others, you know, they may see things differently, but
51:13
that's my mission in life. So I, I, that's why I'm a
51:18
founder funded 5O13C. So I give away a lot of money.
51:23
It's like my books. I, I give away more books than
51:26
I'll ever sell. So, so it, so even if you go on
51:31
my website, if you go on to Jordan publications, you can
51:35
look and see it the right at the top it says the books are for
51:41
donations. They're not for sale for, you
51:43
know, so you can you and I'll sign the books and I'll send
51:48
them to you. And so it's right at the top of
51:51
the, the, the web page. So there's a, you know, there,
51:56
there's a suggested kind of like retail price right on Amazon, of
52:01
course, but on the top of the web page, it says these books
52:05
are are offered at a donation. So if you want to make a
52:10
donation and if you want to me to sign the book, let me know,
52:14
make a donation and I'll send you a book or two.
52:18
And you know that it's fine with me.
52:21
And if you don't have money, I'll send it to you and I'll
52:25
tell people, don't hoard the book, just give it away, right?
52:31
I'd rather people benefit from reading the book then having it
52:36
sit on your shelf. So I'm not a very good
52:38
businessman, right? I just want people to read the
52:42
book. And so that, that's how I
52:45
approach everything. I just want to give it away.
52:48
So I, I, I give more books away than I'll ever, ever sell.
52:53
So yeah. Well, that's neat.
52:55
And I, I love the idea of, you know, passing it forward and
53:00
maybe putting it in a lending library where somebody could
53:02
pick it up and then take advantage of that book and, and,
53:05
you know, really get the good information that you put in
53:09
there out of it. Or just for the kids, you know,
53:11
something to read to the kids that's positive.
53:13
That really has a good message that you know, will help.
53:16
Because in this day and age, there's too much of the negative
53:19
stuff that shows up and not enough of the positive.
53:22
So if we can pay it forward with some of those positive messages,
53:27
I think it's well worth us looking to do that for sure.
53:31
So I do have another question. Did you ever go back to law
53:35
school because you had wanted to go that route?
53:37
Did you ever consider going back or did you go back?
53:42
No, and I'll tell you why. Because I really involved myself
53:46
with too much of the enemies of humanity, so I decided not to go
53:50
to law school. So I decided to become a pastor
53:56
and, and to help out that way rather than involve myself with,
54:02
with the legal system, meaning, you know, lawyers are just, I've
54:08
had enough of that. So I decided to, you know,
54:15
pursue justice in a different way, you know?
54:18
I'll add another plan, maybe not from the in the courtroom type
54:22
situation, but from a perspective of you know you're
54:25
going to help people that can't help themselves and be their
54:29
their voice and their spokesman when they need someone.
54:33
Yeah. And I, I, I tell people I, you
54:36
know, I, I, I answer to a higher authority.
54:39
So yeah. Right.
54:42
Well, what's next for you? We've got about 6 minutes left
54:45
in the show and So what, what are you doing next or what's on
54:49
your horizon for 2027? We're we're closing in on taking
54:55
care of 2026 and 2027 is looming right there.
54:59
What's next for you? Well, I think, you know, I'll
55:04
just continue to write. I'll continue to, you know, with
55:08
my podcast for another, you know, fourth season.
55:16
I I'll just continue with my ministry and, and just serve the
55:22
Lord and serve the poor and just be a try to improve the man I am
55:28
for. I have a beautiful granddaughter
55:32
and you know, my family here is very important to me and try to
55:38
be a better man every day for them.
55:40
I like to try to be a man for all seasons for, for those in my
55:46
life. And you know, I, I, you know,
55:49
I've continued to work through my, my issues from my service,
55:55
you know, my disabilities and the trauma that I experienced
55:59
overseas. So I'm very thankful for the,
56:02
the VA and all the things that they provide me.
56:05
You know, the VA gets a bad rap, I think, but I'm I'm very
56:09
thankful for all that they provide me.
56:12
They've taken very good care of me.
56:14
One of the things I wish I could have done, and I speak about it
56:17
often, excuse me, is although my, my dad passed away in 2006,
56:28
I wish that I could have, you know, taken him to the VA
56:35
together. We could have gone to the VA
56:37
together. But he had such a terrible time
56:42
with the VA after during World War Two, he spent nine months in
56:45
the VA hospital. He would never go back.
56:49
And I just wish I could have, he and I could have gone to the VA
56:55
together as father and son, as veterans.
56:59
You know, I wish I could have done that with him.
57:02
That would have been just such an honorable thing.
57:04
But, you know, just didn't work out that way.
57:09
But I'm very grateful for the VA and how they, the, the, the
57:14
care, the level of care that I receive.
57:17
And, and so I just continue to work on my recovery and, and,
57:23
and, and help out other veterans with their recovery experience
57:30
and try to advocate for them and, and, and continue to help
57:34
out our Afghan allies who were left behind.
57:39
And just, you know, be the be what I can for other people and
57:45
do all I can for those in need. So yeah.
57:49
And knowing what you know now and looking back on your years
57:53
of service in the military and out of out of uniform, what
57:58
would you tell your younger self?
58:07
Well, I was, I was pretty dumb when I was a kid.
58:15
So I'd, I would probably tell myself if I could look back and
58:21
see myself, then I would, you know, kind of redirect my
58:25
efforts at just, you know, kind of smarten up a little bit.
58:35
When I was younger, although I was, I, I, I was led by really
58:41
some wonderful people to include my, my, my parents, but I did
58:47
some really dumb stuff, right? As all kids do, we all did.
58:52
I wish, I wish I didn't do the dumb stuff I did.
58:55
But I guess in retrospect, I'm, I had to do all that stuff to
59:00
get where I am today. So I, you know, I, it was all
59:04
part of the plan, the grand scheme of it, but it was, it was
59:08
pretty painful along the way. I wish it wasn't looking back, I
59:13
wish it wasn't so painful, but that's life, right?
59:17
So, but I just try to be a better man at, at, you know,
59:23
through it all. So yeah.
59:25
Well, I thank you so much for coming on the show tonight.
59:28
I really learned a lot and I learned a lot about, you know,
59:31
what you're doing and how what service really looks like.
59:35
You know, people say I'm I'm here to serve, but they don't
59:38
always show that and their efforts and what they're doing,
59:41
but you certainly do. So I really appreciate.
59:44
So much. You know, really showing us
59:47
what's out there and how people can engage and be involved and
59:50
really support their communities, wherever that is,
59:52
if that's overseas somewhere, or if that's their local community
59:56
or their national community. There's always a way to serve
59:59
and there's always a way to help.
1:00:00
So I really appreciate you coming on and letting us know
1:00:03
about that. And I wanted to thank you for
1:00:05
your service. Well, thank you so much, Terry.
1:00:08
It's been a real honor to be on your show and thank you for the
1:00:11
opportunity to speak with you this evening.
1:00:14
Absolutely, this is tracer round signing off.
1:00:18
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