Latest / Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk / Tracer Rounds with Air Force Veteran Lani Quintello

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Tracer Rounds with Air Force Veteran Lani Quintello · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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MBR giving veterans a voice. And welcome back to the Tracer
1:09
Rounds podcast and your military broadcast radio, where we're
1:12
giving veterans a voice. And tonight's voice is to Lonnie
1:15
Quintello, and she is the former Air Force.
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And welcome, Lonnie. I appreciate you coming on the
1:21
show tonight. Hey, Terry, thank you so much
1:24
for having me. It's a pleasure and an honor to
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be here. And thank you for giving us
1:28
veterans a voice. I really appreciate everything
1:30
that you do for us. Well, we appreciate what you're
1:34
doing and the other veterans. We're just trying to send the
1:36
message out to the community because, you know, we all need
1:39
to share resources and we all need to help each other because,
1:42
you know, we're our own best support system.
1:47
U.S. military members and veterans, active duty, reserves,
1:51
everything that's out there. We are the best people to
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support one another. And so that's should be every,
1:57
every veteran or military members mission, I think.
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I think so too. Yes, ma'am.
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And, and we've all been through it, you know, either in any way,
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shape or form. We all have a story and we all
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can understand each other in a different way that I feel like
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nobody else really can. Yes, I I 100% agree with that
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and that's why it's so important to share all of our stories and
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that's why we this pot, this platform was created was to
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celebrate veterans stories and service and really help support
2:30
what veterans are doing now in their chapter after uniform.
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That's incredible. I mean, when I first joined the
2:36
Air Force, I thought I was going to make it a career.
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You know, I didn't really have a long term plan other than I'm
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doing Air Force for 20 years and I didn't really think ahead and
2:48
I didn't think about, well, what if that doesn't happen?
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And I feel like a lot of us don't until we finally step into
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that place and we're like, OK, well, well, now what?
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When the unexpected happens? Yeah, there we don't usually
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have a Plan B this, there's just that plan and we we plan on
3:08
doing that for however long we can do it.
3:11
But we don't really set up a secondary plan.
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And you know, that's probably short sighted on our parts, you
3:18
know, because eventually the uniform does come off.
3:20
Maybe it's sooner than one would hope, but eventually it does.
3:23
And you have to plan for what's, what's next.
3:26
Some of us, you know, it's really hard when we put the
3:28
uniform down and we stopped lacing up the boots and we're
3:31
like, now what, what, who am I like, what am I going to do now?
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Because it's, it's kind of one of those things, you know, when
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with I was reservist for 33 and and a half years.
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And so, you know, I had a second career, if you will, or maybe my
3:47
military service was my second career.
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But you know, so I knew kind of what I was going to do.
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But then after I had my free weekends and I had my free
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summers and I and you know the difference, I didn't have to
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work during the week to do military stuff.
4:01
It's like, OK, now how do I fill my time?
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So, you know, it's so like you said, you weren't necessarily
4:08
planning to end your career before 20 years, but it
4:11
happened. So tell us a little bit about
4:14
your upbringing because I know you were born in Germany.
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Where at in Germany were you born?
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Yes, I was born in a very small town in Bavaria, and so my dad
4:25
was prior army and he was stationed in Germany during his
4:28
military service and that's where he met my mother.
4:32
My mom is full German and so I got to grow up multicultural and
4:37
bilingual, which ended up serving me quite well in the Air
4:41
Force. But yeah, my childhood was
4:45
lovely. I have an older sister, so I
4:48
kind of got to grow up and, and learn, you know, I looked up to
4:52
her a lot as I was growing up and I also learned, oh, maybe I
4:55
quite shouldn't shouldn't do that.
5:00
But no, she, she was, she was great.
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And I played a lot outdoors. I climbed trees for fun.
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I was very much a tomboy and or Tom girl, if you will.
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And I just, I love being outside.
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I did gymnastics and so I you would find me tumbling probably
5:19
in the grocery store and doing hand stands and cartwheels.
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And that was my childhood to sum it up the first eight years
5:26
anyways. And then after that my family
5:30
decided to move to Jacksonville, FL.
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So usually I just Long story short, I just tell people that
5:36
my home state is Florida because that's where I remember the rest
5:39
of my childhood. But I still had to keep up with
5:42
my German because my grandma back in Germany, she does not
5:46
speak English And it forced me to, you know, continue to speak
5:50
the language so that I can converse with her because I, I
5:53
love her And we, we FaceTime every week and, you know, wish
5:58
she was closer. I'd I'm one of those who values
6:01
family. But yeah.
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Then we moved to Florida and I didn't continue with gymnastics,
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but I found some new hobbies and I loved softball, basketball,
6:13
volleyball, you name it. I was more into sports.
6:18
I always had a appreciation for music.
6:22
And I remember my dad would have the Radio 1 and sometimes he
6:26
would have it on a country station, sometimes he would have
6:28
it on a pop station. Sometimes it would just be, you
6:31
know, throwbacks. And so I grew up listening to
6:34
just about anything. And I think that also kind of
6:40
helped me in the long run because I was able to, you know,
6:44
be versatile with music. And how I got into that was
6:50
actually karaoke. So we were celebrating a win
6:53
from a softball game and a lot of my friends loved karaoke.
7:00
They wanted to go to this local wing place called Ronnies.
7:02
I don't even think it exists anymore, but they had really
7:05
good wings. And I was like, yeah, let's go
7:07
because you had me at wings. I love, I love their honey BBQ
7:10
wings. And so they were doing karaoke
7:13
and I'm like, OK, it looks like they're having a really good
7:15
time. But I'm also super shy.
7:18
And especially at that point in my life, I was just that kid
7:22
that kind of, you know, sat, sat in the 2nd row and just did all
7:26
my homework and followed all the rules.
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And, you know, I just, I never thought that I would get on a
7:30
stage or get up in front of people and, you know, sing or
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have the attention be on me. I've, I've never been the type
7:38
of person that enjoys it, but I thought, man, like singing that
7:43
just looks so fun. And so it took a couple of times
7:46
going to karaoke for me to finally convince my dad, Hey,
7:49
let me, let me sing a song because he was trying to protect
7:52
me and he didn't want me to, you know, suffer from total
7:57
embarrassment. And so I practiced a song called
8:01
Uncle Follow Me by Uncle Kracker.
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And that was the first song that I ever sing on karaoke.
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And it actually got a really decent response.
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And I guess somebody from the audience kind of nudged my dad
8:12
and said, I didn't know your daughter can sing like that.
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And the rest is history. I fell in love with music right
8:17
then and there on the spot and just never looked back and
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decided that I wanted to keep singing.
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And my dad supported it, and he's been my biggest supporter
8:29
for my entire life. That's awesome.
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So at what point did you decide you wanted to join the Air
8:34
Force? And why did you decide that the
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Air Force was the branch you wanted to to join?
8:40
OK, that's a bit of a loaded question.
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I didn't think that I would ever join the military.
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I was always open to it because of my dad being an Army veteran,
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and my sister ended up also joining the Air Force.
8:54
And so I grew up around, you know, the idea of military
8:59
service. So I just never thought that I
9:03
would be able to pursue music and also be in the military at
9:07
the same time. Because back then I thought, OK,
9:10
military probably has some form of music, but it's all
9:14
ceremonial. And, you know, it's probably
9:18
performing at Arlington Cemetery and, and doing like, you know,
9:25
choir, choir songs. And that really wasn't my thing.
9:28
Obviously a very important mission.
9:31
But I was a, you know, country, pop, rock, mainstream vocalist.
9:35
And I just never knew that and never thought that there would
9:38
be a place for me in the military until my sister, she
9:44
joined and I went with her a couple of times to the
9:47
recruiter. I was still in high school and
9:49
just kind of trying to figure it all out.
9:51
I was avidly performing in my, you know, local area.
9:56
I was performing and volunteering at a lot of senior
9:59
homes. And that's when I realized the
10:02
power of music because I mean, in Florida, it's like, you know,
10:09
retirement home central, you could really make a living out
10:12
of that. But for me, it was like, you
10:15
know, I had to get a certain amount of volunteer hours.
10:18
And the best and the funnest way that I could think of doing that
10:22
was to go to these senior homes where people really needed to
10:25
hear the music and, you know, just say hi to them and visit
10:30
with them. I would have some residents and
10:35
tell me that they didn't get out of bed unless they knew that I
10:37
was coming. And I usually, you know, visit
10:39
each senior home like once a month and do like an hour show
10:43
for them and spend time with them.
10:45
I would see residents get out of their wheelchairs and do the
10:48
twist with me and they would just light up.
10:50
And it was the coolest thing. And I think those experiences
10:56
made me realize that, OK, this is bigger than just me going
11:00
going and singing some tunesies and getting my volunteer hours.
11:05
Like it really touched my heart to to see these residents light
11:11
up and, and music is like a time capsule.
11:13
Like, I would sing songs from the 50s and 60s like Johnny Be
11:17
Good, Rock Around the Clock, Crocodile Rock and Lollipop.
11:23
I mean, and they would just, they would just jam with me.
11:26
And they would tell me stories afterwards about, oh, I remember
11:30
singing that song at the skating rink growing up.
11:33
And you just brought me right back to this awesome memory that
11:36
I had. And that's like my favorite
11:39
thing about music. And I think that's when I
11:40
realized, OK, I want to do this on a much bigger scale than
11:44
myself. And I never really knew how that
11:48
was going to happen. I never thought it would be in
11:50
the military. And before that was that he had
11:53
even crossed my mind. I ended up going on to American
11:58
Idol. And I thought that that was my
12:00
path. And so I, I was, I had graduated
12:08
high school and decided I was going to audition for American
12:12
Idol. I was still, you know,
12:14
performing out and about in the local scene, living at home with
12:17
my dad and also going to college.
12:20
I think I had an academic scholarship to a local State
12:23
College. And so I was doing, you know,
12:25
all these different things and I was set to to go to Hollywood.
12:30
I was fortunate to have gotten 3 yeses from the celebrity judges.
12:34
And I think at the time it was Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban
12:39
and Harry Connick junior. And it was just such a cool
12:42
experience. I was 19, like literally living
12:46
the dream in that same summer, you know, I was doing a lot more
12:50
research about, OK, you know, I don't want to put all my eggs in
12:53
one basket. I was my sister had just joined
12:56
the military. The recruiter had looked at me
12:59
and went, hey, what do you want to do a little girl with your
13:01
life? And I just said, I want to sing
13:02
and I want to and I want to, you know, hopefully serve my
13:05
country, but I don't know if that's in the cards for me.
13:07
And he's told me about this thing called Tops in Blue, but
13:10
you would have to join the military 1st and get your, you
13:13
know, get to your duty station and, and learn your career and
13:17
then you can audition. And that would be like a one or
13:19
two year thing. And I said that's not really for
13:22
me. I want to do music full time.
13:23
And I don't think he took me seriously.
13:25
And so I just started doing research of my own.
13:28
And sure enough, I discovered that the Air Force had a rock
13:33
band and also so did a lot of other different branches.
13:36
And so you, I think your question was how did you end up
13:39
joining the Air Force? Well.
13:41
I had, I was almost going to join the Navy.
13:44
So I was at AI was at a gig down in Lake City, FL and the local
13:54
regional Navy band was there also and they were slated to
13:58
perform after me. It was probably some some
14:00
festival. And I got to talking with them
14:02
and I was asking them about questions and they said, you
14:04
know, we're always looking for vocalist.
14:06
You should definitely audition. I think you would, you know, you
14:09
would make a great fit for, for our, our vocal position that we
14:14
have available. And so I was really interested
14:17
in, you know, going that route and on.
14:20
So I went to the recruiter because that's what they told me
14:23
that I had to do. And they essentially, I was
14:26
really honest on the the paperwork.
14:28
And because you have to get qualified for for you have to
14:33
go, you have to go through maps and you have to get to get all
14:35
your pre qualifications out of the way.
14:37
And then you get to audition. And it sounded like they really
14:40
wanted me to take that audition. And you know, I had I kind of
14:44
had high hopes for for joining the Navy And sure enough,
14:48
because I had marked have you ever had a kidney stone?
14:52
And I put yes on the paper, and I didn't think anything of it.
14:56
I just thought, OK, it was one day out of my life.
14:58
Yeah, I had a kidney stone. I was out playing varsity
15:01
softball, and it was the Florida heat.
15:03
And one day it just kind of got to me.
15:05
And, you know, I was pretty healthy after that.
15:08
It was just this thing. And they actually disqualified
15:12
me from joining any branch of the military after I marked yes
15:16
on that one question. And.
15:17
Everything is. Fine.
15:19
I even went to a Navy doctor and had them write a, a letter to
15:24
the recruiter saying I was totally healthy.
15:27
I was fit to join the military. I'm, you know, eager to join.
15:30
And nothing else was getting in my way.
15:32
And they still disqualified me. And I was like, oh, crap.
15:36
I actually cried about that. Yeah.
15:39
And so that door was shut. I never got that audition.
15:44
And I thought, you know, OK, well, I was, I was pretty,
15:50
pretty sad about it for a while, but I was like, OK, well, you
15:53
know, I still have still have American Idol.
15:55
And, you know, maybe if I maybe there will be a waiver down the
16:00
road. And, you know, if it's in the
16:03
cards, it'll, it'll still happen.
16:04
And so, you know, Long story short, I ended up trying to
16:08
audition for the Navy jazz band. And at the time, I didn't really
16:14
know what I was stepping into. I knew nothing about the bands
16:20
as far as like what exactly it is they're looking for.
16:22
And I didn't get very far in the the jazz audition.
16:27
I made it to the live Browns in DC and their feedback was right
16:30
on. It was, hey, you know, you, you
16:32
sound really great, but you have more of a pop country, rock like
16:36
mainstream boys. And I couldn't even get mad
16:38
about that because they were right.
16:41
And so I was still in DCA little bit butthurt about that
16:47
audition. And sure enough, I had
16:49
subscribed to all of the military band auditions because
16:53
I had done, you know, kind of my, my research and in that
16:56
realm. And there was a, we had stayed
17:01
on the, the base that I ultimately became stationed at.
17:04
And as we were leaving, there was an e-mail that came my way
17:08
that said immediate female vocalist for Air Force's premier
17:14
rock band vacancy. And I look at this and I'm like,
17:17
I look at my dad and I said, Dad, check this out.
17:20
That's crazy because those auditions only roll around like
17:23
every, you know, 20 ish so years when somebody hires.
17:28
And he said, that's a sign. And I'm like, no, it's not a
17:31
sign. No.
17:32
And he said, no, really it that's definitely that's, that's
17:35
a sign. We're, we haven't even made it
17:37
out of DC and we literally just passed the Air Force Band
17:40
building ultimately that I was going to be, you know, working
17:43
at and be a part of. And, you know, he, my dad was,
17:48
was the wiser of the two of us and of course still is.
17:51
And he was right. But I was 19 and I was, I wanted
17:55
to be a little teenager, just kind of write it off.
17:59
And I just wasn't sure because at that point I had already, you
18:04
know, tried to qualify to be in the military.
18:08
And I thought, well, this is a bit of a long shot.
18:10
And also at that same time, there was a regional band
18:15
position that came open. So the Air Force has, you know,
18:18
different bands. They have the premier band in DC
18:20
and then they have they have bands all over.
18:22
They're all great. And so I had submitted materials
18:26
for, I believe it was an audition for a female vocalist
18:31
position out at Langley. And so I had a short window
18:37
where I was able to submit these audition tapes because I was
18:42
going to go see my grandma for the summer and spend time with
18:45
her. And so I submitted everything,
18:47
got everything recorded and together and just really didn't
18:50
think much of it. My plan was I'm going to go
18:53
spend some time with grandma, then come back, and then I'm set
18:56
to go to Hollywood and then do American Idol.
18:59
And I heard back from the regional Air Force band 1st and
19:06
they said, hey, you know, we, we really appreciate your
19:08
submission. Maybe go get some vocal lessons
19:11
because your browsing is a little bit weird and thanks, but
19:15
no thanks. Right thought.
19:17
OK, well if the regional band doesn't want me, then surely the
19:21
premier band I, I imagine they all talk to each other surely
19:25
like they probably already lost my submission and kind of moved
19:29
on. And sure enough, I was in
19:31
Germany and grandma's and they, I got an e-mail that said, Hey,
19:36
Congrats, we want to invite you to a live round audition, which
19:40
would be the next round. And at that point I was like,
19:44
should I even do this? Because I've already kind of
19:47
been through the wringer with the military.
19:48
I don't think that I'm what they're looking for.
19:51
It says that you need to have a, it's a degree is strongly
19:55
suggested or recommended. I was working on my degree.
19:59
I had a lot of experience in music and so.
20:02
It was ultimately the audition coordinator that talked me into
20:07
coming to to audition. And I found a really cheap
20:11
flight just scrolling like kind of randomly, but not so random
20:16
like it was just, you know, it all just lined up for me to go
20:19
there. And sure enough, at the in
20:22
person audition, they hired me on the spot.
20:27
Awesome, thank you. They put me through this
20:29
rigorous, I mean it, it really is a rigorous audition process.
20:32
You have to do tonal recall where they, you know, play some
20:36
things and then you have to sing it back to test your pitch.
20:39
You have to, you know, sing a variety of of songs, which I
20:45
grew up listening to a lot of different types of songs.
20:47
And so being multicultural and, and that sort that really helped
20:51
me feel at home with different genres of music.
20:55
And then they, they had me learn a surprise song over a lunch
21:00
break and then hope and pray that I get through it, you know,
21:03
afterwards. And yeah, so they wanted to hire
21:06
me. And I told them, well, I'm doing
21:09
this thing called American Idol. Like, I'm happy to drop out like
21:12
right now because I would love to, you know, following my
21:16
family's military heritage and their their legacy.
21:20
And I felt like it was my turn to serve if if I could,
21:24
especially being able to sing and to serve like that sounded
21:27
like the American dream, right? Definitely.
21:30
And they said, no, no, no. This could be a really cool,
21:33
cool, like, PR thing. Why don't you continue on with
21:36
American Idol and we'll wait it out.
21:38
And whenever you get cut, you know, you have a job lined up.
21:43
And there I was at 19 trying to, you know, all that out.
21:49
And then I was progressing through the rounds on American
21:52
Idol. And I remember after the OR
21:57
right before they had like an extra round that season called
21:59
the Showcase round. And they wanted me to sign a
22:02
contract that was like this thick.
22:04
No lie. At that.
22:06
Point I sent it to the Air Force, the legal team, they
22:10
reviewed it and they said, OK, you can't sign this contract and
22:13
because if you do then you won't be able to fulfill your duties
22:16
that we need you to do in the military.
22:17
It's time for you to withdraw. And so sure enough I did I
22:21
announced my withdrawal to Ryan Seacrest.
22:23
I don't believe they aired any of this, but it happened and I
22:28
went from, you know, staying at a five star resort in downtown
22:34
LA and Hollywood to packing up my bags and going to boot camp
22:40
getting chewed up and spat on, if you will, by the Mt is not
22:44
really they were they were great.
22:46
I actually loved basic training. And then immediately after that
22:49
I reported to my duty station, which was to be the premier
22:55
female vocalist in the Air Force's rock band in DC.
22:59
So there was only one of me, and I had that job in the Air Force,
23:04
and it was just like I had to pinch myself, you know, because
23:08
I was legit. I felt like I was living the
23:11
American dream. Being able to wear the uniform,
23:15
serve my country, and to sing at the same time and pursue my
23:19
passion of music that I love to do.
23:21
I was on top of the world. I yeah, I, I'll be trying to
23:26
pinch myself to going. This could not be my life today.
23:30
This could not be what's happening.
23:32
I mean, like you said, all the stars seem to line up just in
23:35
the right moments in the right time to to put you on that
23:38
trajectory to be in that band and to really, you know, be
23:44
serving like you wanted to and still doing the singing that you
23:48
wanted to do. I think that's so awesome.
23:50
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I had to get a waiver from the
23:53
surgeon general at the Pentagon because of that.
23:56
You know, the Stone Stone issue that they turned into a whole
24:00
thing and that waiver. I remember my recruiter, he
24:04
called me. He said I've never seen this go
24:06
through the same day, but congratulations because that
24:08
waiver went through when it got signed.
24:10
The band must have some connections, which they do.
24:14
They made it happen. That is amazing.
24:17
So why don't we hear the song that you sang with the band?
24:22
So you want to tell us a little bit about the song before we
24:24
played or afterward? I can tell you about it now.
24:28
This is American Airmen, right? Yes, American Airmen.
24:30
OK, so shortly after I arrived at the band, I was just so
24:37
amazed by the airmen that we're doing incredible things.
24:43
There's, there is literally a job for everybody in the
24:45
military. And as I was getting familiar
24:48
and getting acquainted with the Air Force, I wanted to figure
24:51
out a way to showcase their story and, and highlight every
24:55
aspect of what it means to be an American Airmen.
24:58
And so I wrote this song. I Co wrote it with the guitar
25:03
player and it turned into what you're about to hear, which is
25:08
American Airmen. And it sort of became my legacy
25:12
in the Air Force as well. I love it.
25:15
Well, let's play it now and then everyone else can hear what the
25:19
great music you were making with the band.
25:21
Here we go. Let's do it.
25:22
All right. The station where our veterans
29:50
voices are heard. MBR talk.
29:53
Hey, thanks for supporting our channel by watching and
29:55
listening. Find us on the web at NB Radio
29:58
dot web. And we're back with Lonnie
30:03
Quintillo. And that was her song.
30:05
American Airmen's with the band, the Air Force rock band that
30:09
they developed. And you sang.
30:12
And where all have you been with the band?
30:16
Oh, wow. So the Air Force has sent me all
30:18
over. Goodness.
30:20
Just watching that back put, you know how we were mentioning
30:23
earlier and talking about how music is a time capsule, It put
30:26
me right back at Andrews Air Force Base because I don't
30:28
usually like sit. I haven't heard that that song
30:32
in a while, and I certainly haven't seen the music video
30:36
from start to finish. That was actually kind of a fun
30:40
memory. But yeah, that, gosh, the Air
30:42
Force is sent me all over. I've been so blessed to have so
30:46
many opportunities and have gotten to travel.
30:49
Of course, we did a lot in the DMV area in Washington, DC.
30:54
And so I found myself at the White House, I found myself at
30:57
the US Capitol, at the National Harbor.
31:02
Our duty day could could be anywhere from, you know,
31:06
performing in front of 60,000 people and perform headlining an
31:11
NFL halftime show at MetLife Stadium, which I actually got
31:16
to, you know, sing that song that you just heard American
31:20
Airmen there for a for 60,000 NFL fans in honor of military
31:26
appreciation to like the next morning we wake up and we go
31:29
play at an elementary school for, you know, community
31:32
outreach. And so, I mean, it was the gamut
31:34
of just about everything. Or the next day we could find
31:38
ourselves at Fort Myer at the chief of staff of the Air
31:41
Force's House because he's hosting a, you know, some sort
31:47
of a Christmas party and he wants after dinner
31:52
entertainment. And so the band was used very
31:56
strategically. I feel like a lot of people
31:57
don't understand the mission of the band, which was to, you
32:01
know, honor veterans with community outreach and also
32:04
directly support the president's initiatives.
32:08
And so a lot of times we would, you know, do a lot of these
32:11
private events and they use the band to kind of loosen everybody
32:15
up with some music and entertain people.
32:18
And it was a catalyst for, for talking about, you know, for,
32:25
for discussion and inviting, inviting communication, which is
32:29
really important. And they would have dignitaries
32:32
from all over the world. And a lot of times I didn't even
32:35
know who I was performing for. I just knew that they were VI PS
32:38
and I knew they were important. Probably CE OS or politicians or
32:44
dignitaries of, of foreign nations, whether it be our
32:47
allies or somebody from the Middle East.
32:51
We actually deployed to the Middle East as well.
32:54
We went to Kuwait, we went to Qatar, got to see Dubai.
32:59
That was really fun. I went to Egypt and I'm probably
33:04
not remembering all the countries that we went to, but I
33:06
mean, they, they sent us all over and our mission out there
33:10
was mostly it wasn't necessarily, you know, troop
33:16
morale because at that point when I was in, they had Wi-Fi
33:20
And I feel like people just wanted to, after pulling like a
33:23
12 hour duty day, they just wanted to go back to their
33:27
barracks and FaceTime their families and play video games,
33:30
which I totally understand right now.
33:33
Karaoke was a big hit that was super fun.
33:36
But I think they used the band more so to play at international
33:40
schools and for what they referred to as hearts and minds.
33:45
And so I would, you know, go dance with and sing with the
33:50
local kiddos in the community. And if they saw the military
33:54
presence and hopefully they would, they would see from at a
33:58
young age, Hey, our, our military, we're, we're actually
34:01
the good guys. And that was, you know, part of
34:03
part of our mission in the band. And we also did a lot of embassy
34:07
support. So we would perform at embassies
34:11
and, you know, and, and I got to see like first hand how our
34:16
mission really did bring people together across borders from
34:20
people from all walks of life. I remember at the American
34:24
Embassy in in Egypt in particular, the night started
34:28
off kind of awkward. You know, you have one culture
34:30
that was kind of over here and the other culture of the
34:32
Americans were over here. And as soon as the band starts
34:35
playing, people just gravitated towards the music and they
34:38
started dancing. And that night ended up with
34:41
people doing a party train all around the embassy and it was
34:45
the coolest thing to get to. Experience.
34:47
Yeah, because a lot of people rag on the band and, you know,
34:50
because they don't understand like what the what the mission
34:53
is and what they actually do. And so I just thought I'd
34:58
clarify that. Yeah, No, we appreciate the
35:00
explanation because I know there's a lot of people that
35:03
don't know. I mean, I didn't know.
35:04
I mean, I know that there's different bands and that, but I
35:07
didn't know what all they do. So it's it's nice to have an
35:10
education and hear really what what you were doing and and what
35:14
the purpose of the band and the mission set is.
35:16
That's really a good thing, Goodwill thing, like you said,
35:21
for the community and for other nations, because I think music,
35:25
it transcends space and time. I always say that, but it's true
35:29
because a good song is a good song and it really resonates
35:32
with a lot of people. Even if you don't understand all
35:34
the lyrics in the song because you don't speak the language or
35:37
you speak it limited, you know, amount of that language, it's
35:41
still if you've got the right beat, you've got the right tone,
35:44
you've got, you know, people happy and excited, then you're
35:46
going to be the same so. For sure, I think people vibe
35:50
off of, you know, the beat of it, the energy that you bring to
35:54
it and you know, just the the melody of it.
35:58
There's so many things. I mean, music really is a
36:01
universal language. And I've, I've seen at the
36:04
nursing home how it brings people together and how it, it
36:08
transcends through time. I've seen on a much bigger stage
36:12
how you know you can have a stadium full of people bobbing
36:18
along to the same beat. Like you said, if even if they
36:20
don't know the lyrics, there's something really powerful in, in
36:24
the music and being in that, being present in that moment in
36:28
time. And that's like, I literally
36:30
thrive off of that. It's one of my favorite things
36:33
in the world to just get to be on the stage.
36:35
And you know, that's when I actually like having the the
36:38
attention. Otherwise I'm like, as soon as I
36:40
get off the stage, like, no, OK, nobody talked to me.
36:42
Yeah, like I'm also, I'm that shy girl.
36:45
And I know that sounds counterintuitive because, you
36:47
know, like I have like I have to come out in, in a different
36:50
persona almost when I'm performing on it.
36:53
Like it's still me, but it's a it's a version of me.
36:56
And then after that, I have to recharge my batteries.
36:58
But I always love, I think my favorite part after performing,
37:04
especially in the Air Force, I really, I just miss like, you
37:07
know, the old timers or just anyone coming up to me and
37:10
going, you know what? My son is in the Air Force right
37:13
now doing XYZ. And I'm so glad that I came here
37:17
and listened to the music because it reminded me of my son
37:20
or reminded me of my dad who served.
37:22
And then they tell me this amazing story and that has
37:25
always been and always will be my favorite part of my service
37:30
and I'll always carry that with me.
37:32
It's been it's a special memories that I have.
37:36
Definitely. So what did so you, you, you
37:41
sang with the band and then you got out of the service and then
37:44
what did you do next or, or what, what prompted you to, to
37:48
get out of the service? And then what, what did you do
37:53
once you were out? Like, how did you fill your
37:55
time? How did you decide what, what to
37:57
do next? Because you know, we, we talked
37:59
about earlier, it's hard to make the, the plans about what you do
38:03
after service because you don't really think they're you don't
38:06
worry about it. Like I'm going to be in the
38:08
uniform for a long time. I don't need to worry about it.
38:11
And, and I had that exact mentality.
38:13
I thought, cool, I'm going to do this for 20 plus years.
38:17
I've got it all planned out. And, you know, after a while,
38:20
like I could do my job in my sleep.
38:22
And it was, it was great. And I had, I had all these
38:25
amazing opportunities and I got to perform, you know, all over.
38:29
And from the outside looking in, one would think, Oh my gosh,
38:33
she's got it all together. She's living the American dream.
38:36
And in a way, I was now behind the scenes, I also, I feel like
38:42
I had to overcome a lot of adversity pretty early on in my
38:48
career. I, I just kind of was naive and
38:51
I was happy that I had a job and I was, you know, out of my dad's
38:57
house and I was getting to pursue music and I got to be in,
39:01
in the military. And that was that was enough for
39:04
me getting to do all of these things.
39:06
And I feel like my, my leadership wasn't necessarily
39:15
ideal. So, you know, pretty early on, I
39:19
ran into when, when American Airmen, the song that you listen
39:23
to came out, it unexpectedly went viral.
39:26
And all of a sudden, I was in the public eye a lot, not saying
39:32
at all that I was famous or anything like that.
39:34
But a lot of people started recognizing me from the video
39:38
because it got 7 million views online.
39:42
And people were like, well, hold up.
39:43
Why? Why does she have this rank of a
39:46
tech Sergeant when she looks like she's, quote, 12?
39:49
And that started a whole Internet thing.
39:52
And the Air Force thought it was also a good idea to write a
39:55
story about how I became the youngest technical Sergeant
39:59
serving in the military at 19. And it didn't sit well with a
40:04
lot of people. And that prompted a lot of
40:06
cyberbullying. And so after a while, you know,
40:10
when the video came out, I was also put in charge of marketing
40:15
for the band that I was in. And so I was like filtering out.
40:21
Comment after comment about how awful I am and how I'm fraud,
40:25
waste and abuse and I would see these memes about me loses
40:30
American Idol but gets promoted to tech Sergeant.
40:34
Typical Air Force. Oh wow, my picture would be
40:37
right there. And I'd had like this one little
40:39
medal, which by the way, I'm, I was very proud of that one medal
40:42
that I had, but it's just not. Yeah, that was the.
40:46
Operational Air Force like that's not normal, you know, for
40:49
a tech Sergeant with with the stripes that I had to to have
40:53
one medal. And so people wanted to rag on
40:55
me for that and in a way like I understand like they didn't they
41:00
didn't know it was a lot of misinformation.
41:02
They didn't realize that I came through the ranks and I
41:05
promoted. And as soon as you, if you go
41:08
through the extensive audition process and you get into the
41:13
premier band, which I believe there's also now another premier
41:17
band in Colorado, but you automatically get promoted to
41:21
E6, which in the band world you're, you're like a nobody.
41:25
You know, you're, you're the low.
41:27
If you're an E6, you are a very low ranking member.
41:30
But, and there's also, there was also 200 other people, my former
41:36
colleagues who promoted in the exact same way.
41:39
I just happened to be a little bit younger.
41:40
And I happened to be in the, the video that the Air Force decided
41:43
to release and, you know, publicize and it became a whole
41:47
thing. And it wasn't necessarily fun to
41:52
have to show up to my job and have to justify why I exist
41:57
every day and then have to filter out.
41:58
Then it got to a point to where it was like, OK, now this is
42:02
sexual harassment. Then things that I don't want to
42:04
repeat, you know, on this on this platform.
42:07
But I've read so many crappy comments about myself.
42:12
And I thought, oh, my gosh, my family's reading this.
42:14
And, you know, people that I know are reading this, these
42:17
things about me that are not even true.
42:19
And you know, it, it kind of sucked to to have to deal with
42:26
that. But if that was the only thing
42:28
that I had to navigate, I think I would have been OK because I
42:31
have pretty tough skin. I was raised by my dad and, you
42:34
know, like I just the other side of it was I thought my
42:38
leadership didn't have my back. And when that song came out,
42:43
there was somebody in the band who, who was in charge of our we
42:47
had a very small flight. The rock band is the smallest
42:50
flight in the, in the the Air Force band squadron, if you
42:55
will. And this person decided to take
42:58
it upon himself to make my life rather difficult and was given,
43:07
in my opinion, too much power was in charge of the entire
43:11
flight. So nobody else really wanted to
43:14
step in and, and say anything because we have these things
43:19
called performance reports, you know, every, every year.
43:23
And everyone wants to get promoted.
43:25
And there's a lot of politics involved, especially being in
43:28
DC. On top of that, people are
43:31
trying to, you know, I saw a lot of stepping on one another to
43:34
try and get the next promotion. And, you know, here I am.
43:38
When this video came out, I'm just doing my job.
43:41
And I had no idea that it was going to go viral.
43:43
I had no idea that the spotlight was going to be on me.
43:45
And then I realized, like, OK, a lot of people are like, wanting
43:50
me to fail. And I'm reading all these
43:51
comments and the people who are supposed to be on my team, who
43:54
are, you know, wearing the same uniform as I am, like, literally
43:59
hate my guts. I was even after a while reading
44:02
comments like I'm going to show up to her gig and throw a glass
44:06
bottle at her face and it it became.
44:09
My point I. Was like, OK, maybe we should do
44:11
something about this because now it's my safety and now I'm
44:14
developing anxiety and I really don't, you know, like, this is
44:19
just not really what I thought I signed up to do.
44:23
And after that video, you know, kind of like put a lot of
44:28
eyeballs on me, the person that I'm just, I'm not going to name
44:32
any names. I'll just call.
44:34
I'll just call the person the abuser.
44:37
And he decided that he was going to make my life a nightmare.
44:43
And. That's terrible.
44:46
One of. The things that that happened,
44:48
I'll never forget this. I was wrapping up a summer
44:52
concert and I look over and it was just me and him in a dark
44:59
area and the rest of the band was loading up the truck and I
45:02
and we were we were there under the bandstand and it was it was
45:06
dark and I just remember a knife being pulled and showed to me
45:12
the tip of the knife to my face. Oh my goodness, I.
45:15
Remember hearing you see this, Quintillo, you see this, and
45:19
here I am, there is a knife and I took it as, you know, a threat
45:24
that, well, if I say anything, I'm done.
45:29
That was the same weekend that I decided I was going to take a
45:33
break from life and go see Toby Keith in concert, which was
45:38
actually my first concert that I, you know, my first large
45:41
scale concert that I ever went to.
45:42
And so I'm trying to like now that I have had some time to, to
45:46
process everything, I try to associate the negative memories
45:50
that I have with something positive.
45:51
So that same weekend that that happened, that kind of opened my
45:55
eyes to, oh, crap, this is not what I signed up to do.
45:57
I went to a concert and thought, OK, well, things are, I'm just
46:01
going to have to have to roll with it.
46:03
And, you know, I didn't go to at Airman Leadership School, I
46:08
didn't know what a first Sergeant did or really was.
46:13
I relied on, you know, my my leadership to kind of help me
46:17
out and show me the ranks of, you know, life in the Air Force.
46:21
And so I feel like they were able to manipulate me because I
46:26
was young and I didn't know any better.
46:30
And so I, I was too afraid to really say anything.
46:35
And, you know, I was dealing with the online, you know,
46:39
bullying fine, but then coming to work and then getting bullied
46:42
like in person by my leadership. There was, you know, there was
46:46
hazing, just to give you a couple of examples.
46:48
I don't want to dwell on this, but I would come to work and the
46:51
abuser would just randomly, I remember one time I had these
46:54
binders in my hand because I was, you know, I lead blue.
46:58
I mean, I was all about like, I want to give my everything to
47:01
the Air Force because I love my career and I, I want to, you
47:06
know, I want to make this my, my life.
47:09
And so I didn't really prioritize anything else.
47:11
And I came to work one day and had these binders in my hand and
47:15
all of a sudden, BAM, they just get slapped out of my hand.
47:19
And I just hear laughter like, ha, ha.
47:20
And I'm like, I'm picking them up and, you know, like, I want
47:25
to cry. And then I ended up going to
47:28
lunch and like crying in my car because this was like, this was
47:31
starting to be like an everyday. There was something, whether it
47:35
was, you know, slamming binders that I had in my hands onto the
47:40
floor and thinking that was funny or just randomly hearing
47:43
shut up, Quintello. Shut up.
47:45
Like just out of the blue. Like I wasn't even doing
47:48
anything. And all of a sudden, shut up
47:49
Quintello or just, I mean, you name it it, it ended up being a
47:56
very hostile environment. And I just, it sucked having to
48:01
go to work. Eventually I just feared
48:03
completely for my safety. I didn't trust anybody.
48:08
And that turned into anxiety. And I think just without
48:12
dwelling on it too much, because there's some things that I
48:16
don't, I don't think I'll ever share that happened.
48:21
But I was also like really proud at the same time.
48:24
Like I wouldn't go to mental health and I didn't know that
48:27
you could go to a first Sergeant.
48:28
I didn't know we had all these resources that were available if
48:31
you were getting bullied and if you felt like there was abuse of
48:35
power and, you know, sexual harassment and things of that
48:40
nature. And so I just kind of dealt with
48:44
it and I put up with, I put up with being the only female in a,
48:50
in a small ensemble for a long time until finally it just built
48:55
and built and built until like one day I just exploded.
48:59
And I always thought they're never, they're never going to
49:02
have the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
49:05
So every challenge almost felt like they purposely threw these
49:09
challenges out my way. So to watch me fail and
49:13
everything that they threw at me, I was like, Nope, I'm going
49:16
to exceed, I'm going to do this. And I'm, I'm, you know, I'm not
49:19
going to allow them to, to, to watch any sort of weakness and,
49:23
and see that out of me. But I think eventually it did
49:26
take a toll on me. And, you know, I fell into a
49:30
really dark hole of depression from it all.
49:35
Just coming to work and having to justify your job.
49:37
And now I don't feel safe. And now I feel like I have to
49:39
watch my back every time I, I do anything.
49:42
I was only allowed to write one song in the Air Force.
49:46
After that. It was like, how dare you, you
49:48
know, how dare you become more, more successful on your first
49:51
try. Like you're not supposed to be a
49:52
songwriter. You're supposed to be a singer.
49:53
And we're supposed to have a foot on you.
49:55
And I mean, that's, that was the mentality that I felt like I was
49:59
the environment I was working in because I never got to write
50:03
another song again. And that was pretty early on in
50:06
my career when American Airmen happened.
50:08
And that was just, yeah, that was the environment.
50:12
And I felt like I just felt like a little Ant trying to prevent
50:19
myself from getting stepped on completely.
50:22
And I was just running and trying to, you know, navigate
50:25
this, the craziness of like, here I am on one end and this.
50:29
And from the outside looking in, this looks like the coolest
50:33
career. And it should have been the the.
50:34
Most amazing. You know, awesome, best career
50:38
in the Air Force, but it came with so many consequences.
50:42
Like it seemed like every success that I had, there was
50:46
also like a consequence that came like I got in trouble
50:48
because I was doing my job and, and they, they didn't like it
50:53
and they didn't like that I was getting the attention or, or
50:56
whatever it was. I'm not even sure what the what
50:58
the motive was. But after about 5-6 years in
51:05
out, So I was living in a condo in Alexandria in the city and I
51:09
just, I was depressed. My mental health was not good.
51:15
I developed horrible anxiety to the point to where it became
51:18
like debilitating. And I realized that something
51:24
needed to change. And I got to a point to where I
51:26
was like, at this point I just don't even care anymore.
51:30
So I'm going to try to change something.
51:34
And if I die in the process, then at least that changes that
51:37
gets me out of the environment that I'm like, I literally got
51:40
to that point. And I, and I started trying to
51:43
advocate for myself. I think my last straw was when I
51:48
had asked to extend for a year because I started getting a
51:53
little bit smart. And I learned that in the
51:56
military, there is an exception to every rule as long as you can
52:00
justify it. And so I went to, I can't
52:06
remember the acronyms anymore, but the, the place where you go
52:10
for like personnel. And I looked through all the
52:12
rules of like why and how maybe you could possibly what I didn't
52:17
want to re enlist. I wanted to keep my job, but I
52:20
was not, I didn't feel safe enough to re enlist for four
52:23
more years. And so I, I saw that the Air
52:25
Force had this best interest of the Air Force extension.
52:29
And I also saw that they had a thing called the career
52:31
intermissions program. And that was a long shot.
52:33
And they of course, shot it down because everything has to go
52:36
through your chain of command. And my abuser was in my chain of
52:39
command. And so I had to run all these
52:40
things by him. Of course he's going to say no.
52:43
And ultimately they said, look, you need to, you need to suck it
52:46
up. We hired you to sing.
52:48
And that's what you're going to do.
52:49
I mean, I tried also switching careers, I tried to go to a
52:53
regional band, anything to save my, my career in the Air Force,
52:57
but also Get Me Out of the environment that I was in
52:59
because I just couldn't do it anymore.
53:01
And finally I was told no, no, no, no, no so many times.
53:04
And I was told you need to just take a cup of suck it up.
53:07
And at some point I ran up to the first Sergeant because my
53:11
sister had told me, Hey, you need to go to your first
53:13
Sergeant. And finally after her, you know,
53:15
telling me time and time again and after a lot of phone calls
53:19
late night to my dad just crying and just feeling like I'm stuck
53:23
in this prison because I can't do anything about it, you know,
53:26
because if I leave, I'll go AWOL and then they'll throw me and
53:29
like, I don't I. Just I didn't.
53:30
Know what to do I felt stuck and and so I just didn't care
53:35
anymore and I finally went to the first Sergeant and said I
53:37
can't look there's something that there's this is going and
53:40
and I just unloaded 6 years of frustration and trauma and just
53:47
all all the things on him and I feel bad that I did that but it
53:52
needed to happen and that I would say that was the turning
53:55
point in all of this. I can't remember if it was
54:00
before that or after where I literally sold everything that I
54:03
had in my condo on a whim in one weekend.
54:06
And I moved out into the country in Maryland and lived in a
54:10
travel trailer on a campground because I wanted to get away
54:13
from people and I just needed, you know, I was trying to find
54:17
comfort in, in any little thing. I would say those two things.
54:21
Finally going to the first Sergeant and talking to
54:23
somebody, moving out into the country and just being away from
54:28
everything. Then COVID happened shortly
54:31
before that. I finally found the courage to
54:35
go talk to a therapist and to to get seen for my mental health.
54:40
The first therapist literally told me well after I poured my
54:46
my heart and soul and all of my emotions into like where I am
54:50
and I was, I was in a really bad place.
54:52
I remember that therapist got up and wrote something on the
54:55
whiteboard and said well your fix, your solution is easy.
54:58
Just go make a list of things that you enjoy doing and go do
55:02
it. Problem solved.
55:03
And I was. Like, oh, it's that easy.
55:09
Wow, I would have already done that.
55:11
Thanks I. Wish I could have thought of
55:12
that myself, right? Wow, what a revelation.
55:16
I know the second therapist that I had on the the same base kind
55:22
of just said like, well, don't you think if you were on
55:24
American Idol, you would have had to undergo the same stuff?
55:27
And I said, well, no, absolutely not, because I'm here in the
55:31
military and there's a chain of command and there's a process
55:34
like, no. And she just kind of threw it
55:36
back in my face. And I was at my wit's end.
55:39
And I was like, you know what? I am going to give this one more
55:43
shot. So I called Walter Reed and an
55:47
airman answered the phone. And I'm like sounding desperate
55:50
at this point. And I'll never forget that phone
55:53
call. And they said, yeah, we don't,
55:55
we don't have a female because I had requested a female.
55:58
And they said, but this person is really good and you should,
56:01
you should give them a shot. And I was desperate.
56:03
So I'm like, yeah, sure. When you when can you get me in?
56:06
That was that was the best decision that I had ever made
56:11
and up until that point, because I finally found somebody who
56:15
actually took the time to listen to what I was going through.
56:18
And, you know, treated, tried to treat me for for a year.
56:23
Ultimately it it led to a medical retirement.
56:28
And I'm so grateful for that therapist and the whole team
56:31
that I had over at Walter Reed for just one, listening and two,
56:38
you know, caring enough to make sure that I didn't just get
56:43
administratively separated. It was a therapist that ended up
56:48
convincing me to re enlist and he said look you just got to
56:52
trust me and I had a really hard time trusting people at the time
56:55
because of. Everything he had.
56:56
Gone through and he said, you just need to trust me.
56:58
I, I promise you I can't make any, any guarantees, but I will
57:02
give you my best effort to make sure that we, we can treat you
57:07
and you know, get you on a, on a road to recovery.
57:11
And he followed through on that promise and that's awesome.
57:14
I'll never forget that and I'm forever grateful because that
57:19
that's what ended up giving me a chance at a second life.
57:22
I love that. Well, we only got a couple of
57:24
minutes left, so I want to make sure we're.
57:26
Yeah, I want to make sure we're talking about about your new
57:29
projects and what you're doing. So I'm going to put your social
57:32
media handles up here. So can you tell us about your
57:34
band and tell us what you're doing right now and tell us
57:37
where you're headed? Wow, time flew.
57:39
It does. Yeah.
57:41
Long story short, it took me a long time.
57:42
I took two years off and I I went through a vocational
57:46
rehabilitation with the VA, ended up going to grad school,
57:50
found myself and gradually found my way back into music.
57:54
And that ended up becoming, earlier this year, I started a
57:59
band called Lonnie Lai Band with my best friend and also a former
58:04
colleague and keyboardist of the Air Force Band.
58:07
We've joined forces now to create something really special
58:11
here in the low Country. I'm actually producing an event
58:16
of my own called Concert at the Barn and it's going to be
58:20
November 6th. We'll tie it into veteran's day.
58:23
And we plan on using all of our experiences in the Air Force and
58:29
just from everything that, you know, we've been able to do and
58:33
all the all the opportunities that we've been blessed with to
58:35
create something really special for the Lowcountry.
58:38
We have a full, it's now a 7 piece band that's going to be at
58:43
our concert at the Barn. Again, that's November 6th,
58:46
2026. Gates open at 6:15, concert
58:49
starts at 7:00. It's family friendly.
58:52
When I was growing up, I would have given anything to come to,
58:56
you know, a free concert like this.
58:58
This is free and open to the public.
59:00
And it's something that I'm just incredibly excited about.
59:03
I poured my heart and soul into this because the community has,
59:07
you know, poured into me and allowed me to recover.
59:11
And so that's where I'm at right now.
59:13
I'm in a really great, great place in my life.
59:15
It's not about what I it's not about me as a singer.
59:18
It's how can I contribute to, you know, the community And this
59:22
is now my, my second round of, of music and I'm looking forward
59:27
to doing it with Lonnie Lae Band.
59:29
I love that. So we didn't get to play your
59:32
other song, but I I tell, I tell everybody to go to your website,
59:37
check it out, check out the music by well, you can't buy
59:41
because they're free, but check out the the party.
59:45
Tell me what it's called again. Running with the Wolves is my
59:48
original song. Well, no, but but your event
59:51
you're putting on November 6th, yes.
59:53
Concert at the Barn. Concert gonna.
59:54
Be at Oakley Farms November 6th. And that's in what state?
59:58
Where is it? That's going to be in South
1:00:00
Carolina, here in the low Country, in Monks Corner, South
1:00:02
Carolina, in my neighborhood. So we're excited about that for
1:00:06
you, and we want to hear all about that.
1:00:08
We'll have you back on so you can tell us more, and then we'll
1:00:10
play some more of your music when you come back, if you will.
1:00:13
I would love that. Thank you so much for having me
1:00:16
on. That would be so great pleasure.
1:00:17
Yeah, definitely. We enjoyed hearing your song and
1:00:20
we enjoyed hearing your story and we love that you're on the
1:00:22
other side of your situation that you were in, that you, you
1:00:27
persevered and you, you know, you took care of you.
1:00:30
And that's what's really important is, you know, self
1:00:32
help and, and getting and, and saying that you need it because
1:00:36
of what you're dealing with, what you're going through.
1:00:37
And there's always someone out there that will hear you and
1:00:40
will listen to you and will help you.
1:00:42
So maybe not the first person you talk to, but there's going
1:00:46
to be someone that's really going to hear what you're saying
1:00:48
and really try to make a difference for you.
1:00:51
So I'm so glad that there was somebody that did that for you
1:00:54
and that now you've got your own band.
1:00:56
You're, you're doing this big event and we're just so proud of
1:01:00
you. Thank you so much.
1:01:02
I appreciate you having me on, Terry.
1:01:03
Thank you so much, Lonnie. And we'll, we're going to end
1:01:07
the show now, but we do want to keep up with you.
1:01:09
So I will be in touch OK. Please do.
1:01:12
All right. Thank you.
1:01:13
So this is Tracy around signing off.
1:01:16
Hi, I'm Beaker with military broadcast radio TV.
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