A huge thank you to U.S. Army Major Jake Kelly for joining T.O.C.'s Podcast to discuss a unique perspective of being an Officer in the U.S. Military and our current mental health situation in our Armed Forces. Tune in to listen to Kelly talk about the challenges our spouses and significant others face during deployments, the stigma of mental health, and his book 'The Spurs of Service".

Kelly served as a platoon leader with the 3d Cavalry Regiment, deploying to the Sinai Peninsula, before joining the 3rd Infantry Division as a Troop Commander in 5-7 Cavalry at Fort Stewart, GA. During his time in 3ID he conducted operational deployments across Europe to Germany, Poland, and Hungary, followed by a separate deployment to the Republic of Korea. Over the course of his career, Jake has served from platoon leadership through company command and has experienced firsthand both the extraordinary bonds forged through military service and the personal costs carried by service members and their families.

After more than a decade as an Armor Officer, Jake transitioned into the Army’s Simulation Operations career field, where his work now focuses on wargaming, experimentation, and the modernization of the future force. He currently serves in Transformation and Training Command (T2COM) at the Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning, Georgia, supporting Army experimentation and modernization efforts.

Jake is also the author of The Spurs of Service, a collection of 53 poems inspired by the shared journey of service members and their families. The book grew in part from the losses and experiences that shaped him during his military career, including the deaths of close friends in Afghanistan and the suicide of a Soldier under his command. Drawing on his background as a cavalryman and his upbringing in rural East Texas, his writing uses the imagery of the cowboy and the warrior to explore service, brotherhood, sacrifice, grief, family, faith, and the difficult journey of finding peace after hardship.

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Thank you Mark from Battle Worn Foundation for joining T.O.C.'s podcast to talk about the common mistakes we see in the first responder & military community regarding mental health. After losing one of his best friends to suicide, Mark came to realize that he can make a difference in normalizing mental health challenges in our community and came up with a great resource!

We discussed how department's set our community up to put the agency before our family's needs, losing friends to suicide, importance of peer to peer support, and a full breakdown of Battle Worn Foundation.

Learn more about Battle Worn Foundation by checking out their website: https://www.battlewornfoundation.org/home

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A huge thank you to Kenneth for coming on the podcast as he's made it his mission to talk about how he compartmentalized so much trauma over his career and had to deal with it a few month after retirement.

Like many, Kenneth worked hard in Probation for 28 years working primarily in crimes against children. After experience drug overdoses, suicides, and more, Kenneth hit that retirement mark and thought it would be a smooth ride. After three short months, everything caught up to him and needed an emergency therapy session to work on everything he suppressed over the course of his career.

Tune in to learn about Kenneth's career and some great advice for our community.

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