Skip Trahan: hi, my name is Skip Trahan. I am a retired Navy captain. spent 32 years in the Navy from an enlistment in nineteen eighty until my final retirement in twenty twelve. I enlisted as a gunner's mate, so I definitely understand ammunition and And guns and those kind of things. from being a gunner's mate, I got selected to go to the Academy Prep School and then on to the Naval Academy and from there be went into helicopters. And so I spent most of my Navy career flying helicopters based either in Florida, in Norfolk, in San Diego, in Japan, and then with an an exchange assignment with the Air Force. deployed just about everywhere in the world with the exception of South America. That was and Antarctica. It didn't get down there. but with with with that exception just a a lot of a lot of operations Laurie Trahan: right. So Skip, you had a tremendous influence on Philip long before he even joined the Marines. He was obsessed with you as a little boy. I don't know if you remember all the pictures he would draw and everything, right? Right? But he Skip Trahan: Yeah. Yeah. Laurie Trahan: he really looked up to you as a military officer, as a leader, as somebody who lived a life of service. So looking back, what do you think is the most important role as a mentor? can play in a young man or a young woman's life when they're considering military career and how can you experience service members in you know inspire service with these kids? Skip Trahan: So I I think probably the most important thing, you know, as a mentor is is being receptive, being being open, being willing to listen. you know it we are we are a culture that goes very fast. we've always got a checklist of things that we're trying to do. And and It's the it's the it's the taking time, it's the it to me it's the listening. You know, I most people that I I think that most people who have mentors are looking for a mentor. They're looking for an example, they see something that is different, or that they want a piece of or they want to be a part of, or they they hear an experience and they go, Man, I'd I'd like to do that. And so I I think that for me that began with stories from your grandfather, Uncle Roland, my my uncle, you know, who served in World War II, you know, and and serving in Germany, and he was a general's driver for a little while. And you know, the growing up in a small town, there's There's a desire to maybe not stay in that small town, maybe to see something Laurie Trahan: Yeah. Skip Trahan: a little bit bigger, to be part of something that's a little bit bigger. what led me to the military was my desire to be a state trooper, which is kind of crazy because my sister ended up being the state trooper. And and when I when I interviewed with them, they go, Hey, you're in the you've got a good perspective on on what service life would be, but you're way too young. You have no experience. You need to get out there and see the world a little bit. And and so they were they said, you know, you the military may not be a bad spot for you. and and for me, I ended up Talking with a gent who his name was David Holt. He was a a sailor during Vietnam. He served on board the Oriskany aviation bosun's mate. And you know, I'd learned different things about you know the Navy through him. And he probably was more instrumental in me going to the Navy than to another another service. For me it was about hearing the stories and then for me to younger mentors, when you share those stories, you you find someone that's gonna gravitate to you. They're gonna say, Hey, can you tell me a little bit more about this or that's interesting or or those kind of things. And that's that's what I think begins that that storytelling relationship and you just never know what those small conversations or those storytelling episodes are going to lead to. Laurie Trahan: Mm-hmm. That's really important. That was one thing I noticed that when you and Philip would talk, being a Navy guy, you really encouraged him, and I don't want to get emotional because I do, but you really encouraged him to pick his own branch and to be his own person. And while you while you encouraged him to look at everything, you really pushed him to say, Hey, this is what you need. Don't follow follow my footsteps and be a serviceman, but don't follow my branch if that's not right for you. So my question is, is as a mentor and somebody that comes to you and asks you for these kind of advice and this help and when you're helping them pick a branch, because you were very instrumental in that, what are some tips for veterans and other service members that are guiding young ones to join? when they deep down, maybe they want them to join their branch, but they know that maybe that might not be the right branch for them. Skip Trahan: Yeah, so that's a really good question. it has to do with culture. each each service, each branch of the service has a culture that that's associated with it. And then each branch inside of that service, each MOS has its own culture as well. And you you know we we we go to the recruiter And a recruiter is there to fill a quota and a number. And if you qualify and you fit the billet, you're great. But the the key is to get a really good fit, you have to understand what that person is like and are they going to assimilate into that culture. Because if they if they're a bad fit, they're gonna knock heads with the the establishment and they're not gonna flourish. They're gonna have a really, really hard time with that. And so we're back to the listening part. And I I was a horrible horrible listener as a young person. I think and I think most Sherry Army Mom: Yeah. Skip Trahan: people are they're just you know they they go and they exp you know they blab they're on transmit they're not on Sherry Army Mom: Ha ha. Skip Trahan: receive and and so it it's important to understand when you're when you're talking to somebody you know what what kind of a person are they You know, and and the only person that really knows that is them. Everybody can put up walls and facades and and that sort of thing. But you really you really need to to listen to them and say, you know, and you can't you don't want to direct them. You don't want to tell what to do. you You just need to to listen and then maybe fill in the little holes in what their experience is. Have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? At at the end of my time at the Naval Academy, I I decided I was gonna go aviation and I had a choice between going Marine Corps Air or Navy Air. And I had a a Navy flyer who said and this is not A slam at the Marines. He said, When you're Sherry Army Mom: Yeah. Skip Trahan: 40 years old, do you want to go to bed on a ship? Or do you want to go to bed in a tent? And and it would you know and and he was playing a game with me there because a lot of times that's not the way it works. But at the same time, it it went to culture of what the service, the Marines are very austere, and when they are forward deployed and they are pushing, they are in the dirt. And the Navy guys, they go home to their to their three hots and a cot, you know, on the ship. And so that's that's a little different perspective on that. So I rolling that all back, you have to talk, you have to listen to the person and then find out what what is it that you are looking for? What what do you want, what do you want to be when you grow up? And there are clues along the way as to why people will choose what they choose. You just have to the ultimate consulting gig is asking the right questions, even though you may think you have the right answer, so that the the person who is who is The recipient of that comes to that conclusion themselves. You just ask the strategic questions along the way and you go, that's me, that's me, that's this is where I think I should go. And and you can guide them to a decision without being heavy-handed. And you certainly don't want to force somebody into a life be it because it is a lifestyle choice. You are making service is here, it's not just a job. You know, it's a lifestyle. You you surrender a lot of freedom, you surrender a lot of self, you sacrifice on the family side. And I'm not getting choked up, that was just Annika Lyon: You Skip Trahan: but you do you do you sacrifice a lot and you've gotta be willing to you don't wanna go into that half heartedly. You you have to make the decision yourself. I am going to do this, I am going to give myself to this. And you don't want to do it with reservation. And you certainly don't want to do it because somebody told you to do it. So that's Laurie Trahan: Yeah, that that's a big deal. You'll want to do it because somebody told you, you know. And one of the things I noticed with you is that you were very detailed oriented when you were mentoring Philip, talking to him about finances, talking to him about not buying cars and don't get married on your first leave. And, you know, that was Skip Trahan: Ha ha. Laurie Trahan: that was I mean, some of those emails that you sent him, they were very detailed oriented, you know, about education and school and Pell Grants and all kinds of stuff. And to me that's what a a good mentor does. You give all the information and then answer the questions after, you know. Sherry Army Mom: Hey, after Skip Trahan: And Sherry Army Mom: last night's live, can you come in and explain that to some of the parents that that we had a lot of kids on our lives last night that wanted, we're gonna get married right out of, you know, boot camp. We're gonna get married and and Lori and I, 'cause we've been through it with our kids, kept telling no, no, no, no. So can you come on the live and help? Skip Trahan: And so it's interesting the when when I and sir all service academies are like this. you know, the you're not allowed to be married while you're in the service academy, but when you graduate, I mean there's a there's a list of you've got so much time slot to get married in the chapel and you need and you move from you know from being a a student midshipman to an officer to because you're getting you're getting married right away. And the the thing that's unfortunate about that is the Naval Academy is not the Navy. It is a totally different the Navy is a totally different animal than you know an education facility. You know, operations are different. and so you know the the be patient part of getting married and making sure that you find someone that's a good fit and all those things are that's important. That's important. And and you know, I had a a a very good friend of mine tell me that his his slogan is getting married is the single most important financial decision you'll ever make. And and sitting Laurie Trahan: Okay. Annika Lyon: It's true. Skip Trahan: there and thinking through that, you know, of all the, you know All the intricacies of being married and managing a budget and if you have kids and all the financial implications of that, getting married is a huge finan and and people don't think about it from that. They get married for a whole bunch of other reasons usually. Laurie Trahan: Mm. Skip Trahan: But anyway, that's a rabbit hole. Laurie Trahan: Definitely. It it is. It really is. It Sherry Army Mom: It is. Laurie Trahan: really is. All right. Would you ladies want to ask some questions too? Annika Lyon: Yeah, you want to take it away, Terry? Sherry Army Mom: If a young woman or woman listening today is thinking about going to the military service, and if there were parents that are listening, what would you tell them that they need to know before they go? What lessons of your own career or your own experience mentoring others would you hope that they carry on with their own journey? Skip Trahan: I spent some time as a a blue and gold officer. Blue and gold officers are recruiters for the Naval Academy. And they will go out and they will speak to prospective midshipmen and talk to them about the Service Academy, answer questions, and the parents are usually there. And the one thing that I'd always tell the parents, would tell the parents, you go into a service academy or applying for a scholarship. Parents are thinking about it in financial terms as well as other terms. But a lot of times it's a financial thing and there's some prestige with those kind of decisions. And so parents tend to be leaning a little bit forward. I wouldn't say they're pushing, although I have met some pushing parents. And and what I would tell them is, you know, first off I think as a parent, you need to be supportive. You need to be the devil's advocate. You need to be you need to make you need to ask questions so that your kiddo is thinking about this logically. Does it make sense? Is it a good fit? Is this really where I want to go? again, you don't want to be pushed into it. And I would I would tell, you know, my My candidates, remember that it's only a four-year scholar. It's all it's a four-year school. You've got your whole career that sits on the other side of this. And so don't zero in on I need to go to this school. Think about what does this school do for me in the promotion of my career. You know, if you want to be a flyer. and you you want to fly off aircraft carriers, go in the naval academy's probably a good route for you. You know, if you want to be a cyber wizard, maybe the Naval Academy's not the best it could be, but it's not necessarily the way. And so parents would look at it from the standpoint of I may not have to pay for college. Nah It's not really the decision you want your kiddo to come to. You want them to make the right choice. And sometimes kids have a different perspective on what they want to do. My parents were not thrilled that I went in the Navy. My mother was heartbroken. She was really upset. And of course, my mother being upset upset my father. And so everybody was upset in the parent realm with my decision to go. Sherry Army Mom: If you had those parents, what would you say to those parents? Those parents that are, you know, naysayers or they don't want their child to do this or just any of those kinds of parents that we come across, what would you tell those parents? Skip Trahan: That's really hard because no one wants to see and and service life brings with it a whole bunch of risks. Physical, emotional, separation, anxiety, I mean, all those kind of things. Those are all very real. You know, you you can't shut parents down. You can't say, well, you don't know what you're talking about. 'Cause they're very emotionally invested in in their child. I tot I totally get that. The the one thing is, you know and and it depends on the parent how receptive they're gonna be to it, but a decision to to go into the service if it's made by the service member, that's them plotting out their life. And the you you you have to d you know, show the parents they are they're you've done a great job raising them, you know, they are ready to to take that step on their own. And You know, if it's gonna be a good fit, it's gonna be a good fit. And s and and it may not be again, there's some risk in that. But it is a it will be a broad at the very least, it'll be a broadening experience. Your your child is gonna experience, you know, things that they had never imagined, dreamed, whatever. Your your your world is going to open up. Regardless of how worldly you are, your experience, their their experience base is gonna is gonna open up. And and because of that, your child is going to grow. They're gonna grow as a person, they're gonna grow as a citizen, they're gonna grow, you know it it's just gonna open different doors for them and they're gonna have different opportunities that have if they decide not to do it, they won't have. And you know I I would use myself as for me if I were telling them I would you know I grew up in a very small town. college was not in my parents game plan for me. It was not my plan at all. And the doors opened, mentors intervened, opportunities, you know, presented themselves and they were they were grasped, and sometimes you win and sometimes you didn't win, but you grew from the experience. And if you had told me in nineteen eighty when I graduated from high school that in ten years I would have gone through the academy in flight school when I was gonna be flying helicopters, I I n I couldn't have imagined that. I it I didn't know what I didn't know. And nobody does until you step through that door and avail yourself to you know to what's out there. And and that again, that's hard for a parent, you know, to let their kiddo go for that. But Laurie Trahan: Yeah. Skip Trahan: you know, it it is It i to me it is the right way. Wha whether they're going Laurie Trahan: Absolutely. Skip Trahan: off to college or they take a job that takes them across the country or they join a service academy, they've they've got to step out on their own and you've got to trust that you've done enough for them that they're not gonna make bad choices and and they're gonna go do things and they're gonna learn some stuff. Laurie Trahan: Yeah, absolutely. Annika Lyon: Absolutely. Laurie Trahan: That's our job as parents, right? Raise them to be able to live without us being with them twenty four hours a day, you know. Skip Trahan: Correct. Yeah. Annika Lyon: I have a question. Within my time, I worked several years with a second expeditionary operations training group. So we trained the MEWS, we did all the things with the boats. Our entire purpose was to, the MEWS would come to us, they'd tell us what they can do. We put them through courses, we test them, make sure they're good to go do what they're supposed to on their deployment or rotation. Throughout my time doing that, I had a lot of time sitting in briefings and plannings and all of these things with the Army, with the Navy, with Air Force, all types of things. I mean, was young sergeant going in, or I guess young sergeant going into senior sergeant, also got promoted to staff sergeant while I was there. while I was doing that and I'm listening to everybody talking at this table or I'm listening to these briefings and you have the Air Force that's like, we don't do it that way. We have to do it this way. You have the Navy that's like, that's wrong. We do it this way. Or you have the Marine Corps that's like, all of you are dumb. We do it this way. Like it was nonstop. But then Sherry Army Mom: Ha ha ha. Skip Trahan: Sure. Annika Lyon: suddenly somehow some way the end product was this beautiful thing that worked out without a hitch and was great and great. Now you're on a boat. Merry Christmas. When it came to any type of joint operations you might have been involved in or anything along those lines, what would you say was something that was the more difficult path that you would have seen? Like the argumentative type? Like what was the hard part versus what was the benefit that you saw come out of it all? Skip Trahan: F from a joint operation? Annika Lyon: Yeah, just with a lot of mouths in one pot. Skip Trahan: Yeah. So unfortunately when you sit in those in those meetings it's usually there's everyone comes in with their service culture bias and then a lot of times you have their egos that are present at the table. And so many times the the overall intent There's alignment and people are talking past each other just because of communication differences. Annika Lyon: Mm-hmm. Skip Trahan: And so there there's real strength in joint operations. I've been very, very fortunate. I got to spend time with the Marines, I spent time with the Navy, I did an exchange tour with the Air Force, I lived in in Kandahar with the Army. I I and I I speak a little you know, Army, Marine Corps, Air Force. I've got a little bit of that lingo. and so t to me the the first thing that really has to happen is who's ever in charge of those operations has to give what their intent is. Here is here is the big picture of where we're going. there's a famous story about Admiral Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar and how he there were no communications on the ships and yet they they had a a great victory. He was actually killed in the battle. But it was because he instructed his commanders about command you know what the intent of the battle was. And so even though he was killed and there was no communications and things were kind of falling down, you know, the initiative of the the components knew what they were supposed to do and therefore they were able to carry it out. And so to me When when you're doing joint operations, it's good to be prideful of your capabilities. You will always have to work through communication problems. It's easier if you have a term of reference. This is what this means. There's a story about I can't remember if it was the Marines or the army that was actually assisting Los Angeles Police Department during riots and there was a police officer said, Hey, cover me. That means something totally different with a Marine gunner than it does to a civilian police officer. And so, you know, spraying fields of fire to provide cover is different than I'm going to watch you, you know move. And so communicate again, commander's intent is the most important thing because everyone gloms onto that structure of this is what we're trying to accomplish. Communications, you've got to you've got to ID the communication issues and make sure that that terminology means the same thing to everybody. And then the third thing is is checking egos at the door. It's good to have service pride. It's not good to have to think that you're the only show in town that that can do this kind of thing and we only do it my way. Annika Lyon: Okay. Skip Trahan: you you will quickly become persona non grata in those meetings. You will get isolated, you will get minimalized. And and and there's real value in seeing how somebody else does it. Just because you do it a certain way doesn't mean that it it's the only way. There's always one more way to solve the problem. And and and encouraging now at go time There's no time for encouragement or any of that stuff. You need to sort that out in the briefing. You need to sort it out, you know, before the op goes down. There's no we're let's talk about this before we kick the door in. That's that just not gonna work. But you do it ahead of time and you do it respectfully and you listen. Listen to why they do it. i one of the things that came out after after Goldwater Nichols Act, I think it was in 1983, was a push towards joint operations. And they for they they required service members, specifically the office corps, to spend time in other services so that they would understand. And they did that in this in the staff realm. You went and served at usually a combatant command. like Northcom or Southcom or Africa Annika Lyon: I mean. Skip Trahan: Com and you you went and worked in those specific places, those are staff type positions. And you will find that if you go to PACOM, PACOM's primarily a navy command. If you go Annika Lyon: Mm-hmm. Skip Trahan: to to Northcom, Northcom is primarily an Air Force command. If you go to Southcom, primarily an army command. And so you learn about the staff from the Army perspective. I was extremely fortunate to spend time with the Air Force as an embedded pilot. And so I operated with the Air Force for two and a half years. And so I got to see what it is that they do and why they do it. And so it to me it conveys a greater understanding of and I was able to bring that back to the Navy and say they do it this way because. And so getting to the because piece I think is really important. And it and it and if you to me that's the benefit of the joint the joint forum where you can exchange ideas, you can you can experiment with concepts or how they do things, but you you understand the why piece of it and that's where the valuable lesson comes. Annika Lyon: Absolutely, I fully agree. Thank you. Laurie Trahan: Awesome. Do you ladies have any other questions that you want to ask? Annika Lyon: That was my main one, I was excited to Laurie Trahan: That was your main one. Annika Lyon: I've been sitting on that question for two weeks now. I've been excited! Sherry Army Mom: I do have one. I see on TikTok that the Navy ships when they come across a certain point of the ocean, they have a thing. Tell me about that. What is what what does that do for the the morale? And what is it called? Skip Trahan: So you're probably talking I'm guessing is when they cross the equator they have a shell back initiation, Sherry Army Mom: Yes. Skip Trahan: yes. And so shellback initiations have changed a great deal from the earlier days. As a matter fact, I'd I just sent a a note to an another former Navy captain who's just a little bit older than me. And I I served just as we were making I I served as we came out of the all male combat, you know, side of the Navy and we were transitioning into the the the joint not not joint the gender integrated combat forces. I'd been in the Navy for ten years before where it was all men. I I've I've made my last In nineteen ninety three I was on board Theodore Roosevelt. We had one woman out of fifty five hundred people that were on board the boat. So it's a totally it's a different it's a different mentality of you know a a cohabitational environment is different. It's it's just different. There's just different rules. and so prior to Prior to that point, a shellback initiation was pretty colorful, and I'll leave it at that. It was pretty colorful. It was pretty physical. It was pretty colorful. you know again this is when I when I did the shellback initiation, it was in nineteen eighty four. a quick summation had to have my clothes on backwards and inside out, Annika Lyon: you Skip Trahan: underwear was on the outside. Annika Lyon: Sounds like my husband was in charge. Skip Trahan: you could only crawl you know, crawl around on the ship deck and people were whacking you with fire hoses and you went up onto the front the forecastle and they sprayed you down with the salt water to give you a a navy shower and then you crawl back in because you had to have breakfast and they made you drink out of a bed out of a Annika Lyon: Sign me up. Skip Trahan: bed pan and they poured Laurie Trahan: my gosh. Skip Trahan: eggs on you in oatmeal and I mean it was it was it was outlandish. and and you know, at the end of it, you know, after you became Michelle Back, you know, your uniform was completely trashed. All your clothes came off and went over the fantail and all the naked people went back down and took a shower and then we got redressed and we Laurie Trahan: my gosh. Skip Trahan: had a picnic on the on on the steel beach. And so obviously that just isn't gonna fly today. And so Annika Lyon: Thanks for watching! Skip Trahan: It's a it's a much more controlled environment. And some of you know, there's there are cases where people went overboard and it became a haze, you know, where people exceeded what the norm should have been. And so th the Navy, you know, kinda put that all in check and said, Okay, here's what we're gonna do, this is the way there's gonna be, there's not gonna be it's not gonna be excessive. And so it's a it's a it's a point of morale to go moved back up out of the the gory details. It's a point of morale, you know, to receive a shellback initiation card where the you've you know you've either there's shellback initiation, there's a blue nose if you go up into the Arctic Circle. there's the realm of the Suez where you go through the Suez Canal. There's all kinds of They're they're morale builders that help codify the experience and it helps bring the team together. That's what those things are for. You just have to be cautious with them that they're not they don't get too out of control. And and they become they become veteran stories that you teach to your mentors down the road. You go, hey, this is the way that it was, this is the way that it's gonna be, you're probably not gonna do that same kind of stuff. Laurie Trahan: Mm. Skip Trahan: But but it's it's Sherry Army Mom: Ha ha ha. Skip Trahan: gonna it's gonna be okay. Laurie Trahan: Okay, so I got one more question and then do you ladies have anything else? Annika Lyon: That's it for me. I like my answer. Yeah, thank you. Sherry Army Mom: Thank you for coming. Yeah, thank you. Laurie Trahan: Okay. All right, one more question. Okay, so the day that Philip graduated boot camp and you walked onto Paris Island, I was I was kind of thinking back, right? Well, first of all, I was just impressed. You had your whole uniform on, you looked so handsome, and Skip Trahan: Yeah. Laurie Trahan: that was actually for people that don't know, that was actually the first day that Philip and Skip met in person. they've always talked on the phone, Annika Lyon: who I'm. Laurie Trahan: texted, emailed. It was their first day of meeting in person. But you know, my Uncle David had said to me, This is pretty full circle, right, Lori? Skip is going to watch your grandfather's great grandson graduate from boot camp and and your grandfather went and watched Skip, right? So he was pretty my uncle David loves this. And so my question to you is how as a mentor, for somebody that mentored somebody for a very long time who was absolutely this kid's hero, how do you How does that make you feel as a mentor to see somebody that you've mentored all of these years and meant so you're so important to that person graduate and basically crush their goal becoming a Marine? And for other veterans that are mentoring, what legacy do you think that they should leave with that kid that they've mentored and has been able to complete their goal? Skip Trahan: That's lot. Laurie Trahan: Yeah. Skip Trahan: that's a biggin. Sherry Army Mom: Yeah. Skip Trahan: so it was it it was it was fabulous. It was fabulous, first of all, to be invited, and second of all to be able to go down there and and s to see Philip graduate. I you can you can say what you want about every single service. Nobody, and I mean nobody, marches like the Marines. I it's a true statement. all all the formations I've and I've I've been through a few of Annika Lyon: You Skip Trahan: the the folks that really know how to march are the Marines. They they look amazing. And and so It was it was neat to be there and to see that. What when I was when I graduated from NAPS, Uncle Roland came to that. And when I graduated from the Naval Academy, Uncle Roland came to that as well. And what's interesting is it's it was the first time that I had been in the stands. And so it was kind of a different it was a different moment for me. You know, there's a there's a pride in wow, he did it. Marine Corps boot camp is no joke. Anybody who stood on those yellow footprints and got a face full, or you know, or has gone through the crucible, i they hats off. You know, that that is that is a thing. and so, you know, he looked so sharp and he was so proud of himself. because it is an accomplishment. That that's a big hairy deal. Not everybody does that. And I want to say we're like at what one percent veterans that are going in, you know, out of the out of the three hundred and thirty million people we've got, you've got three hundred thousand people, you know, that are you know actively doing the thing. And so very proud of him that day. He look he looked super sharp, he was proud of himself. And it y you know, Dave's perspective on that's correct. It is kind of a full circle kind of thing. That everybody who's in the service leaves the service. And you leave it in three different ways. You either retire, you get a discharge, or you make an ultimate sacrifice. That's those are the options. There's no Laurie Trahan: Mm-hmm. Skip Trahan: you know, there's nothing beyond that. And so Everybody that's been in or has been a veteran understands that they're only there for a certain amount of time. And you can't continue to do it. You know, when I I was Ford Headquarters Commander in in Afghanistan for a year for all the Navy forces that were there. And I would I would go out with our provincial reconstruction teams on the ground and To not get in their way, but still observe, I would, I would work with the army guys to provide security. I'd pull the patch off, bury the 06 patch. I can shoot just as well as anybody else, and I'd go out and I'd stand out a position. And at the end of the day, you know, I was 48, 49. I turned 49 and it was there. And at the end of those missions, I would I would be dragging. Because of all the kit that you had on. And I'd come back at the end of the at the end of the mission and I'd be like, man. That was something the guys are like, yeah, sir, that was great. You know, we're gonna go to the gym and we're gonna do this, we're gonna go run a couple miles. You wanna go with this? And I'm like, dude, I need a nap. Annika Lyon: Woohoo! Laurie Trahan: Mm. Skip Trahan: I can't I can't do this like I did when I was 35. And so there becomes an understanding of you we we are we are given We who serve are given the gift of service, but it's o but it's not lasting. It it only goes for a certain amount of time and then it's somebody else's job, somebody else's billet to fill. And you know, God bless people who still want to do it in today's culture, you know, with today's issues, people that that embrace service and and say, I wanna be that guy or that gal, and I wanna go out there and I wanna do this thing. I mean I've seen what it looks like at Leatherneck and you know in Afghanistan. That's some tough stuff down there. You know, God bless the people that are willing to stand up and and be counted and do that. And so, you know, veterans and mentors need to, in my opinion, it it the the sir there's a joke about the service isn't what it used to be and it never was. And so you know, you always remember the way that it was when you were in it, how difficult it was. And my God, it's so much different now and it's so much easier. It's still hard. It's still hard. There's you may have got a few more creature comforts, but it's still sacrifice. It's still hard. It takes you standing up and saying, I do, and I will go. And so, you know, God bless people for for being willing to do that. And for for veterans and mentors, encouraging people to have a life of service is not a bad thing. It you know, we we could all use a few more people that are interested in helping as opposed to not. And so, you know, hats off to anybody that that is serving or continues to serve or is thinking about serving. Annika Lyon: Okay. Laurie Trahan: Awesome. Well thank you. We appreciate you and thank you for your service Annika Lyon: Okay, my friends, there's a segment we want to introduce. I've talked about it the last two episodes. We want to do a military family spotlight. So one thing we would really love to do is have you go to Sherry or Lori's Linktreece on their TikToks. Their TikTok handles will be listed below in the comments. And there will be a Google form for you to fill out your service members information, whether it's just a few sentences about what they do, their name, just a couple of f things about them. And each episode we're gonna pick one service member of your guys' families and take a little bit of time to recognize them for what they do. shine a spotlight on them and make sure they have everything that they need to feel recognized and just so all of you can see everybody else that's out there too, going through the exact same situations and we can all be together. Laurie Trahan: well thank you for joining us and we're so happy to have you. Please don't forget to like, follow, share, and subscribe. And then all of our notes will be in the show notes, our email, our social medias, and contact us if you have any questions or if there's something that you want us to focus on the next episode.