Veteran Cast

Episode 25: Hotel Tango: Spirits Distilled With Discipline

June 11th, 2020  |  38 mins 2 secs

artisan distillery, disabled veteran, ginger barnes, hotel tango, indianapolis, kelsey strohmeyer, travis barnes, veteran-owned

Veteran Travis Barnes, his wife Hilary, and some friends started Hotel Tango in 2014. To honor Travis’ military service, they named their distillery based on the NATO phonetic alphabet - Hotel for Hilary, Tango for Travis. Surrounding themselves with exceptional people at every level, they focus on crafting equally exceptional spirits. Spirits that reflect Travis’s exacting standards. Spirits that are fit to serve and made to share.

Episode 24: Understand Your Value as a Veteran and Go Beyond Roles to Find Purpose

April 7th, 2020  |  1 hr 5 mins

culture, employee culture, jobs, john qualls, marine, marine corps, purpose, purposely, recruitment, role, skills, talent, value, veteran

In this episode Douglas interviews Gulf War Enlisted Veteran, John Qualls. John has had an incredible career launching and leading several technology startups. His most recent company is Purposely, a platform to empower employees or individuals to find their purpose.

Episode 23: HVAF Of Indiana: Housing, Support, And Advocacy For Veterans And Their Families

March 18th, 2020  |  27 mins 25 secs

homelessness, hoosier veterans assistance foundation, hvaf, indianapolis, military, veteran, veterans

HVAF (Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation) operates 13 distinct transitional housing properties including substance abuse and addiction counseling services in central Indiana as well as an apartment complex that houses 51 veterans, bringing HVAF’s total bed capacity to over 200.

Episode 22: WGU Indiana: Affordable, Fully Accredited Online Degree Programs for Active Military and Veterans

December 30th, 2019  |  30 mins 25 secs

gi bill, indiana, non-profit education, online degree, veteran education, veterans, wgu

On this episode, we interview Alison Barber Bell, Chancellor of WGU Indiana, and Andrew Nagel, Registered Nurse and Graduate of WGU's Nursing Degree Program. We discuss WGU's unique non-profit, accredited online degree program... from WGU's new Indiana offices downtown.

Episode 21: SSGT Joe Biggs Discusses His PTSD Journey

November 21st, 2018  |  44 mins 18 secs

joe biggs, post traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, rambo biggs, thanksgiving, va, veteran, veterans administration

Joe Biggs is a combat veteran of the United States Army, twice awarded a Purple Heart while serving several tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Post-retirement, SSGT Biggs is a political investigative reporter who has a huge following online. Today, we're discussing his journey with PTSD.

Episode 20: Eleven Fifty Academy: Turning Veterans into Developers

October 29th, 2018  |  39 mins 6 secs

coding, david whitt, development, eleven fifty, gi bill, indiana, indianapolis, javascript, node, react, shawn gardner, veteran, veteran trades

In this episode, we interview David Whitt, the first GI Bill graduate of the Eleven Fifty Academy, and Shawn Gardner, Eleven Fifty's Executive Vice President of Business Development about turning Veterans into Developers.

Episode 19: The American Warrior Initiative Ensuring Your VA Loan Benefit

June 27th, 2018  |  20 mins 36 secs

american warrior initiative, angela allen, howard wesley allen, real estate, va, va loan, va loans, veteran benefits

Every active duty military member and veteran has a VA Loan as a benefit. However, some financial businesses prey on Veterans to take advantage of their ability to get these loans. Listen as we speak to Angela Allen, an accredited expert on VA Loans.

Episode 18: Navy Club Ship 35: Keep the Fleet to Keep the Peace

June 5th, 2018  |  41 mins 51 secs

coast guard, marine corps, navy, navy club, us navy, veteran club, veterans

On 18 June 1938, at a Navy Veterans Reunion in Quincy, Illinois, a new and powerful organization, the Navy Club of the United States of America, was launched. On that day, a Constitution and By-Laws was adopted to govern this unique and distinguished group, speaking the language of the men who go down to the sea in ships.

Episode 17: Marine for Life Network

May 20th, 2018  |  38 mins 23 secs

m4l, marine, marine corps, marine for life, marine for life network, usmc, veterans

Marine For Life Network (M4L) connects transitioning Marines and their family members to education resources, employment opportunities, and other Veterans services that aid in their career and life goals outside of military service.

Episode 16: Project Healing Waters: Rehabilitation of Disabled Veterans With Fly Fishing Outings

May 11th, 2018  |  39 mins 27 secs

501c3, charity, disabled veterans, fishing, fly fishing, veterans

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc.™ is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings.

Episode 15: Purple Heart 3 (PH3): Veteran Owned, Veteran Employed, and Veteran First Security Company

April 17th, 2018  |  52 mins 18 secs

army, entrepreneur, indianapolis, purple heart 3, security, us army, veteran, veteran-owned business

Michael Fickert is the Senior Project Manager of Purple Heart 3 LLC (PH3). They are a Service Disabled, Veteran Owned, & Veteran employed security company out of Indianapolis, IN.

Michael joins Veteran Cast to talk about his background in the Army, and then trying to find his purpose again after transitioning into the civilian world. Purple Heart 3 helped Michael find that purpose, and his passion for the organization & their mission is prevalent when he talks.

PH3’s main mission is to ensure that the suicide rate among returning combat veterans is reduced.

More information about Purple Heart 3, as well as the resources to apply for a position can be found at www.ph3llc.com. If you would like to reach out to Michael directly, his email address is m.fickert@ph3llc.com

Episode 14: Indy Custom Cornhole and Its Founder, US Marine Scott Melby

March 30th, 2018  |  45 mins 30 secs

cornhole, games, indy custom cornhole, marine corps, midwest, scott melby, us marines

Scott is a US Marine who founded Indy Custom Cornhole. Indy Custom Cornhole is the first and largest cornhole business in Indiana, starting in 2003, Scott has run over 1400 tournaments, sold thousands of boards and bags and now focus more on the rental sets and monthly competetive cornhole tournaments which feed into a national rankings of over 7000 players that qualify to compete at World Championships every summer.

Episode 13: Team Rubicon: Disasters are their Business, Veterans are their Passion.

March 20th, 2018  |  34 mins 49 secs

disaster relief, disasters, rubicon, team rubicon

Team Rubicon is a nonprofit that utilizes the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. Founded in 2010, Team Rubicon has deployed across the United States and around the world to provide immediate relief to those impacted by disasters and humanitarian crises.

Episode 12: The Mission Continues: Empowering Veterans To Keep Serving and Succeeding

March 13th, 2018  |  34 mins 7 secs

indianapolis, indy, mission continues, the mission continues

The Mission Continues empowers veterans who are adjusting to life at home to find purpose through community impact. We deploy veterans on new missions in their communities, so that their actions will inspire future generations to serve.

Episode 11: Vetforce: Salesforce Career Accelerator for Military Service Members, Veterans, and Spouses

March 7th, 2018  |  36 mins 27 secs

crm, military members, military spouses, salesforce, technology, transition, veterans, vetforce

Salesforce created the Vetforce program to build connections between our ecosystem and the military community.

Episode 10: Operation: Job Ready Veterans™ (OJRV)

February 26th, 2018  |  36 mins 46 secs

career learing, job ready veterans, job ready vets, ojrv, operation job ready veterans, veteran career, veteran employment, veteran employment center, veteran transition

Operation: Job Ready Veterans™ (OJRV) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing veterans, service members, military spouses and caregivers for successful employment by connecting them with employers that seek top quality, well-trained employees.