Military Culture Shift Podcast

Gen Z at Abbey Gate with Aidan Gunderson

As our military valiantly scrambled to leave Kabul airport, the explosion at Abbey Gate killed 13 of our service members. All but one were Gen Z. For much of the older generation, war was all we knew but Gen Z  had only been coming in for a few years, the oldest of them only four when 9/11 happened. Losing them this way, for this reason, at the end of our very long and painful chapter, yet at the beginning of theirs seemed even more wrong. 

With all this talk about Gen Z motivations and the recruiting crisis, I wondered about the Gen Z that entered the force before the end of those two decades of war. What motivated them to come in and how did the Afghanistan exit impact their very fresh perspectives on this career and lifestyle?  I invited Aidan Gunderson, a Gen Z Marine deployed to Afghanistan during the withdrawal to share his deeply personal story of what happened at Abbey Gate as well as how it has affected his view of service. 

Find out more about Operation Allies Refuge: https://www.operationalliesrefugefoundation.org/about 

This podcast is based on the book Military Culture Shift by clinical consultant and SME on military family culture, Corie Weathers. 

Order your copy of Military Culture Shift https://militaryfamilybooks.com/products/military-culture-shift-by-corie-weathers

Listen to Corie's Lifegiver Podcast https://corieweathers.podbean.com/

Find out more about how you can work with and contact Corie https://www.corieweathers.com

Final Credit song is "Hey America", written, produced, and performed by veteran James Corbin.

 

The Millennial Commander at Kabul Airport

Shortly after I recorded the Spouse’s Roundtable, Jessica- the millennial spouse whose husband Andrew served on the ground during the Afghanistan exit, reached out to me to say that Andrew was ready to share his story. Still serving, Andrew felt limited in what he could say as well as whether he was ready to share.

None of us could forget the powerful images of the chaos at the Kabul airport in August 2021. It is seared into our minds, much like the stories from the fall of Saigon in 1975, and what many compared it to.

Stories like these are nothing short of remarkable. Similar stories from Afghanistan, like the one you are about to hear, are still surfacing. They reveal the incredible training of our US and allied partners but also the wounding of moral and ethical decisions that are difficult to make sense of and challenging to heal from.  Rather than being a voyeur as you listen, I hope these episodes invite you to think about how you might bring purpose from your own story and how they can inspire you to be a leader others want to follow.

This podcast is based on the book Military Culture Shift by clinical consultant and SME on military family culture, Corie Weathers. 

Order your copy of Military Culture Shift https://militaryfamilybooks.com/products/military-culture-shift-by-corie-weathers

Listen to Corie's Lifegiver Podcast https://corieweathers.podbean.com/

Find out more about how you can work with and contact Corie https://www.corieweathers.com

Final Credits song is "Time To Be Me" by veterans Sally Griffiths & Will Kimbrough with Songwriting with Soldiers.

Watch the clip "Fall of Saigon: 40 years later": https://youtu.be/vHLKFSWzImk?si=aBiJpGf-AKeA582I

 

The Integrity of a Promise, Scott Mann and the Pineapple Express

I will never forget the feeling that rushed over me when I heard about the Pineapple Express during August 2021. Scott Mann, a retired Lieutenant Colonel and former U.S. Army Green Beret joined with other veterans who resolved to fulfill their promises to the Aghan allies for protection.

The efforts of Scott and other veterans through the Pineapple Express and other civilian-led efforts were nothing short of heroic. But their commitment to find and fund their own way back to Afghanistan illuminated a whole other level of integrity, leadership, and “What right looks like”. Against the backdrop of what Gen Milley has since called a “Strategic failure”, the Pineapple Express shook me and many others in the country awake, revealing the startling breakdown of the institution’s hierarchy, a shift in the future of humanitarian aid, and the power of human kindness. 

For more information on Scott Mann: 

Website and "Last Out": https://scottmann.com/

Rooftop Leadership: https://rooftopleadership.com/

This podcast is based on the book Military Culture Shift by clinical consultant and SME on military family culture, Corie Weathers. 

Order your copy of Military Culture Shift https://militaryfamilybooks.com/products/military-culture-shift-by-corie-weathers

Listen to Corie's Lifegiver Podcast https://corieweathers.podbean.com/

Find out more about how you can work with and contact Corie https://www.corieweathers.com

Final Credits song is "Rules of Engagement" by Anthony Wheeler / Maia Sharp with Songwriting with Soldiers. (https://songwritingwithsoldiers.bandcamp.com/track/rules-of-engagement)

Scott's Full testimony before Congress:

Healing Collective Moral Injury with Dr Timothy Mallard

Over the course of writing Military Culture Shift and especially present in the last three episodes, the phrase “moral injury” has come up again and again. Brought into mainstream awareness by Jonathan Shay in the 90s and early 2000s, his first book Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character introduced moral injury as a distinct second syndrome from PTSD. 

As progress continues to evolve on the individualized treatment modalities for PTSD and moral injury, the Afghanistan exit, and its eerily similar characteristics with Vietnam, brings up the question of "How does an entire culture heal when it feels betrayed and morally injured?"

Surely the Afghanistan veterans and families that came out of two decades of war are not destined to carry similar burdens as our recent Vietnam veterans have.

I asked our good friend and mentor, Dr. Timothy Mallard, Chaplain, and Assistant Professor and Director of Ethical Development at The United States Army War College, and subject matter expert on moral injury to sit down with me just 60 days out from his own retirement. Still on his own journey of healing from his response to the 9/11 attack at the Pentagon, he has been a pillar of strength, wisdom, and comfort for many over the last several decades.

Final Credits Song: "There Is Always Hope" by Human Is Alive, Kieldfal, Silent Travelers

Arch Bishop Tutu Forgiveness Project: https://youtu.be/-M8wrQXIZmQ?si=od2rKrmquYXoJbZj

Recommended resources from Dr. Mallard: 

Veteran's Association: https://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn17/moralinjury.asp

Jonathan Shay: Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character: https://a.co/d/e9eOpf3

The (Twin) Wounds of War, by Timothy Mallard: https://providencemag.com/2017/02/twin-wounds-war-spiritual-injury-moral-injury/

The Moral Injury of the Cross, by Timothy Mallard: https://providencemag.com/2024/03/the-moral-injury-of-the-cross/

 

A Case Study in Reconstituting the Force with Stoney Portis

In the final chapter of Military Culture Shift, I reference a theory of reconstitution written by Stoney Portis, after he commanded the 3-61 CAV troops that survived the now historic Battle of COP Keating and needed to somehow become mission-ready again. Reading his reflection on what it took to wholistically serve the battle-weary troops who had earned every right to hang up the one tattered uniform they had left, I knew it was a case study on what it would take to reconstitute an entire culture as well. So I invited now LT COL Stoney Portis to join Matt and me in a discussion about their shared sacred space in hopes it could validate the sacred spaces in your own life, but also inspire the healing of us all.

Read Stoney's Paper on Reconstitution: https://www.corieweathers.com/wp-content/uploads/Stoneys-Paper.-full-1.pdf

Read about the Battle of Cop Keating here

Watch the movie "The Outpost": https://www.netflix.com/title/81276140?source=35

This podcast is based on the book Military Culture Shift by clinical consultant and SME on military family culture, Corie Weathers. 

Order your copy of Military Culture Shift https://militaryfamilybooks.com/products/military-culture-shift-by-corie-weathers

Listen to Corie's Lifegiver Podcast https://corieweathers.podbean.com/

Find out more about how you can work with and contact Corie https://www.corieweathers.com

Final Credits song is "The Hard Way" by Moda Spira https://modaspira.bandcamp.com/track/the-hard-way

 

Finale: Matt Interviews Corie

There were several ways I could have ended this series and many interviews I could have done, however, when Matt mentioned that I should end it with him interviewing me, it felt right. So... here I am. Here we are. We share my reflections on the project, where things go from here, and most importantly, the power of championing others- especially your spouse. 
Special thank you to SO MANY PEOPLE who have supported me throughout the years, too many to mention here. I hope you enjoyed the series and will share it with others. 

The Final credits song is "Thank You" by veteran and friend James Corbin. 

This podcast is based on the book Military Culture Shift by clinical consultant and SME on military family culture, Corie Weathers. 

Order your copy of Military Culture Shift https://militaryfamilybooks.com/products/military-culture-shift-by-corie-weathers

Listen to Corie's Lifegiver Podcast https://corieweathers.podbean.com/

Find out more about how you can work with and contact Corie https://www.corieweathers.com