Mission: Readiness Podcast

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, speaks with Sally Sampson, Founder of ChopChop Family. Together they talk about the importance of nutrition and ways in which Sally’s company is making cooking fun for kids and their families.  Visit the ChopChop website, www.chopchopfamily.org , to learn more and discover great recipes!

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, is joined by Major General Johnny Davis , Commanding General of U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC). Listen as they discuss General Davis’ career and what USAREC is doing to address the military recruitment crisis.

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, is joined by General (Ret.) Larry O. Spencer , U.S. Air Force. General Spencer shares his journey “from the Horseshoe to the Pentagon” through incredible stories of his family and childhood, his chance meeting with an Air Force recruiter, and many other  insights into his career from enlisted t...

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, welcomes Lieutenant Colonel (Dr.) Bryant Webber , U.S. Air Force. Dr. Webber has spent several years working with the CDC Department of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) studying Body Mass Index (BMI) and physical activity for military-aged members of the U.S. population. Listen...

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, talks with Cindy Long , Administrator of USDA Food and Nutrition Service. They talk about how the pandemic highlighted the importance of school nutrition and what the USDA is doing to improve the systems we currently have. Take a listen!

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, welcomes Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian back to the podcast. Since we last spoke to Dary, he’s remained busy with multiple projects, including advising the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Listen as they discuss the importance of nutrition policy and the role of food as medicin...

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army, is joined by Rear Admiral (Ret.) Fernandez “Frank” Ponds , U.S. Navy. Take a listen as Admiral Ponds walks us through his journey joining the Navy, and the reason behind his passion advocating for kids.

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army , is joined by Executive Director of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Rear Admiral (Ret.) Andy Lennon , U.S. Navy. Together, they talk about how the Sea Cadets is preparing youth for successful futures in and out of military service. To learn more about the Sea Cadets, visit https://www....

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, host Brigadier General (Ret.) Rich Gross , U.S. Army , is joined by Dr. Dan Bornstein . Dan is a health and exercise scientist and Chair of the newly established Military Sector of the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan . Dan has devoted his career to ensuring nilitary readiness through physical activity.

On this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, General Gross chats with the new Georgia State director for Council for a Strong America, Graham Younger. As the Georgia State Director for CSA, Graham will be working closely with Mission: Readiness members as well as members of our sibling organizations. Graham tells us about his background and his vision for our work in Georgia.

In this episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, General Gross speaks with Brigadier General (Ret.) Sandra Alvey, USA, about her unique medical background and career in the Reserves. General Alvey is a member of Mission: Readiness' Nutrition and National Security Speakers Bureau, and speaks to the important connection between nutrition and what she has learned as a medical entomol...

This week on the podcast, General Gross speaks with longtime Kentucky Mission: Readiness member Major General (Ret.) Michael Davidson, U.S. Army. General Davidson discusses the importance of reducing childhood food insecurity through the SNAP and WIC programs and recaps a recent virtual event he participated in with Kentucky nutrition experts. He also talks about books he has authored, and provide...

Today on the podcast, you can listen to a recording from a virtual event that took place on March 23, 2022. This event focused on the link between nutrition and food security in Georgia and national security. Mission: Readiness member Rear Admiral (Ret.) Frank Ponds, U.S. Navy, led the discussion. He was joined by experts on child nutrition, food security, and food waste reduction in Geo...

This week, General Gross welcomes back Major General Kevin Vereen , the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC). MG Vereen discusses the importance of the Army’s recruiting efforts, how recruiting has been impacted by COVID-19, and USAREC recruiting efforts for 2022 coming out of the pandemic.

This week, General Gross talks with Barry Ford, the President and CEO of Mission: Readiness' parent organization,  Council for a Strong America . Barry shares details about his upbringing, his career path, and his passion for our mission. He also looks ahead to what's in store for Mission: Readiness and our sibling organizations at Council for a Strong America.

This week, General Gross chats with Patti Montague, the CEO of the School Nutrition Association , representing more than 50,000 school nutrition professionals across the country. Patti shares about SNA's work supporting school nutrition professionals, the programs SNA offers, and how SNA's members have responded to COVID-19. Prior to the conversation, John chats with Jake Ferreira, who r...

Today on the podcast, you can listen to a recording from a virtual event that took place on December 2, 2021. This event focused on the link between nutrition and food security in Arkansas and national security. Mission: Readiness members Major General (Ret.) Bill Wofford, USA, and Brigadier General (Ret.) Gary Profit, USA, participated in the roundtable discussion. They were joined by e...

This week, General Gross chats with National Director Ben Goodman, who is saying goodbye to Mission: Readiness for a new opportunity in his home state of Maine. They discuss Ben's time at Mission: Readiness, why he was motivated to work on early childhood nutrition issues, the progress he's seen on early childhood and nutrition policy during his tenure, and special memories he's gained over the ye...

This year saw two symbolic events for the United States: withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. As we end the year, General Gross looks back on these milestones with three Mission: Readiness members with unique service experiences in the Post-9/11 era: Lieutenant General (Ret.) John Bradley, USAF; Brigadier General (Ret.) Jack Hammond, USA; and Brig...

This week on the podcast, General Gross chats with Alex Nichols-Vinueza, Program Manager for Food Loss and Waste at the World Wildlife Fund, the world’s leading conservation organization. Alex shares about the causes and impact of food waste, WWF's global efforts to address food waste, their partnerships with schools, and how each of us can address food waste in our own lives. To learn more about...

This week, General Gross chats with Fred Espinosa, Interim Director of Food and Nutrition Services for the San Diego Unified School District. Espinosa discusses his work leading the effort to serve hundreds of thousands of students, the innovative ways the District provides students fresh and nutritious options, their food waste elimination tactics, and the challenges posed by COVID-19 and ho...

In a special edition of the podcast, the Mission: Readiness team joins with Council for a Strong America's Chief Research Officer Dr. Sandra Bishop to discuss the current child care crisis. Staff also discusses the status of child care provisions in the "Build Back Better Act" currently being considered by Congress.

This week on the podcast, Megan talks with Indiana Mission: Readiness Brigadier General (Ret.) Jim Bauerle, U.S. Army. He discusses the many issues he has advocated for at the Indiana General Assembly, including a Tobacco 21 effort in conjunction with Mission: Readiness. He also talks about his recent work advocating for hyperbaric oxygen treatment for veterans and other individuals with trau...

On today's episode of the Mission: Readiness Podcast, General Gross talks with Lieutenant General (Ret.) Tom Spoehr, USA about his new report,  Improving America’s Long-Term Military Recruiting Outlook , which provides an in-depth military recruiting analysis and spotlights worrisome trends pertaining to demographics, retention, and propensity to serve. General Spoehr and General Gross also d...

Today on the Mission: Readiness Podcast, Major General (Ret.) Doug Raaberg, USAF and National Director Ben Goodman dive into General Raaberg's first-hand experience eating in a West Virginia middle school cafeteria. General Raaberg illustrates what that farm-to-school lunch looked like and the vital role schools play in providing nutritious meals to kids. General Raaberg also highlights his work a...