Word for the Week

https://www.westpoint.edu/directory/rj-garcia Summary In this episode of the Word for the Week podcast, host Pete Stone interviews Brigadier General R.J. Garcia, the Commandant of Cadets at West Point. They discuss Garcia's journey from a West Point cadet to a leader in the military, the influence of his family on his leadership style, and his experiences as an AH-64 pilot. Garcia shares valuable...

Jackie Brewton never planned to be a speaker and an author. While managing a successful career in corporate America, Jackie volunteered her time mentoring younger ladies. It was in this role as a mentor that she kept hearing over and over about the regrets these younger ladies had because of poor relationship choices they had made. Jackie felt so burdened by this that 16 years ago she walked away...

Joe Lawhorn , recently served as the garrison chaplain for USAG Hawaii. In this conversation, Joe shares his inspiring story of overcoming a dysfunctional and broken childhood to finding faith and purpose in the Army. He credits the sovereignty of God for his transformation and emphasizes the importance of relationships and personal connections in his ministry. Joe's journey led him to become a ch...

Chaplain (COL) Gary Fisher just completed his tour as the USARPAC Chaplain. In this conversation, he shares his experiences as a chaplain in combat, and discusses the concept of moral injury. He talks about his upcoming book on trauma and the importance of addressing the whole person when dealing with trauma. He also shares personal stories, including an incident during a combat logistics patrol a...

  War Stories is a collection of conversations with Servicemembers who share the memories that helped define their service. This collection is designed to preserve the legacy of military service, and honor the memory of those who served.

War Stories is a collection of conversations with Servicemembers who share the memories that helped define their service. This collection is designed to preserve the legacy of military service, and honor the memory of those who served.

Recently, The Greatest Generations Foundation brought a group of WW2 and Vietnam War veterans to the island of Oahu to observe the 80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. I was fortunate enough to meet these veterans at the Navy Hale Keiki School who has a close relationship with the Foundation. The students welcomed them as heroes and sang patriotic songs in honor of their service. After the...

Recently, The Greatest Generations Foundation brought a group of WW2 and Vietnam War veterans to the island of Oahu to observe the 80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. I was fortunate enough to meet these veterans at the Navy Hale Keiki School who has a close relationship with the Foundation. The students welcomed them as heroes and sang patriotic songs in honor of their service. After the...

Recently, The Greatest Generations Foundation brought a group of WW2 and Vietnam War veterans to the island of Oahu to observe the 80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. I was fortunate enough to meet these veterans at the Navy Hale Keiki School who has a close relationship with the Foundation. The students welcomed them as heroes and sang patriotic songs in honor of their service. After the...

Recently, The Greatest Generations Foundation brought a group of WW2 and Vietnam War veterans to the island of Oahu to observe the 80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. I was fortunate enough to meet these veterans at the Navy Hale Keiki School who has a close relationship with the Foundation. The students welcomed them as heroes and sang patriotic songs in honor of their service. After the...

Recently, The Greatest Generations Foundation brought a group of WW2 and Vietnam War veterans to the island of Oahu to observe the 80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. I was fortunate enough to meet these veterans at the Navy Hale Keiki School who has a close relationship with the Foundation. The students welcomed them as heroes and sang patriotic songs in honor of their service. After the...

Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Huynh's father fought for the South Vietnamese Army during the Viet Nam War. After the war, he was captured and imprisoned in a communist re-education camp. He was finally released after enduring years of abuse and torture. CSM Huynh's father eventually escaped from Viet Nam, and he took CSM Huynh and several other refugees with him. CSM Huynh shares his incredible sto...

Cheri Hogrefe is never content with average and loves challenges. She's a wife, a mother of three, and serves as the children's curriculum developer at her church. Cheri enjoys drawing from her passion and experience as a college athlete, physical education teacher and coach not only to write curriculum, but to face the challenges of life. I grew up with Cheri and learned first hand how much she l...

Jason Forte and I deployed to Iraq together from 2009-2010. I quickly learned how passionate he is about serving Soldiers and their families, and we've been good friends ever since. Photo by  Hannah Busing  on  Unsplash I've learned a lot from Jason about intentional leadership and  serving others. His example has made a big impact on my life. Recently, I asked Jason to share several of his though...

There is a fascinating dimension in the mind that has incredible power to determine how we perform—in our professional and in our personal lives. That space is the sweet spot where Dr. Mary Rose Blank loves to operate. Mary Rose (or "M.R." as her clients affectionately call her) is a mental performance coach specializing in sport and performance psychology. Her passion for excellence fuels her wor...

James Evans founded the Nashville-based nonprofit, Benchmark Adventure Ministries ( www.benchmark.org ), because of his passion to use outdoor adventure to foster experiential learning. James designs adventure programs that are specifically tailored for different teams and uses his programs to enhance building teamwork and resilience, and to generate self assessment. I've gotten to know James thro...

One of the great privileges of serving in the military is getting to know and work alongside others who see the world from different perspectives than my own, while at the same time partnering with them to serve others. I have come to respect and admire John Christian for his passion to help others through his work as a psychologist, and while there are ways we do see the world differently, we sha...

Whether talking sports, current events, classic literature or theology, conversations with Jay Outen never disappoint. In this conversation Jay shares three thoughts that have been shaping his perspective as he observes our culture in the current Covid crisis: 1) The control we have in our lives is just an illusion 2) What is my comfort? 3) How can I capitalize on this time? We also dive into the...

Chip Satterlee shares three thoughts that have been shaping his perspective over the last few months, and talks about a couple books that have been influencing his mind and heart amidst the Covid-19 crisis. This, too, shall pass—there' a season for everything Use this as an opportunity to grow God is with us...Matthew 1:24

Nick Stavlund shares two essential insights that have been keeping his heart and mind in the right place during the current global crisis. 1) God is pursuing us, and (2) contentment and happiness doesn't lie on the other side of achievement. He also shares about why he became a CrossFit coach and eventually started a box, CrossFit Chaparral, before becoming an Active Duty Army Chaplain.  Before be...

Mike Krog is the kind of friend that always builds you up with truth, speaks words of encouragement, and offers timely words of wisdom that are insightful and relevant to whatever situation you're in. I first got to know Mike when we worked as Army Chaplains together in the mighty 101st ABN Division at Fort Campbell, and since then our paths have crossed on several occasions in school and at work....

Brandon Bayne is a religion professor at the University of North Carolina. We attended seminary together in Boston and have stayed in touch ever since. I have admired his journey through academia and love how passionate he is about pursuing knowledge and understanding the world around him. As the COVID-19 crisis first unfolded, and universities were sending students home and trying to figure out h...

I was classmates with Brock Morgan at Bryan College, and the last time I saw him was 26 years ago when he was moving out of his dorm after graduation. Since then, Brock has written 15 books and works as a speaker and youth pastor. His most recent book, Beautiful Rebellion , was written for teenagers, encouraging them to join a movement that brings lasting change to our personal lives, and to the w...

Chris Auger enlisted in the Navy in 1987, earned his Navy SEAL Trident in 1988, then served in the SEAL teams until his retirement in 2015. In his almost 28 years he deployed six times all over the globe. After 10 years of service, Chris came to realize that the man in the mirror was not who his wife deserved as a husband or the man he would like his daughter to marry someday. His bride of almost...

Joey Odell graduated from West Point , and then served 10 years as an Army Kiowa Pilot . After a conversion of faith, he left the Army to become a pastor before God called him back to the military as an Army Chaplain . His first tour as a chaplain was with 1/327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Joey shares some of his experience as a chaplain serving in combat with Screaming Eagles in the Pech...