Drilling down to transition success
This week’s Tango Alpha Lima podcast episode features retired Army Master Sgt. Herb Thompson, a Green Beret. He discusses his career, transitioning out of the military and his award-winning book, “The Transition Mission.”
“I had two goals in life: be a drill sergeant and earn a green beret,” said Thompson, who was named the Army’s drill sergeant of the year in 2008. “And then it was like, ‘What do I do now?’”
Being a drill sergeant involved a lot of yelling, he noted, adding, “But it’s really about inculcating the Army values. For me, it was one of the most rewarding things I could have asked for. I loved it.”
Thompson describes his own transition as “fairly easy,” though like anyone else, there were struggles. “I treated it like a mission; I was going to deploy but I was going to deploy to the United States,” he says, noting he started looking at options before separating. “I know how to deploy. I know the language, the cultural environment, a lot of other things. I gained my own intel.”
His inspiration for the book came from when he helped another servicemember find employment. “It gave me a purpose,” he said.
Thompson also noted that transitioning servicemembers who lose the community feeling in the service can find such a purpose and camaraderie in veterans service organizations.
“Once that goes away, we know we have to find it again,” he said. “And maybe it comes from civic groups like The American Legion,” he said. “It’s just awesome in finding that.”
Podcast co-hosts Jeff Daly and Ashley Gutermuth also discuss:
• The approach of the IRS tax deadline. “That’s my whole purpose — to be a deduction,” Gutermuth said.
• A well-known drink that traces its roots back to a soldier trying to ease his own pain during the Civil War.
• The birth of Taco Bell, which was created by a Marine Corps veteran.
• American Legion Post 392’s Testicle Festival in Deerfield, Mich., now going on for more than 20 years. The Testicle Festival offers sliced and deep-fried cattle testicles, chicken gizzards and plenty of beer.
Check out this episode, which is among more than 170 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts, now available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on iTunes, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.