Scuttlebutt Podcast Brock Briggs

In this episode, Brock speaks with Neville Johnson. Neville is the first EX US vet that I've had on serving in the British infantry, and the author of the newly published book Sangin, Then and Now published by Dead Reckoning Collective. We talk about the value of family and managing one through chaotic times. We talk about how to handle your personal priorities, knowing what true defeat looks like and how that differs from a change in direction. We also get into finding purpose in things outside of our service. Neville mentions that many people want to ask how many doors you've kicked in, but aren't interested in that next phase of all of our lives. 

Episode Resources:

Neville on Instagram

Sangin

Notes:

(01:41) - What Neville is most proud of
(04:22) - Changes he would make to parenting looking back
(06:13) - Two poems from Sangin and drawing parallels from early childhood to parenting
(10:13) - Regrets and things he would have done differently during service
(13:10) - Comparing who we were to who we are
(19:51) - Arnold Schwarzenegger as a hero along dad; why are heroes aren't everything/how to hero select
(29:27) - Balance of pursuit of goals with optionality for new opportunities
(37:58) - How to stay hungry - a lesson in self reflection and self management
(51:08) - Writing as a process and early submissions to Dead Reckoning Collective
(01:02:20) - Lessons from first submission to publishing a book
(01:07:29) - Life after service; working and influencing at risk youth


The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    
• Brock: @BrockHBriggs        
• Instagram: Scuttlebutt_Podcast      
• Send me an email: scuttlebuttpod1@gmail.com
• Episodes & transcripts: Scuttlebuttpodcast.co

In this episode, Brock speaks with Levi West. Levi is an 0311 in the Marine Corps, but if you ask him, that's definitely not the first way describe himself. He's a writer, a photographer, and an all around creative. He talks about why we need our own identity outside of the military, and how to start down the path of creating that. We also discuss his firsthand account of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the mental toll that that put on the on the ground decision makers. Levi also gets into launching an indie publication called Dirtbag Magazine featuring everything cool. 

Episode Resources:

Levi on Instagram

Dirtbag Magazine

Dirtbag on Instagram

Notes:

(01:56) - What Levi is most proud of
(09:04) - The big picture of 'making an impact'
(14:45) - Why he joined the Marine Corps and any regrets
(19:23) - Introduction to photography
(21:57) - Withdrawal from Afghanistan - the good, the bad, and the ugly
(31:58) - Why experience in the military should give an immense appreciation of being an American
(39:15) - The military as an identity
(45:06) - Doing creative work just because and how to get started
(49:35) - Starting Dirtbag magazine
(55:30) - Content and the future of the magazine
(01:05:23) - Q&A from Instagram; vet writing culture, machine gun poets, and more


The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    
• Brock: @BrockHBriggs        
• Instagram: Scuttlebutt_Podcast      
• Send me an email: scuttlebuttpod1@gmail.com
• Episodes & transcripts: Scuttlebuttpodcast.co

In this episode, Brock speaks with Justin Mikolay. Justin is a former submariner and was a speechwriter for several notable figures, including General Petraeus, General Mattis and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. You'll hear what he learned about leadership from each of them. You'll also hear an in depth discussion on the creative process and how he works through the work of some of the world's smartest people. You're going to learn a lesson in nuclear fission, and how it applies to our creative process, why it's essential to put your words out into the world, and how to use those as a lighthouse to draw like minded people to you. We get into several other subtopics what he regrets about his time in the military, working at Palantir, and heuristics on habit forming. 

Episode Resources:

Justin on Twitter

Substack

'The Meaning of Their Service' by Mattis

Notes:

(02:08) - Justin's Rate My Professor score
(05:02) - Why most people have never tried to write and parallels with running/staying in shape
(15:07) - Systematizing creative and life processes
(19:20) - The art of 'Active Consumption' and K Effective
(23:37) - ChatGPT and Generative AI
(27:12) - Speechwriting and takeaways from the world's most powerful figures
(36:06) - Why leadership is inspiration to action
(43:37) - Finding meaning in service and what we're truly serving
(50:51) - How Nuclear school played out in Justin's career
(56:03) - Assimilating back into civilian lifestyle
(59:17) - Regrets about service
(01:08:25) - Spend your energy on a worthy cause
(01:12:38) - Putting your thoughts, energy, and time into the world through the scale of the internet
(01:29:15) - Finding what you have that's valuable
(01:37:27) - What we can learn that we can implement today

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    
• Brock: @BrockHBriggs        
• Instagram: Scuttlebutt_Podcast      
• Send me an email: scuttlebuttpod1@gmail.com
• Episodes & transcripts: Scuttlebuttpodcast.co

In this episode, Brock speaks with Martha MacPhee. Martha is a former Marine and in this discussion, we talk about her time running protocol for high visibility events, including President Trump's inauguration and how her job translated into the civilian world working with organizations like Susan Davis International. We also talked about her work with the Military Influencer Conference, a funny story about Rob Riggle at last year's event, and a teaser for this year's conference in Las Vegas. She also gives us a unique take on the word legacy, what that means and how we ought to think about what happens after we're gone. 

Episode Resources:

Martha on LinkedIn

Notes:

(01:38) - Relationship with John Glenn
(09:00) - Carrying on Grandfather's legacy
(15:38) - Optimize for legacy
(17:21) - Entering the world of protocol
(23:29) - What protocol is and why its important
(27:09) - Most outlandish protocol faux paw she's seen
(33:09) - Training for unknown
(35:16) - The most challenging event - Trump's inauguration
(43:59) - Is working in protocol a career maker?
(49:44) - Bridging the gap to a civilian employer and verifying terms
(53:54) - The most critical elements of putting on an event
(01:01:07) - Putting on the Military Influencer Conference
(01:09:37) - The power of self employment in choosing what you want to do
(01:14:16) - Endgame and staying happy

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    
• Brock: @BrockHBriggs        
• Instagram: Scuttlebutt_Podcast      
• Send me an email: scuttlebuttpod1@gmail.com
• Episodes & transcripts: Scuttlebuttpodcast.co

In this episode, Brock speaks with Tony Nash. Tony is an army officer and the host of the Got Your Six Podcast. Tony talks about how to use physical triggers to slow down time, how to free yourself from the need to be good enough, and why we need to meet resistance every single day. We also talk about the power of repeated small actions on a long time horizon.

Episode Resources:

Tony's Personal Website

Got Your Six Podcast

Got your Six Instagram

Tony on LinkedIn

Notes:

(02:25) - What are you most proud of?
(05:54) - Creating a relationship with yourself that emphasizes awareness
(08:21) - Being proud of things that don't work out
(17:40) - Has the Army been everything you thought it would be?
(23:57) - Writing to change your mind
(29:51) - The power of repetition and recording 100 podcasts
(32:28) - Why start a podcast?
(38:44) - This is Day Two, not Day One anymore
(49:31) - Lessons from 100 episodes
(01:02:47) - Creativity within all of us
(01:05:07) - Tony's 5 Pillars: Servant Leadership, Life Tactics, Inspiration, Discipline, Encouragement
(01:41:44) - Using the pillars to make daily decisions


The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    
• Brock: @BrockHBriggs        
• Instagram: Scuttlebutt_Podcast      
• Send me an email: scuttlebuttpod1@gmail.com
• Episodes & transcripts: Scuttlebuttpodcast.co

In this episode, Brock speaks with Kim Campbell. Kim is a former Air Force A10 pilot and is well known for returning her aircraft back to base safely after being struck by a missile flying over Baghdad during the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003. In this conversation, we discuss what failing forward means, women flying fighter jets, why trust may be the most important element of a team, and why she wouldn't change to flying F18s ifgiven the chance. Kim is extremely dynamic, is eager to give back, and also has a book coming out which you should buy - "Flying in the Face of Fear: A Fighter Pilots Lessons on Leading with Courage". 

Episode Resources:

Kim on LinkedIn

Kim on Twitter

Flying in the Face of Fear

ABC News 2003

Ones Ready Interview Podcast with Kim

Notes:

(01:50) - The most impactful experience in 24 years in the Air Force
(03:20) - Managing a military family
(08:31) - Have you always considered yourself a calm person?
(09:50) - Brave and afraid at the same time
(14:21) - Being called to perform at a higher level
(18:18) - Deciding who you want on your team
(23:57) - Mentoring junior cadets and advice for young service members
(35:03) - Debriefing after difficult life missions and moving on to the next thing
(38:39) - Women's roles in the Air Force and more women fighter pilots
(45:01) - Did having kids negatively influence career?
(46:48) - Creating a work life balance culture
(55:08) - Book recommendations
(01:01:22) - What's on the other side, writing a book, and a story from the book
(01:09:38) - If given the chance, would you fly F18's instead?

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    
• Brock: @BrockHBriggs        
• Instagram: Scuttlebutt_Podcast      
• Send me an email: scuttlebuttpod1@gmail.com
• Episodes & transcripts: Scuttlebuttpodcast.co