Investing In America's Military Infrastructure: Jumping In With Arkansas Senator John Boozman

On Veterans Day we celebrate our military from every service and every generation. Freedom requires people of character to stand up for America…no matter the challenge. This Veterans Day, the Jedburgh Podcast, the Jedburgh Media Channel and the Green Beret Foundation are proud to announce our partnership with the University of Health and Performance https://university-hp.com/ outside of Bentonville, Arkansas. Dedicated to providing our transitioning service members with the skills needed to build careers in health and fitness, and as entrepreneurs, UHP is leading the way in showing private industry just how valuable our Veterans will be for the next generation of America. While at UHP, Fran Racioppi https://www.linkedin.com/in/francisracioppijr/ spent some time with Senator John Boozman https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/, an Arkansas native and the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations. Senator Boozman is the son of an Air Force Master Sergeant and has made national security a top priority of his service. The Senator and Fran discussed his initiatives to improve quality of life for service members and their families, why building world class facilities is critical to recruiting, and how national security is the foundation of a strong economy. They also shared why all leaders need to bring the country together to get things done for the American people. HIGHLIGHTS 0:00 Introduction1:50 Welcome to the University of Health and Performance2:37 Veterans Day in Arkansas4:52 Modernization of military infrastructure6:46 Investing for the next fight 8:13 Senate priorities post election11:53 Bringing America together QUOTES “We talk about Veterans. It always is a family affair. The whole family signs up.” “We’ve got Canada and Mexico as our neighbors. We fight a little bit. It’s like family. You scrabble, but your friends. We like each other.”“I do think our country’s divided. We need to bring it together.” “In the Senate the reality is in order to get something passed it has to be somewhat bipartisan.” “The harder you work to help your teammate, the better off you are.” Watch, listen or read all our Veterans Day coverage from UHP. The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are an official program of The Green Beret Foundation https://greenberetfoundation.org/. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast https://www.instagram.com/jedburghpodcast/ and the Green Beret Foundation https://www.instagram.com/greenberetfoundation/ on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform https://pod.link/1558608802, read on our website https://greenberetfoundation.org/jedburghpodcast/investing-in-military-infrastructure-jumping-in-with-arkansas-senator-john-boozman, and watch the full video version on YouTube https://youtu.be/3JCpJF23a9Q as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge. The opinions presented on the The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are the opinions of the guests and the host. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Beret Foundation and the Green Beret Foundation assumes no liability for their accuracy.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:04Fran Racioppi?

  Welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast. I'm the creator and host, Brandon Racioppi. Each episode, I speak with transformative leaders, visionaries, drivers of change, and those dedicated to winning no matter the challenge. The Jedburgh Podcast is founded in the lineage of the special operations Jedburgh teams of the past and is an official program of the Green Beret Foundation, supporting our nation's US Army Special Forces and their families. On Veterans Day, we celebrate our military from every service and every generation. Freedom requires people of character to stand up for America, no matter the challenge. This Veterans Day, the Jedburgh Podcast, the Jedburgh Media Channel, and the Green Beret Foundation are proud to announce our partnership with the University of Health and Performance.

• 0:45Fran Racioppi?

  Located outside of Bentonville, Arkansas, UHP is dedicated to providing our transitioning service members with the skills needed to build careers in health and fitness, and as entrepreneurs. UHP is leading the way in showing private industry just how valuable our veterans will be for the next generation of America. While at UHP, I spent some time with Senator John Boozman, an Arkansas native and the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations. Senator Boozman is the son of an Air Force Master Sergeant and has made national security a top priority of his tenure. The Senator and I discussed his initiatives to improve quality of life for service members and their families, why building world-class facilities is critical to recruiting, and how national security

• 1:28Fran Racioppi?

  is the foundation of a strong economy. We also shared why all leaders need to bring the country together to get things done for the American people. Watch, listen, or read all our Veterans Day coverage. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform and watch us on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge. Senator, thanks for joining me.

• 1:51Speaker 01

  No, thanks for having me. Very much.

• 1:53Fran Racioppi?

  Well, we're out here at the University of Health and Performance. We're outside of, you know, up here in northwest Arkansas, and I've never been to Arkansas. So you, as a Senator from this amazing state, I've only heard wonderful things about it. And when I was coming in, you know, they talk about the And the Lake of the Ozarks, I've seen the show, which I understand has drastically increased some of the tourism around the area, but what an amazing place, absolutely wonderful.

• 2:21Speaker 01

  Beautiful place, lots of hills and rivers, streams, all those lakes, all those kind of things, and the quality of life is excellent, lots of nice people to go along with all that.

• 2:33Fran Racioppi?

  You've been very focused in your tenure as a Senator and prior to that in the medical field on veterans initiatives and supporting our veterans. I think there's five bases here in Arkansas, different component of the military, and it's become really a critical importance to you and your tenure here to support our veterans. We're sitting here on Veterans Day, you've come out here to this to this event, why has it been so important to you?

• 2:56Speaker 01

  Well, it's really important in regard to the regular military, our bases that we have here, again, because of quality of life, because of the fact that people embrace the military here, so patriotic, you know, really want these things here. We don't have to worry about a lot of the regulatory atmosphere that you've seen a lot of other areas. It's just a great story to tell. It's not only good for our area, but it's good for the country. It's a great use of resources. My dad did 20 years in the Air Force.

• 3:25Fran Racioppi?

  Master Sergeant.

• 3:26Speaker 01

  Master Sergeant, retired as a Master Sergeant, joined when he was 17, wound up as a waist gunner on B-17s.

• 3:33Fran Racioppi?

  Wow.

• 3:34Speaker 01

  Got through that, stayed in, and so I understand how important these things are. And, you know, we talk about veterans and it always is a family affair. This is something, you know, it's the whole family, you know, signs up and you realize pretty quickly that you're part of something that's much more important than yourselves.

• 3:52Fran Racioppi?

  Yeah. One of the other initiatives that you have on in your various Senate committees that you're a part of is infrastructure and the building of infrastructure around military bases and stuff. We have seen massive advancement and modernization of our military infrastructure and the bases. I mean, I entered in 2001, or sorry, in 2003, I'm a product of 9/11 in 2001. I had the choice, because I studied broadcast journalism at Boston University, and I said, well, what am I gonna do

• 4:20Speaker 01

  that's where you got your good voice

• 4:22Fran Racioppi?

  gotta work on that you know I have to practice I have to practice it you know sometimes you gotta get the deepness a little bit but I mean people like Tom Brokaw Peter Jennings were my heroes and I looked up to him and then nine eleven happens and I'm looking at this and I'm saying what am I gonna do I'm a junior in college I'm gonna go to you know maybe a small market in the middle of America maybe Arkansas and I'm gonna build this resume and it's gonna be the back then we had the actual VHS tapes or there's these guys with beards long hair they're riding horses through Afghanistan building up forces and combating an enemy that chose to do us harm and I said I exactly I said I gotta go do that and if I want to do journalism I'll do that later but you know I'm a product of that and when I went in our bases weren't very nice

• 5:06Fran Racioppi?

  they were old there we didn't have a lot of modernization the barracks were still World War Two barracks but we've seen so much of that change over the last twenty plus years what do we have to look forward to as we continue to advance and modernize our military

• 5:19Speaker 01

  I think it's really important and the world is different now even than it was in twenty two thousand and three when you joined but people are different also the job market is pretty strong in America right now in fact labor issues are huge problems so people have a lot of choices we have a volunteer army you know it's recruiting is difficult it's hard to get anybody to make long-term commitments to anything right now and so you have to have the facilities the quality of life issues and then so importantly make sure that they're safe so no it's it's different we're working really hard to create those facilities to give the military what they need you know to go forward and be able to do that if not we're not gonna

• 6:03Speaker 01

  we're not gonna have young men and women like yourself you know who will step up and serve

• 6:08Fran Racioppi?

  yeah I think you know I've had been fortunate to speak with so many senior leaders from the military primarily from special transitioning out of the military is about more than polishing a resume or attending a LinkedIn workshop it's about rediscovering your purpose and forging a new path that's worthy of your service at the University of Health and Performance veterans are offered transformative GI Bill approved programming designed to help take them to the next level with confidence. Nestled in the heart of the Ozarks, their 800-acre, all-inclusive campus features world-class training facilities, modern living spaces, and miles of trails for reflection and growth. Here, veterans find a structured, immersive environment where they can explore their strengths, develop new skills, and build a life that not only honors their past but prepares the future.

• 6:54Fran Racioppi?

  Special Operations Command within the Army and Special Forces Command also had a chance to sit down with Sergeant Major Mike Wymer, the Sergeant Major of the Army. You know, where we talked a lot about recruiting and we talked a lot about, you know, what is it going to take to get folks to continue to raise their right hand? When the military is not front and center in so much, but we know that there's an enemy and adversary out there that is looking to come after us. There's been a bit of, there's two conversations being had within national defense right now. And you've been very big on, you know, national defense. We have to put our effort behind national defense. We don't live in this world where everybody's hugging and hoping that we're all going to get along. That's not reality. The reality is, is there's terrorist organizations who are reconstituting, looking to do us

• 7:38Fran Racioppi?

  harm, and there's organizations that are nation-states, whether it be Iran, or China, or Russia, who have capacity and capability. When you look forward and you think about the next fight, America's next battle, what do you think it is?

• 7:53Speaker 01

  Well, I think it's really difficult. The Middle East is in turmoil. You've got Ukraine. The whole world is watching that. Depending on what we do there is going to greatly influence the Chinese as they're looking at Taiwan. We're so blessed, you know, we've got Canada and Mexico as our neighbors. We fight a little bit, you know, it's like family, you know, you squabble, but you're friends, you know, you like each other. So many other countries, they're neighbors, you know, they're looking at each other with eyes of, you know, how do we conquer these people? And we just don't experience that here. But sadly, much of the world is like that. So I think we've got several places that we have to look and, you know, the thing to do is to be ready, you know, to have the, have a good economy, you know, which drives

• 8:38Speaker 01

  all this. And then again, as Reagan said, and so many others, peace through strength.

• 8:43Fran Racioppi?

  We've gone through definitely probably the longest political cycle, election cycle, in at least modern history. People will often say now that it was one of the most divisive, but we've also talked on this show about, you can go back to the 1800s, you know, Aaron Burr shot somebody. So, there's always been this conflict that ramps up as we go into a charged election, especially when you have, when you have so many issues that are so polarizing. We're out of it now. President Trump won in a decisive manner across the country, and even last night, they called Arizona, and so, you know, the election as far as ballot counts at the presidential level is now over. But now, the country's got to come together.

• 9:27Fran Racioppi?

  We have to forge a path. What do you see as the priority now for, you know, the Senate now comes back to the Republican Party, we're still waiting on the House, but it looks like that will too. As the Republicans now have all branches of the government, what are you looking forward to and what's going to be on that agenda?

• 9:44Speaker 01

  Well, it's interesting, you mentioned the thing about, you know, that there's always been turmoil, and that is the case. I was in the House for nine years, you can go there, there's a picture of George Washington. And, you know, around sometime in the early part of our country, they actually outlawed weapons on the House floor. And if you look at his picture, they've even painted out his sword.

• 10:09Fran Racioppi?

  Oh, really?

• 10:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, you can see the top, the handle, but they actually painted out his sword, so even he's not carrying a weapon on the House floor. So, these things have a long history. I do think our country's divided, though, and we need to bring it together. And so, we'll go back, we'll have elections on our side, kind of reconstitute it, and get our committees in line, and then just roll our sleeves up and get to work. In the Senate, the reality is, in order to get something passed, you have to, it has to be somewhat bipartisan. You need 60 votes to get it done. That's not bad in the sense it really does force you to work together to create a product. So we're looking forward to doing that. I think we can do that. I'll give you some great examples. You know, in the last several years,

• 10:55Speaker 01

  we've done more for veterans, working together, Democrats and Republicans, than we have, you know, in decades. The PACT Act, you know, various things like that, the community care programs. All of that was done in a very, very bipartisan way. So hopefully we can follow through, not only with our veterans, but with our armed forces and so many other things, the economy. Americans just don't have any money right now. You know, they're in a situation where they look back and they are in a lot worse situation than they were four years ago. And the problem is they really don't see a lot of hope. So, you know, we've said that we can jump in, roll our sleeves up, working together to make a change in that area and so many other areas.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  Now it's time that we've got to actually perform.

• 11:42Fran Racioppi?

  I think it's an exciting time for America.

• 11:45Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 11:46Fran Racioppi?

  I think that there's, we talk about the future. We talk about change, you know, and I think regardless of what. When faced with a challenge, Green Berets adapt, overcome, and keep moving forward. Now's your chance to stand with them. Join the 1952 Society with a monthly gift of just $19.52 to provide critical medical devices for wounded, ill, and injured Green Berets. Your support fuels their recovery, helping them return to duty or continue serving their communities. A Green Berets mission never stops. Neither should our support. Join the 1952 Society today and stand with those who stand for us.

• 12:23Fran Racioppi?

  Candidate one, there was going to be somewhat of a change.

• 12:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 12:26Fran Racioppi?

  Something was going to change, right? It didn't be exactly the same. But I think now it comes down to how do we rally behind? You know, how do we rally behind? In the military, we talk all the time about order, you know, orders, say, quote unquote, orders. And in special forces, the beauty of the special forces team is that you have these 12 individuals on the operational detachment and everybody gets a voice. But when the decision is made. Everybody gets in line and then they execute on that decision. And I'm hoping as we move forward now into this new era, that that's what America's gonna do.

• 13:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. I believe with you all hard, I say I grew up in a military family. My dad was a master sergeant. I also played football at Arkansas. It was the same mentality, you know, you are, you know, you work hard in the off season. You're vying for a position during the off season. You look at each other and you almost kill the guy that's the step above you. At the end of that, when they put the final depth chart, then you come together as a team. You work hard together. And the other realization is, is that the harder you work to help your teammate, the better off you are because you're all gonna be successful. And so those are, those are kind of simple truths that we just need to continue to talk about and instill. And people like you are a great example of that.

• 13:44Fran Racioppi?

  Well, Senator, I appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to talk to me. We've got a lot going on here. The governor's coming now and then we got an event. We got it.

• 13:53Fran Racioppi?

  But it's amazing to, to be out here and get to spend some time and talk to you.

• 13:57Speaker 01

  Well, thank you very much. I look forward to talking to you in the future.

• 14:00Fran Racioppi?

  Absolutely. Love to come down to DC and see you.

• 14:02Speaker 01

  No, for sure. And thanks for a great show. This is, that's really what it's all about is just getting good information out to them as to what's going on.

• 14:09Fran Racioppi?

  Thank you.

• 14:10Speaker 01

  Appreciate you very much. Thank you.

• 14:12Fran Racioppi?

  American Jedbergs went out to form the foundation of the United States Special Forces and the Special Activities Director to the Central Intelligence Agency. Thanks for listening to the Jedberg Podcast. I'm your creator and host, Fran Ruchowi. Join us next week for a new episode on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check us out on YouTube for full episodes, highlights, and other behind the scenes content. If you like what you heard, give us a like and leave a review. Follow me, Fran Ruchowi, Talent War Group, and our sponsor Jersey Mike Subs on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Send your comments and inquiries to [email protected]. As former members of Special Operations Forces, the Jedberg Podcast and Talent War Group contribute a percentage of all profits to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, supporting the families of our fallen warriors. Thanks for joining us on this episode.

• 14:56Fran Racioppi?

  How you prepare today determines success tomorrow.