The Confessionals - Surviving With The Watchmen

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

In this bonus quick hitter, we talk to Colby who is one of the people heading up the organization called Watchman Readiness Corps. Over the years we have seen listeners of this show lose their battle with suicidal thoughts and we want to take any kind of action we can to help those people in need. So, moving forward, every show description will include links to contact WRC so if you or someone you know is struggling, there can always be a resource to lean on. These men are veterans themselves and ready, able, and willing to help their brothers fight the darkest battle of their lives. Below is a little information about who they are and what they do."Watchman Readiness Corps is about the physical, mental, & spiritual welfare of our brothers in arms. We aim to maintain situational awareness & readiness in an ever changing world. As members of the Corps we dedicate our time to lifting others up & equipping them with skills needed to survive not only in tough situations, but life itself.Too many of our fellow brothers have fallen to physical, spiritual, or mental issues. Each of them could have been saved if only we had reached out and brought them back into our lives to show them they are worth it. Together we will strive to bring as many members into the Corps as we can so that we may never lose another brother except it be his time to go in peace." Are you a military veteran struggling with thoughts of suicide?Contact Watchman Readiness Corps for REAL help. A veteran-run organization that is designed to help through hands-on survival training.Website: wrc.vetEmail: [e-mail]: [phone]Instagram: wrc_survivalFacebook: colbyneumeierofficial

Merkel. Media. Hey, everybody, this is a quick hitter listen for you. This is not the typical quick hitter listen, but this is a conversation I had with a guy named Colby who runs an organization called Watchman Readiness Core. They focus on survival, navigation, medical, and marksmanship. It is run completely by veterans,

and it is designed for people who were veterans to kind of brush up on their skill, but also be around other veterans who've been through the heat of battle and maybe struggling with more serious thoughts of suicide. This is something that I've been wanting to do for a long time because throughout the show's existence, we have had people who were in the military and have committed suicide. And I just wanted to have the opportunity to give back to that community in a very indirect way.

And so I'm very excited about this partnership with Watchman Readiness Corps. And they are going to be the place that I push people towards that maybe reach out that are struggling with certain things when it comes to the suicidal thoughts with veterans. But this is also an organization that if you are not a veteran, you can fit right in with as well because it is designed to help people who don't know anything about survival, navigation, medical, and marksmanship to learn those things

because maybe there might be a time coming in the future where you're going to really wish you knew that stuff. So whether you're a veteran or a non-veteran, this is an organization that is really good for you to get involved with if you're interested in those kind of things. And so before we get to this conversation I had with Colby about the organization, why it's important and some of the experiences there, I want to direct people to WRC.Vet. That's WRC.Vet and check out their organization and their information. There's going to be links in the description below. Moving forward, every episode I put out, their links will be in the description below so that it's easy access for everybody. And if you're looking to donate to an organization and you're not sure where to donate, this would be a great organization to donate. This will be a great organization to donate. too, and they do have a donate tab on their website. So if that interests you, go ahead and check it out. Now, let's get to this conversation with Colby right now.

Colby, how you doing, man? Yeah, I'm good. How are you being, man? Doing good, brother. Doing good. So listen, man, you reached out to us. It was almost timely, to be honest with you. You told us that you had an organization, and it was for veterans. and not just veterans, but the whole push is veteran. And I feel like it was perfect timing in the sense that I was actually looking for something like this to help promote and push to people that listen to the show. Because last year I had a veteran who had committed suicide and he was supposed to be on the show. and then this year I got a guy who

So last year when that happened I broadcast a show, people might remember it because I kind of took it kind of hard because I had just recorded an interview that I thought would help people a lot and I felt like I should put it out right away so I put it out a few weeks later after my schedule cleared up

and in that time that guy had passed and I kind of took it hard and a listener heard that interview and emailed me and said, that, you know, he was basically thanking me that he had heard that interview and it really helped him in his situation to not go down that road. And I was really happy for that, right? Well, I just got an email a few months ago from that person's significant other saying that he wound up passing away committing suicide. And so like it's something that's been kind of

haunting me in the show in the sense that like my heart is for the veterans. I'm not a veteran myself, but I do everything I can to support them when I can. And it kind of was like a wake call to me where it's like I, like I just had that show and it helped him, which was awesome in the moment, but ultimately he still wound up following through with what he was struggling with. And so it became clear to me that I wanted to do something more. I wanted to find an organization that I could kind of push people to that are struggling. going like, here, seek help because just listening to my podcast might be a temporary Band-Aid, but you need to be surrounded by people who can actually help you. And that's

what you guys are about. So why don't you tell us about this organization that you guys started? Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I remember that episode. And I remember when it came out and I listened to it and it hit hard too. And I remember, I remember hearing your voice, you know, you could tell you were struggling with it. And, um, For whatever reason, veteran suicide, you know, I don't know if you would say it's on the rise or, for whatever reason, it seems to be pretty significant in our society now. And I had a squad leader that I served with who, you know, he had deployed before I knew him to Iraq. He was a private when he went over there, obviously, and, I don't know, he had to do some things that. A lot of people wouldn't even like to talk about having to do.

You know, rules of engagement at certain times during war, you get put on a machine gun in placement somewhere. And if there's a curfew, you have to abide by that curfew regardless of what your feelings are. And he had to have to do that. And you can tell by the time I met him, he had come to our unit and was an E5 and was one of our squad leaders. and he was a good guy really squared away,

but you can tell that there was just, he was off because of the things he had to do when he had deployed before he came to our unit. And Sergeant Jackson was his name, and he was a really, really good NCL, a really good friend and deployed with us, and then we finally all got out. And it was a few years ago, he lost the fight.

He was having one of his episodes up in Alaska. and, you know, he ended up taking his own life, basically. Was holed up out in the snow and was letting off some steam, shooting off a bunch of rounds. He had dressed in all his gear and everything and went out there. And by the time the state troopers got out there to him, because they kind of got in a standoff, and they think that maybe he was trying to go death by cop. But he, anyway, they obviously couldn't push him to find him in there while he was shooting off all his rounds. And he was in the dead of winter in Alaska.

And by the time they got to him, he had froze to death. And, you know, not only that, but a few months ago, this is leading up to our organization, but a few months ago, I was in a meeting with three other veterans. And I wasn't necessarily trying to build this organization and try to gear towards helping veteran suicide. but when I was talking to these guys, all three or all four of us, rather, being veterans, knew somebody individually who had taken their life that we served with. Now, that's one for one.

Out of eight guys, half had taken their own life. Some of us know even more. I put out a real a couple of days ago on our Instagram page and talking about veteran suicide. And my platoon medic messaged me the next day, day and told me that the guy who taught him to be a flight medic, the sergeant first class, had like two air medals to his name, really bad ass dude, and had been struggling for a while and ended up shooting himself right in front of his family,

wife and kids. So what we're trying to do with Washington Radio's Corps is not just teach survival skills to the public or whoever it is that wants to learn these types of skills, but we want to build a community for veterans who might be in that spot, you know, right on the threshold, not just veterans either, first responders as well, cops and firemen, they've seen some pretty rough stuff, right? And, you know, there seems to be that kind of struggle there also, wherever they have to face that type of trauma and then have to deal with it.

we're trying to build a community as well where they can be connected and interact with other guys who have been there, seen that stuff. You know, they know what it feels like. They know what it smells like. They know what it tastes like. And you can really connect with your brother that way as opposed to going and talking to a doctor, you know, who just has head knowledge of trauma and understands how to diagnose things. but, you know, they've never, they've never been in the thick of it. They've never been in a heated battle. And personally, I know going to the, to the, to the VA and talking to those doctors and stuff,

going to the trauma unit, it's, you know, they, they give the same questionnaire every time you show up. And they say, well, you know, so what's going on with you now? You know, how's life, this and that. And in about 10, 15 minutes, you're gone. They walk you out the door and signed your script. and I get much more therapy personally out of hearing an interview or talking to another veteran who I know he's been to Iraq or he's been in Afghanistan. He's driven down the same roads that I've driven down.

He knows what the concussion of an IED feels like. You know, he knows what rounds going off feels like or sounds like. And it's just it's more therapeutic to be able to talk through your stuff and be around guys. You don't even have to talk about what you've been through. it's just knowing that you're connected to another community or guys who have been there. So not just teaching survival skills at Washington-Rour readiness, but we're trying to build a community virtually or otherwise or in person for veterans and first responders. So when it comes to the teaching survival skills, what would that all entail?

I mean, are you talking about as far as like anything from, you know, maybe food preparedness and learning how to work the ground, to firing, you know, a weapon, or how are we, I guess, classifying survival? So we basically have a broke down into, you can say, three or four different categories. Basically, we have a wilderness survival instructor, and that's kind of what he specializes in. So survival in the wilderness, right? Learn how to build a fire with just a spark. knowing what type of materials to gather for a fire,

knowing how to purify water, knowing how to build a shelter, that type of thing. And then another instructor, he likes to focus on, you know, kind of urban type preparedness, get home bags or, you know, bug out bag, that kind of thing, you know. And then we have a navigation instructor who used to work for the U.S. Forest Service and basically what his job was was packing out for two or three weeks at a time with just a rucksack and a compass and a map throughout the U.S.

force in America. And so he's highly qualified. He has a degree from Texas Tech. And that's what he actually used to do. So he teaches our land navigation, which obviously could come in handy in the future. If you follow, if whoever's listening follows your podcast, then I'm sure they're on the same page as what we're talking about. They at least know who I am.

Yeah, yeah. So, and then our medical instructor, he is actually still active in the Army. Well, he's in the reserves now, but he is a care flight medic. So he's a, you know, he's a flight paramedic. And he comes and teaches breeding mitigation, you know, how to apply a turnicip properly, how to pack a wound, how to perform CPR. And he even has a select amount of CPR cards that he can pass out. He can get certified if you come now.

everybody that shows up, maybe not be able to get a CPR card, but you at least know that you can have a chance to, you'll get the same type of training. You just may not get certified, right? And then our weapons, our weapons training is, we have three different guys,

two of them. Well, one is, one was a Marine veteran, and he served 20 years in the police department was on SWAT, team there and is a weapons instructor. The other guy is, uh, was an army veteran. He served for 10 years. And now he is a active duty, uh, police officer and squad operator. Uh, and then another guy is a hunting guide, the guys for a couple different outfits down and south area. And he's a long range marksman. So those are the guys that kind of, they teach the weapons. So what we're talking about is

basically survival and, you know, now obviously survival, all sorts of things can go into that. And we don't have as that much time to teach all those types of things. So we're trying to touch on the basics of kind of urban preparedness and wilderness survival. And then obviously, kind of land navigation falls under that category. And then the medical aspect and then weapons handling and safety. So it kind of breaks down into three to four groups. Gotcha. So this sounds like it's something for everybody, literally.

So if it's somebody that needs to just learn this stuff off the rip and they've never done this stuff, they've never been in the military, they don't know what they're doing. This sounds like a great opportunity to learn this stuff and also be around a bunch of other people who either, from different levels. You know, like there might be some people that are very skilled in it that are going through the course to people who are just nubes. But it's also for veterans as well.

And if you're a veteran right now listening to this, You're like, well, I already know how to do all that stuff. Listen, it's also therapeutic. And so this is an opportunity for you to surround yourself with other veterans, people who know what it's been like, you know, being out in the field doing these kind of things and the headspace that they all had to work through along with you. So if you're a veteran listening right now and you're like, I already know how to do this stuff, though.

How can it help me? It can help you by being around other people who can identify with you and understand where you're coming from. and also at the same time brush up on your skills that you learned in the military or wherever. Now, when is the next, I know you guys are doing an event here coming up in October, and if you could talk to people about that and what that's going to be all entailing. Yeah, so October 14th and 15th, it's a Friday evening through Saturday. We kind of try to touch on what we can in about 24-hour span.

Now, I know there's other outfits out there that do a lot of what we do, and they kind of, you know, they give a three-day course or they give almost a whole week-long course. All of our instructors have families and jobs and careers, and they're also doing everything pro bono. So we're trying to fit what we can into the period of time that we have to serve the people. You know, we're maybe later on as we grow, we'll be able to offer, you know, something longer than that. But for right now, it's about a 24-hour course. The next one, like you said, it'll be October 14th and 15th. It'll be at Pecon Ridge Outdoor Center in Scurry, Texas.

you can look it up on Google Maps. It shows up and you can find your way there. If you're in the area, if you want to come, that's where we do all of our training. That's basically home base. We'll be touching on those different aspects, probably one night out in the field. And what we'll probably start out with

is a land navigation course, which we won't necessarily be out wandering through the woods. with a compass, but the classroom portion, trust me, you'll get, you'll get the gist of what you need to get. And that's probably what we will start out.

That would probably be the first block of instruction will be the land navigation course. And then it'll be kind of that night in the field. And then the next morning we'll get up and probably touch on the wilderness survival. And then Doug, our medical instructor will be there and we'll go through medical before we go to the range. and it's all in one place walking distance from each section right so we're not jumping in vehicles

and running across the county to get to the next block of instruction it's all in-house and that yeah it'll be October 14 and 15th now tentatively we'll probably do another one early spring but that's that's kind of what the schedule looks like for now and you can check that out at our website at WRC.Vet. So, yeah, so WRC. dot vet. WRC.

vet is the website. You can get all this information at. I will tell everybody, I do plan on going to one of these events. I was hoping

to go to the October one, but with the film coming out in this fall where it's like all hands on deck and I'm actually leaving town two more

times between now and the film launch. And so it's just like, I got a family too and I got to, I got to tell my wife, my excuses as to why I leave town every time. So, um, but I do, I do plan on, uh, hitting up one of these events as well because, uh, it's, it's up my alley. I want to learn these things and also

be around other guys who want to learn this stuff as well. So, um, people can check it out. Wrc. dot vet. Uh, I see on the website here, it's watchman readiness at gmail.com. Uh, and there's a phone number on the website. You want to, can I read that phone number? Is that like, yeah, I don't I mean, you know. Yeah, so the phone number is, the phone number is 214, 912, 8714. So that's the email. That's the phone number. The website, again, is WRC.Vet.

And this link to the website will be in the show description of the episodes moving forward. So if you're listing this now and you're like, what was that website a month from now? All you got to do is look in the show description. it's going to be listed right there for you. This is going to be an organization that we come alongside and push people towards because it's something that I've been wanting to have for a while now, and I've come to the realization that I absolutely need something to kind of filter people too. And so this is something that I'm really excited about,

and I hope that people who think it would be useful for them to people who know they need it, take advantage of it. Colby, man, I appreciate you. sharing this information. Is there anything else you'd like to share? Like what about social media, Facebook, Instagram, you guys got that, right? Yeah, yeah. Before we get to that, that phone number is actually my personal cell number. So if somebody is genuinely meaning to get in touch with me, if I don't answer the phone, because it's obviously a number I don't recognize or whatever, just leave me a message, okay?

Or you can shoot me in text, feel free to shoot me in text. or you can shoot us an email at the watchman readiness at gmail.com and then to the to the social media you're saying Instagram you can follow us at WRC Survival, Whiskey Romeo Charlie's survival and it's Watchman Readiness on Facebook as well. So you can reach out, shoot me a message on there. I know you and I have been messaging back and forth on Instagram. So yeah, all that stuff's live.

if you need to get in touch. And especially if you're a veteran and you're right there, man. You know, I know where you are and there's other guys here that know where you are. And I know it's hard. Tony, personally, I think one of the hardest things is drawing those guys out of hiding, you know, because it's not an easy thing to go and talk to people. I've been there and I know what it feels like. and even in those darkest times where I was closest to taking my own life, I didn't necessarily feel like reaching out to somebody, right?

Luckily nowadays, I do do that, but I, you know, if you're struggling, man, you need to reach out, talk to somebody. You can message me, text me, shoot me a text. You can just write, I'm a veteran or something like that. And I'll automatically know what it is that you need and we'll get in touch. and we'll stay in contact. Yeah, so. I totally hope people take you up on that. I can only imagine what it's like, you know,

going through training and being a soldier where you're a badass and now you're struggling with something that, you know, maybe you feel like you shouldn't be struggling because you're tough and you don't know how to identify with it. So you clam up and you keep it to yourself. And so in all reality, this might be the hardest battle, you fight in your life. And the first step in winning that battle is reaching out to somebody for help.

So Colby's here offering that help. WRC.Vet, you can get all the information you need there. Colby, thanks for being here, man. Yeah, Tony, I appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity, man. I appreciate what you do with the show, honestly. And I appreciate the awareness that you're drawn to this. And hopefully we can help some folks out, you know,

veterans and otherwise people who want to learn to stay alive for the days to come and i hope you the best honestly