Scott DeLuzio:    00:00:03    Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast, where we talk about issues affecting Veterans after they get out of the military. Before we get started, I’d like to ask a favor if you haven’t done so already, please rate and review the show on Apple podcast. If you’ve already done that, thank you. These ratings help the show get discovered so it can reach a wider audience. And while you’re there click the subscribe button so that you get notified of new episodes as soon as they come out. If you don’t use Apple podcasts, you can visit DriveOnPodcast.com/subscribe to find other ways of subscribing, including our email list. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio and now let’s get on with the show. Hey everybody. Today, my guest is Joey Brown.  Joey started an organization called Another Average Joe, which is a Veteran community that helps to connect Veterans with resources that are out there and available for them.  Welcome to the show.  Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, how you got into the military and where you’ve gone from there.  

Joey Brown:    00:01:10    Hey, Scott, thanks for having me. I really appreciate being on the show. So just some background on how I got to another average, Joe.  I think like a lot of people, my age were affected by the events of September 11th to join the military.  I don’t come from a military family or background necessarily, so that was the big driving factor in joining in the first place for me. I know I didn’t necessarily have this preconceived notion that I was going to do 20 years or not, I just said I was gonna do it as long as I enjoyed it kind of mentality. So I went and did Air Force ROTC. And so I’d actually never flown an airplane.  

Joey Brown:    00:01:59    I think this is kind of interesting and people when they hear my background, think that’s kind of funny, but I was already a cadet and I told myself I was either going to do engineering or fly. And then I got a chance to fly on an incident flight on a tanker and watch them refuel some fighter jets. And I said, that’s what I wanted to do. So I ended up there and ended up applying the F 15 E strike Eagle. I was a weapons systems officer. So backseater in a two seat strike Eagle did that for seven years. Scott, I just got out coming up on a year this month and really felt like through the process of getting out I had a pretty quick turnaround between the time I found out the date that I was going to separate and getting out.  

Joey Brown:    00:02:44    So I worked really hard. I took advantage of some great programs, the DOD skill bridge being one of them; for readers that don’t know, there’s more information that I can talk to them about it. I would be more than happy to and it really set me up for success. But with the timing of me getting out in March of 2020, COVID hitting, having a stable job and everything worked out. I realized it could have gone differently. And so I wanted to try and find help for Veterans to get to that point. So I started September of last year, I started a blog called Another Average Joe and started to tell my story and from there I want to take it to the community aspect, because I feel that’s what a lot of Veterans miss when they get out, it’s just the camaraderie that they had when they were in. And that’s a quick intro of where Another Average Joe came from. And I used the name, I wanted it to be service agnostic. I wanted to encompass all Veterans from all backgrounds.  it works well with my name being Joey, but Hey, I’m just an average Joe. And if I did it, you can do it too.  

Scott DeLuzio:    00:03:54    Right. I like wher...