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 Drive On Podcasts.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. Hi, my name is Scott DeLuzio with the Drive On Podcast,

Earl Breon:    00:00:49    And my name is Earl Breon with the Burden of Command Podcast.

Scott DeLuzio:    00:00:53    And we’re doing a joint episode today where we’re combining forces and this episode will be played on both of our podcasts today. So, we’ll do a little back and forth and get to know each other and we’ll be able to tell you a little bit about ourselves and if you’re not familiar with us, you’ll learn a bit about us through this episode and a little bit of what we got going on. So, Earl, I would say welcome to the show, but it is also your show as well. So, we’ll skip over those formalities, I suppose. Welcome to our show, right? Yeah. So, let’s jump right in.

Scott DeLuzio:    00:01:39    We had been talking offline a little bit, but before we started recording and we’re talking about a few different topics and I think all of these topics are really important topics that each of us have some experience with. But one of them that I thought was especially important is the topic of the transition out of the military. I know a lot of people get out of the military and when they’re in that transition period, it almost feels like a light switch is going off where they have this military identity, they’re either a soldier or Marine or airman, whatever the case may be and then the next day they wake up and all of a sudden they’re a civilian, and now they have to figure out how to go back and navigate civilian life. You have an interesting story about that. Would you mind talking to us a little bit about that story a little bit about how that went for you?

Earl Breon:    00:02:37    Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for asking, and I’ve shared this story I think at the beginning of my podcast, but it’s good to revisit and for your listeners, my story is not the stereotypical story that’s out there right now, where we have a lot of say Navy seals and Air Force recon and Rangers that are writing books, and they’ve got all these glorious metals and combat experience. I served pre 9/11, and my career was abruptly cut short due to the anthrax vaccine situation. Essentially I went through the medical board process, having some issues and the Navy board came back and said, when you’re in weather you don’t have to worry about passing out when you run well, being a Marine, you do have to worry about passing out when you run my CEO made it very clear.

Earl Breon:    00:03:26    And so, he processed me for an administrative separation. So, I went from being a Marine to being told you’ve got 10 days and you’re no longer a Marine. And I didn’t have a lot of time to really process it. You know, I wasn’t looking forward to an EAs date. Luckily, I got into some of the transition classes and that helped me get a job in federal civilian service eventually. But in between I had to stop; I was working at a faucet factory i...