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 everyone, today, my guest is David Payne. David served in the 82nd Airborne Division and since getting out started a business called GI Resupply, which provides an easy way to send care packages to our troops. David had a bit of a rocky transition after serving, which we’ll get to in a minute, but first I wanted to welcome David to the show. So welcome to the show, David, why don’t you go ahead and tell us a little bit about your yourself and your background.

David Payne:    00:01:13    Yeah, thank you very much. And thanks for having me on, I appreciate the introduction.  My name’s David Payne, I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, so I’m a huge Ohio State Buckeyes’ fan.  We’ll see how we do this year in the playoffs. So, we’re hoping for the best, but after high school, I joined the Army. I was actually home sick from school on September 11th.  I believe all things happen for a reason. So, there was a reason why I was home that day and that I was watching the footage and stuff that was happening. And it was that day that I knew I was going to join the military. That was what I was going to do. So, when I got out of high school, I joined the Army.

David Payne:    00:02:01     I served in the 82nd Airborne Division for a little over four years.  I was an 11 Bravo and Infantryman and did two tours overseas in Iraq, the first tour was on the Iranian border. And the second tour was in 2007. We were the spearhead for the surge that was sent into Baghdad.  After that, I got out of the military, I didn’t want to look back.  I had done my service and I was ready to go to college, but things, they really didn’t turn out the way I had it in my mind. And that’s when, like you said, things started to get a little rocky.  It’s a story that’s unique to me, but what I’m finding is that I’ve been sober for seven years now. We’ll get into a little bit of what led to that, but there’s a lot of us in the Veteran community who have gone or who are going through a lot of the same things that I did when I was working on that transition. So, that’s a big part of why I like to share my story and connect with those who have served, who have gone through a lot of the difficulties when they’ve gotten out to whether they’ve been dealing with issues from deployments or maybe a loss of the brotherhood and sisterhood that we forge while we’re serving.  I really like to connect with those who have a lot of the same history.

Scott DeLuzio:    00:03:34    Yeah. And I that’s one of the things I’m noticing too, when I’m talking to the other Veterans on this podcast is kind of a similar story like you said, your story is unique to you obviously. Everyone’s story is unique to them, but there are a lot of similarities in there with things like you said, the loss of brotherhood and stuff like that. I think it’s good to be able to share stories like yours and others who are out there so the people who are out there who are in that period of transition, and they’re feeling like th...