Scott DeLuzio: 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 podcasts. If you’ve already done that. Thank you. These ratings help the show get discovered so we 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 DriveOnPodcasts.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.
Scott DeLuzio: 00:44 Hi everyone. Today, my guest is Jeff Banman. He’s the host of the Mindset radio podcast and the founder of the Operational Mindset Foundation. Jeff is a former soldier and firefighter. His mission these days seems to be very similar to mine with this podcast. So, I wanted to be sure I got him on the show to share his story. I first heard about Jeff and some of the things that he does through a former guest on this show, Dr. Sherry Walling, who was on not too long ago back in Episode 32. She talked about meditation at the shooting range in her podcast, which I’ll link to in the show notes. When I heard about this, I thought Jeff, who conducted this meditation at a shooting range, would be a perfect guest for this show. Since the listeners of the show are largely current and former military service members, we’re all pretty familiar with firearms and if there’s a way to work that in with mental health that’s just a win-win in my book. So anyway, Jeff, welcome to the show. I don’t want to dive into everything you do without giving you the chance to jump in. So why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
Jeff Banman: 01:49 I really appreciate you having me on today. Sherry is such a phenomenal human being. She’s definitely been a great supporter of mine. I’m glad she introduced us. It was very neat to have her out on range and we got to talk about what that meditation shoot is and why it is the way it is. It’s a pretty neat day out there. My simple background is that I grew up as a fireman, started before I graduated high school. I volunteered, got hired right out of high school, spent a couple of years, got a little bored, decided that I needed new adventure, joined the army and spent the first halfway 3rd Range Battalion in the second half with a Reconstituted out of Fort Bragg, Kosovo in 1999.
Jeff Banman: 02:39 Part of the first guys on the ground there during the Serb invasion, got out, went back to the fire service, was actually on duty the night of September 10th, having coffee with the guys the morning of September 11th, and then spent the next four days in response to the Pentagon in the DC area. And then after that, got recruited by the intelligence community and spent a decade bebopping around the world and doing some really fun stuff. And then, like you said, today, really the focus is on the Foundation with a mission to ultimately to end what I call clean up, the post stuff. A lot of great organizations doing a lot of great stuff and absolutely critical, absolutely necessary. But I believe we’re locked into a new world, where the game’s changed and we’re now in this perpetual global conflict. And so, I don’t see an end to this at some point in time. And the Foundation is really designed to get in early to create early conversations now provide some early lessons and some tools up front. Even if the guys don’t totally hear them right away, they’re...
