Scott DeLuzio:    00:00:00    Thanks for tuning into a Drive On Podcast where we’re focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community, whether you’re a veteran, active duty guard, reserve, or family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio and now let’s get on with the show. Hi everybody today my guest is Brandi Benson. Brandi is an Army veteran who served in Iraq before being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Through this experience, she’s written a book titled The Enemy Inside Me. And she’s here to talk about overcoming the enemy inside of you. She’s also the CEO of resume advantage, which provides employment services to both civilians and transitioning military veterans. So welcome to the show, Brandi. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and everything about you.  

Brandi Benson:    00:00:52    Thank you so much for having me and I would be glad to do so. So yes, I’m Brandi Benson. I’m originally from California. I ended up joining the military in 2008 and I joined from Illinois. So this transition, I ended up moving to Illinois. I think it was Gurney. And I was staying with my sister, whose husband was at the time they were married. He was in the Navy and he was at this place called Great Lakes. He was stationed over there. So we all lived over there and my sister had joined the military before me. And I thought that me being the bigger the older sister that I should probably be doing something with my life as well. So I decided to join as well. So I joined in 2008. I was in the active or regular Army for one month and nine days.  

Brandi Benson:    00:01:46    So when I got to my first duty station, I was there for one month, nine days. And I was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. And I immediately was told that I was going to be deployed to Iraq. So that definitely came up very, very fast, came  a huge shocker, I felt , why would the military want me to go? And I just learned how to throw a grenade, how to clear a room, how to fix a collapsed lung and you know, all of this stuff,  I just finished ruck marching, and basically  getting used to doing all this stuff. So it was really interesting that they didn’t care how long you were in the military, you’re going out in metal. What, so I find out that I’m going to beat the points and then I automatically start getting anxiety and I’m stressed out and I’m not sure if I’m ready for this; did I make the right choice.  

Brandi Benson:    00:02:39    I’m only 24, where the hell are they going to send me? So I was just really confused on what was going on and why this was happening. So I’ve been told that I’m going to go to this place called FOB Echo, which is  190 something miles south of Baghdad. And it’s at this place called Al Diwaniya FOB Echo, so we’re going there. So I immediately started doing research on YouTube and I found out that they just had this huge mortar attack that happened, and somebody was able to record it. People are screaming, crying, and I’m , oh fuck, this is so bad. This is where I’m going. And I’m , oh my God. Then I’m  talking to my friends and asking them, have they seen this happen? You know, what’s the research that they’ve seen?  

Brandi Benson:    00:03:31    We all just kind of , oh, this is really bad. And then I even tried to talk to my chain of command to try to talk them out of not letting me go. Because I feel  I’m not ready. I don’t think I’m ready. I don’t think I’m ready to do this yet. I’m not even sure if I paid attention in basic and AIT, I was really questioning all this stuff. I don’t know if this i...