Scott DeLuzio:    00:00:00    Thanks for tuning in to 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 a family member, this podcast we’ll 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.  

Scott DeLuzio:    00:00:22    Hi everybody. Today my guest is David Smith, who is a combat wounded Army Veteran. He’s also the executive director of a nonprofit called Warrior’s Ethos, which provides career planning, professional development and placement assistance to service members, Veterans,  as well as their spouses and caregivers.  He’s here today to talk about Warrior’s Ethos, and provide some advice for those who are transitioning out of the military.  So welcome to the show, David. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your military background?  

David Smith:    00:00:53    Hey Scott, thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to talk to you and to your listeners as well.  I retired in 2013. I’m medically retired from injuries that I’ve received in Helmand Afghanistan in 2010, I was injured in an IED.  I had spent 23 years in the military. I retired as an E8 Master Sergeant, from a special forces ODA.  I absolutely loved what I did and I am convinced that it was the best job in the world.  But when I got injured, it was a fairly significant injury; it was my second IED and that put an end to the career. So I had to figure out what was next and, speaking for myself, that was really hard for me because I didn’t make a decision to leave the military.  

David Smith:    00:01:48    That decision was sort of made for me and I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. So really finding the thing that was going to get me up at five o’clock in the morning and be excited to go to work was tough. And I struggled with that for several years.  I eventually made my way through that. And, as you said, I’m now the executive director for Warrior’s Ethos. We’re a 501C3 based in Reston, Virginia, and we help service members and Veterans and their spouses as they’re transitioning out of the military and into their next career.  

Scott DeLuzio:    00:02:25    Yeah. And that’s what we’re talking about today, that transition process. And you know what, I think a lot of times Veterans get out of the military or they’re about to get out of the military and they don’t really have a great plan for what the next step is.  So much of their military life was sort of planned out for them, whether it’s the schools they went to or the different training that they had, a lot of that stuff gets planned out for them day to day. And then all of a sudden they take the uniform off and they’re just hit in the face with reality of nobody else’s planning this stuff for me, you have to figure it out. So, let’s jump right in. What was your own transition out of the military like, and how did you end up getting involved with  Warrior’s Ethos?  

David Smith:    00:03:19    So, I guess to sort of explain my transition, I’ve got to go back a little bit before that, to be able to paint that picture accurately, I hit my first IED in 2006 and in that IED, I lost a close friend of mine and also suffered a fairly significant traumatic brain injury.  When I returned from that deployment in 2007, I struggled like a lot of service members did and still do with not only the traumatic brain injury at the time, but also a lot of post-traumatic stress because I’d lost a close friend during that deployment, we’d been sitting right next to hi...