Episode 556 Rich Brown Rucking for Veteran Suicide Awareness Transcript
This transcript is from episode 556 with guest Rich Brown.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Life might look steady on paper with your work, your family, the routine of day-to-day life. And all the while the names of those that we’ve lost are sticking out loud in the back of our minds, especially around the holidays. Sometimes, especially around the holidays, we need a little help, a little comradery, folks, to be around with us.
Today I’m gonna be talking with Rich Brown, a Marine Corps veteran who turned entrepreneur, who was pulled outta the Marine Corps, um, by A TBI and pushed into, uh, entrepreneurship. He started a security company. He’s a co-owner of honor, bound fit, uh, fitness, uh, uh, gym, and he helped launch a nonprofit. That is built around hard miles, heavy rocks, and even heavier talks about veteran and first responder suicide.
In this episode, we’re gonna talk about how this nonprofit GUIDON22 works, how they share stories of those who lost someone to suicide, [00:01:00] and why staying silent about your pain oftentimes is the worst thing that you could be doing. Before we get into this episode though, I do want to take a moment to raise awareness for something that’s deeply important to our community.
The Global War On Terrorism Memorial Foundation. This organization is working to build a permanent national memorial in Washington DC to honor the service members, families, and civilians who are impacted by the global war on terrorism. This memorial will be both a tribute to those who served, and, uh, will serve as a way to ensure that their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come.
If you’d like to learn more or find out how you can support their mission, visit GWOT memorial foundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.
[00:02:00]
Scott DeLuzio: Hey Rich, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here.
Rich Brown: I appreciate you having me, man. It’s an honor.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, we got a chance to meet up at MIC a couple months ago and that was, that was really cool. ’cause all the time that I get to uh, chat with somebody in person before having them on the show. It’s usually the other way around.
If, if at all, like if I
Rich Brown: the. You’re the only podcast host uh, or anyone that I had, that I had met virtually, right? That I had something scheduled with that I at a conference before our scheduled recording. So it was, it was fun and you know, fun interaction.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, it it was cool. and uh, you know, the, the conference in in general I thought, thought was great. it was plenty of awesome people there. And uh, yourself and your, your, your folks in included. And, uh, um, you know, I, I think It was just a, a, a, a great, great opportunity there. So, um, The listen who maybe don’t know, uh, about you and, and your background and stuff, can you tell us a little and military background and kind of how you got into [00:03:00] you’re.
Rich Brown: Yeah, sure. So I, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest uh, Oregon and Montana. Uh, I enlisted in the Marine Corps the day after my 17th birthday, four days after high school. and spent, uh, three and a half years in the combat arms with second Lieutenant, third Marines doing Afghanistan and Iraq and all that. and uh, leading troops in combat, living, living the time of my life. then, uh, then I taught at Quantico for four and a half years at the basic school teaching young lieutenants. And then I a private security company. And, uh, from there I’ve rolled that into other business ventures, and now I’m, I co-own a gym And a nonprofit. Yeah, that’s the, that’s the quick down and and
dirty synopsis.
Scott DeLuzio: and, in between all of that, you found time to come on the show and, and chat with me and, and that’s awesome. So, um.
Rich Brown: Happy.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. No, absolutely. And uh, uh, sounds like all the lieutenants getting lost in the woods, uh, probably have, have something they’re pointing at you and, and, uh, blaming you for, uh, for.
Rich Brown: blame, I don’t blame anybody but themselves. Sure. [00:04:00] I got really good, one of the things that, that uh, you know, me and my, my co-owner, we also have a podcast or we’ve started a couple podcasts of the questions that we frequently ask is like, what’s something that. That most people don’t think about or that surprised you that you learned from the military that you use now in your current ventures and stuff like that.
And, and one of them is precision and language. If, if
Scott DeLuzio: Mm.
Rich Brown: college graduates who want to be officers in the Marine Corps taught me anything, it’s to, to say exactly what you mean and that it, it’s, it’s not
what you say so
much as what’s heard. And if it can be misinterpreted, it’s your fault. Right.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: You have
Scott DeLuzio: I,
Rich Brown: 3, 20 lieutenants sitting in a classroom, and if one of them can
misunderstand what you said and they get it wrong on the test, they’re gonna let you know it was your fault.
They got it wrong real
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. Oh, absolutely. And
nothing has, I mean, the military has definitely taught me that for sure, but nothing has reinforced it more post-military than teaching my son how to drive. Um, when, [00:05:00] when, when you’re, when you’re sitting in the passenger seat and he’s in the, the driver’s seat you’re giving him an instruction.
Rich Brown: Mm-hmm.
Scott DeLuzio: But sometimes if he doesn’t wait for the full instruction to leave your mouth and he goes and, and starts going someplace, it’s like, oh shit. No,
Rich Brown: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: you can’t do
that. So
Rich Brown: I remember, being, I think I was a teenager reading about uh, neurolinguistic programming and something about when you say, um, you know, don’t touch the stove. Touch the stove as part still too much of the sentence to have the
Scott DeLuzio: right.
Rich Brown: want, right?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you definitely start choosing your words a lot more carefully when
you have absolutely zero control over whether you live or die through that experience.
Um,
Rich Brown: her to death, but I think my 17-year-old daughter is uh, probably one of the only person people I’ve ever met who gets worse with practice, still have a driver’s license. We talk about it frequently.
Scott DeLuzio: that’s awesome. So,
um, [00:06:00]
so. You have, uh, So, you talked about, uh, run honor, bound fit, I think is, is the, gym that you have, us about that, Where that that kind of came from after, uh, after the Marine Corps.
Rich Brown: about. Two and a half, three years ago, a very close friend met teaching at Quantico, and we’ve become uh, heterosexual life partners ever since. Um, he, his dream has always been to open a gym. You know, we, we did, uh, CrossFit together You know, my Marine Corps career and. Middle is or whatever. And, uh, he wanted to be a CrossFit instructor. He was a CrossFit instructor, but he wanted to open his own gym. He went overseas did military contracting and put away some money. And then his ex-wife, uh, spent it all before He you’ve heard this story before, right?
Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah.
Rich Brown: when, uh, when they started through their separation slash divorce, he looked like he was struggling to find purpose. I said, I said, when are we gonna open your gym bud? And he kind of hemmed and hog for a little bit. And then, uh. You know, I asked him again and he said, well, maybe we could do it by 4th of July.
And our, our local uh, black rifle coffee. [00:07:00] And the manager there was looking for someone, uh, he was wearing a CrossFit hoodie at the time, And she said, well, you know, I’d love, I’d love to reach out to your gym, et cetera. He said, funny story. We’re starting the gym. so I, I had asked him, you know, why couldn’t we do it by 4th of July?
And he said, then he came back to me and said uh, I think we could do it by Memorial Day. And so we launched honor bound fit in the parking lot of a black rifle company, uh, on Memorial Day. 2024. And you know, it started working out in parking lots and churches and so
on. And then we were in our space by September and it’s been full speed ahead ever since.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah.
Especially when you have a, a business that uh, you’re, you’re just starting off maybe, maybe money money’s a little tight. You’re kind of bootstrapping it. Uh, you know, I don’t know what your, your situation is, but I know a lot of, a lot of folks starting a business, you know, money might be a little tight and, um.
When You can start off without the commitment of you know, renting a space a, uh, you know, a building and all that [00:08:00] financial commitment that goes into that. Um, and you can do it in a, a parking a park, or, you know, other places like that. the overhead low and still be able to test out the concept.
Do you even have the market that you thought you had and, and,
All that kind of stuff. Um. That seems like a pretty smart way to get it started and then after a couple months know, this actually might be something and, uh, then
Rich Brown: with this type of
industry, you, uh, you have to get in where you fit in, so to speak. Like,
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Rich Brown: the started basically spring, beginning of summer. But it snows here. So we’re not gonna be doing
burpees in a snowy parking
lot probably. Right. But we, we might, but our members might, you know.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure, sure.
Rich Brown: we kind of got forced by the seasons into you to make this work
or try it again next year, right? And
Scott DeLuzio: Right, right.
Rich Brown: we were like, we found a space
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. So,
so you have that going on, and then you also mentioned nonprofit uh, that, that you’re, [00:09:00]
Rich Brown: So
Scott DeLuzio: working with as well.
Rich Brown: other. Right?
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Rich Brown: go back, let’s go back to the start. So I I had about three years left in the Marine Corps. When I was diagnosed with TBI, they said, look, that thing you love doing, leading troops in combat, you find all that purpose and value in, you’re never gonna do that again.
You’re not competent enough. Uh, but they said, you know, we’re gonna let you, we’re gonna let you finish out your contract teaching, but we’re not gonna let you reenlist the fleet and lead troops in combat. so it was a kick to the balls, right?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: Hey, you’re never gonna do that again.
Right? That thing that you identify as. but I had some time to figure it out. And so about a year later, I started my first company. and I’ve been able to kind of snowball that over the years. And one of my favorite quotes I’ve heard recently is success.
Like it’s a ladder that you
have to climb the ladder to success. It looks so much more like an obstacle course in reality.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Rich Brown: you, you go up one ladder to go down a slide and across a, a trench and so on, have to know when to get off certain obstacles. [00:10:00] And so, you know, I started one business.
It was acquired by another company. I was with that company for a while, and then I left it to start a new company and all that to say that I, I own a private security company and it’s
it’s doing okay. Right. Uh, but industry’s kind of broken, uh, but it pays the bills. Right.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Rich Brown: bootstrapping the with, with, uh. You know, no money or whatever. And the truth is, the co-founder, Keith and I, we put a the gym to keep it afloat and to keep it going today, right? We’re still not quite in the black yet, but we can say, you know, I’m a business geek. And so I’m, I’m aware, I’m very aware that 93% of business of, of gyms don’t make it outta their first year.
And so we’re, we’re honored to be in the 7% club.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: Uh, but, you know, it’s still, it’s still a challenge, right? So. Uh, my his, his full-time job. It, it floats the business for now. Um, I have my security company. We co-own the gym and then as part of, part of, the gym uh, I’m a big fan of Michael Easter and, and he talks about [00:11:00] rucking a lot. Uh, I wanted to members into rucking and so we started doing these monthly ruck events, uh, something to work towards. and so I said, Hey. Uh, veteran suicide is at, it’s time high in the, in the fall and And winter during the holiday seasons between Thanksgiving Year’s.
So let’s work up to 22 miles and we’ll make a big event out of 22 miles with 22 pounds. And so that’s what we did. December 22nd, 2024 was our first ruck for suicide. Uh, veteran suicide awareness. We kind of rolled that this year into now it’s a, a bigger event called GUIDON22, got a lot of attention for it.
We had a lot more people come in to help us with it. Uh, and now we just finished GUIDON22 for this year on November 22nd and forward, it’s always gonna be the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Um, but now it’s turning into its own nonprofit and so we’re filing all, filing all the paperwork nonprofit the GUIDON Foundation.
And it’s. You know, Keystone event for the year has got on 22 and hopefully in the next three to five years we’re gonna have [00:12:00] got on 22
East and got on 22 West and got on 22 Houston and who
knows, you know?
Scott DeLuzio: And in a city near you. Right.
Rich Brown: Yeah. We’ll see.
Scott DeLuzio: Um, so, so these, these events, the, the, the Rucking events, so you’re, you’re bringing people going rucking um, now everyone going the, the full 22 miles themselves, or is it type thing? How, how does that
Rich Brown: Yeah, so
Scott DeLuzio: that structured?
Rich Brown: lot of questions about, well, you know, can we do it virtually or can we, do, you know, I’m not gonna tell you, you can’t go for a walk. Right? We did have somebody who, we have somebody who, so. One of the things that we do as part of the event is about every three miles we stop, let everybody hydrate, have snacks, fix their gear, take a load off for five, 10 minutes, and then we start every next leg with a story from a family member or a close friend of a veteran or first responder who’s taken their own life.
Uh, so we had Nat Martin come up from Atlanta, Georgia. I met her at m We had her [00:13:00] friend Terres, uh, come from San Francisco, California. Uh, and she flew out here for it, but they had a friend make it up, and she walked 22 miles around her neighborhood. tell you, you can’t, but what I can tell you is that it’s not gonna be the same experience,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah.
Rich Brown: I even had somebody earlier this year say, well, you know, can you do it around a, a track? Like you wanna do 88 laps around the track? I would probably
be the next veteran to commit suicide. Like, I’m not doing that. That’s insane.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s a lot of laps
in looking at the
same scenery over and over. Yeah. Yeah.
Rich Brown: I
Scott DeLuzio: Um,
Rich Brown: doing out and back. I don’t like
walking to a point and then walking ha you know, turn around halfway and be like, oh look, it’s the same thing from the other side.
Scott DeLuzio: right.
It’s just the backside of,
that.
Rich Brown: we put a lot of planning
into the route and making sure that it’s interesting and not, you know, the
same
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, that’s,
Rich Brown: over again.
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. No, that, that is good.
Rich Brown: would probably
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. that, that would be, that would be a little rough doing it all on a a, on a track like that. I know there’s, there are some [00:14:00] events that do use a track. I know like when, when I was in high school, there was something for, I don’t know, I think the Heart, American Heart Association or something like that.
They, they
did some sort of thing.
Rich Brown: 12 laps, that’s, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: that’s, That’s, not a big deal. Right, exactly.
Uh, yeah. Would you say 88 laps on a, on the track that that would,
Rich Brown: 22 miles.
Scott DeLuzio: that would be a lot. Yeah. So, um,
yeah.
So, so what, what has the response been to these events as you’ve, you’ve had probably more and more people, you know,
joining these events and, and checking it out.
What, what has their, what has the reception been from these, these folks?
Rich Brown: so the first year it was about 35 participants and mostly our gym members, almost entirely our gym members. And I read all the stories uh, at each checkpoint and it was a great event. a lot of great feedback. This we only had about 15 more participants than we did last year, but we had guests of honor [00:15:00] come out from around the country, so each story was told a different perspective, from a different person, et cetera.
We had a lot more community involvement. And for that reason it just, I mean, like I said, it was 15 more people. We only had, I think we had 48 people we started with and it felt so much bigger. you talk about quality and quantity. The, the
quality made it feel like more quantity uh, is probably the best way to put it.
Right.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Sure.
Rich Brown: The, the response has overwhelming to, to answer your question more directly. extremely positive response The, the guests of honor, you know, I was worried, you know, I dinner the night before because I wanted them to feel like they um, you know, were valued and that we appreciated that the, the fact that they traveled all this way to and the
response we got the day of and the day
after has just been incredible.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. And hearing the stories directly from the people who are impacted by this, I think. Not, not to knock [00:16:00] you in how you did it that, that first year, but you know, coming
from one, one person who it isn’t necessarily associated with those, those people. Um. You know, it, it’s, it gets the point across, but, you know, I think it’s a little bit more have tho those folks who are, um, who are able to speak to it from a personal experience and, and give their own, perspective on, you know, how did this affect us and, and our family and, and our situation. Um, you know, it just, it. It can be a lot more moving. I’ve done some, you know, longer, longer rucks in, in my military days. I haven’t really done much of that post-military, but I’ve done longer runs and, and things like that. More kind of like endurance type things. And, and um, I know every time I’m, I’m getting to that point where I’m just like, man, this is, I’m, I’m ready to just. Call it quits and call an Uber and take it back home. You know, like, like that type of thing. Um, I, the thought [00:17:00] that crosses my mind is, you know, what about all those people who here
Rich Brown: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: anymore? Who, who can’t do this? I, I can do this, and I’m sitting here bitching about it because my, my feet are a little sore.
Like, so what? Keep moving. Those people can’t do it. And I can, I, I damn well better do it. So,
um, so then you hear stories like this, the reason why I bring that up is you hear stories from, from folks and it’s like, that had to be pretty damn motivating to, to get people out and, you know, out of their own head and say, you know, what the hell with the, the pain and the, the uh, you know, uncomfortable feeling I might be having right now, I’m, I’m gonna keep pushing forward, you know?
Rich Brown: it’s exactly And there’s, you know, there’s catharsis in the pain. Right,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: if, if, you start the event with a, you know, a person in mind, someone that you’ve lost or, or so on um, there’s certainly a lot of catharsis in that pain. but yeah, you know, we tell people we want everyone who gives a shit to make an [00:18:00] effort and to try. There’s absolutely no shame. We have three vehicles that are traveling with us the entire, you know, throughout the entire route. Uh, you are more than welcome at any point to drop your pack or get in a vehicle. We’ll get you back to line, we’ll let you get back in wherever you want, et cetera, et cetera.
Um, but most of the people who, uh, who did this event with us members. They probably don’t have a background in rucking. of ’em don’t have a military uh, background at all. And we started with 48 and finished with 41. So we lost, I think a than 15%.
And we tell ’em like, look, there’s absolutely no shame whatsoever in, in
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: the vehicle.
And, and yet, because the stories are so powerful, because the theme is Don’t quit. Right? And, and all that that goes on with that. Typically the people who do end up having to get in a vehicle because they just can’t walk on their feet anymore, et cetera, et cetera uh, they’re, they’re living in their own kind of like. [00:19:00] feeling it, you know what I mean? uh, we try the best we can to kind of comfort him and, and, you know there’s always next year.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, sure.
Yeah. Yeah. And it, it’s, it’s not that they’re, they’re giving up necessarily. Like they, like they’re, they’re quitting because they just don’t feel like doing it anymore. It’s, it’s, I, I mean, at some point our, our bodies can only do so much,
and if you’re, you’re not used to rocking and you haven’t. Maybe ever done any kind of rucking.
Um, I remember the first time doing any sort of rucking. I was like, who are these psychos who throw this kind of stuff on their back and go and do this kind of
stuff?
Rich Brown: so I said that each leg is about three miles, right?
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Rich Brown: from three to five. It’s typically about three because it’s about every hour. ’cause we’re moving at a three mile an hour pace.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Rich Brown: Um, and all this is planned out to be, to in the very beginning. But, we start with a silent mile. so from our start location to the first nobody’s [00:20:00] talking, there’s no music playing.
And we ask you, you know, just think about why we’re here. Think about those you’ve lost, et cetera, et cetera. And then after that silent mile, that’s our chance to say, Hey, look, if it’s uncomfortable now. My sh my foot was slipping around in my shoe a little bit. My pack is rubbing on my, on my shoulder the wrong way, et cetera.
If it’s un discomfort, now turns into pain later. So take this opportunity to adjust your gear, figure out what it is. you get a blister, you know the size of a nickel on your foot or whatever, and you start changing your gate. Now you’re working muscles, you don’t normally work in that way, and you go another 5,
10, 15 miles walking in a way you’re not
used to walking and
it’s, it’s gonna hurt real bad by the end of the day,
Scott DeLuzio: That’s right, that’s right.
Rich Brown: so,
Scott DeLuzio: but, you know, ultimately the, the whole goal of this
is raising awareness for veteran suicides, and which, like you said, we have,
uh, you know, just an incredibly [00:21:00] high number of, of people uh, you know, uh, committing suicide. And it’s, it’s important that Not only just raise awareness of, of the issue because I, I think, you know, a lot of people we’ve, we’ve heard, you know, the 22 a day and, you know, whatever the number actually is, is, you know, it is what it is.
But um, you know, we we’re aware of that number. Um, think the awareness piece gets deeper when those stories because uh, when, when you’re, when you’re talking to. Somebody about a broad general term, like, like the 22 a day or, or something like that. Those are all nameless, faceless.
It’s just a number, a statistic. It’s, it’s not personal. But then when
you say, you know, Joe and you put a name to, to the person and, and you say whoever that that person is and, and who they were, they were, you know, maybe a [00:22:00] husband or a father or a, you know, whoever, um. Then it becomes a little bit more personal.
And especially when you’re hearing it directly from a person a a spouse or a a, you know, a parent or, or whoever. Um, you know, tho those people, now you, you put a name number and now that that name actually means something. And it’s, it’s not just a statistic anymore.
It’s now personal. When you start seeing how it affects these people um, the, these families, these loved ones, if that’s something that’s, of, of somebody’s mind tho those dark thoughts that they’re, they’re thinking about kind of going that route themselves. Um, you know, maybe that’s just enough to, to make them say, Hey, you know what, uh, I have some of those people in my life too care about me, uh, my, my loved ones, and I don’t wanna do that to them.
And, and maybe maybe that’s just the thing that they need to hear or just that, that thing. And [00:23:00] um, you know, when you’re, when you’re going through a ruck like that, you got, you got plenty of time to think and you can mull over these things and, um, you know, hopefully that’s, that’s leading them to that, decision to say, you know what, I’m gonna.
It be great right now, but I’m gonna, I’m gonna stick around. I’m gonna fight uh, just like I’m fighting through this ruck. I’m, I’m gonna keep fighting for, uh, for those people if nothing else, you know?
Rich Brown: Yeah. you know? and, and I’m not, uh, certainly not the one, the, the one to be shaming those we’ve lost in any way, to my brothers, when I talk to people who are in that space, and I tell ’em, you know, it hurts, right? You’re, you’re dealing with a certain amount of pain, self-worth, whatever. You are carrying that pain right? But if you are a veteran, a first responder, et cetera, you’re used to a certain amount of pain. And maybe the
pain is becoming unbearable, but the last thing you
want to do is pass that pain on to your mother, your children,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. ‘
Rich Brown: cause
that’s all you’re doing. [00:24:00] It doesn’t
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: It’s like energy. It just moves into something else.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Rich Brown: you
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: uh, it’s, it feels a bit selfish to me. And like I said, I’m not here to shame anybody we’ve lost, but. Uh, I think it’s, a selfish decision to to up that pain and, and just let others carry it for you. it, it hurts.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. And, and that’s exactly it. It, it,
somebody else is, is going to be the recipient of that pain and. I don’t know. I, I don’t, I don’t want anyone taking my burden on like that and, and having to now carry it on top of their own stuff. Like, like, let me, let me handle it and um, yeah, sure. Get the help where, when you need it.
Um, but. But necessarily just transfer it. all over to somebody that,
that, that, and and it’s, it’s more than just that because it’s whatever that pain was that you were, you were experiencing, that you were suffering through um, that pain goes then to every single one of those people. It’s not like.
Rich Brown: All right.
Scott DeLuzio: Like, you [00:25:00] know, goes to this person and 10% goes to that person or, or whatever. It’s a hundred percent plus some probably going on to every single one of those, those loved ones. So you’re piling that on top of all the things that they’re already going through in their lives. And I mean,
it’s a lot.
Rich Brown: The other, I think a hard part of
Scott DeLuzio: I.
Rich Brown: And so we have 14 core values on the wall in our gym, and we, we try to embody them. We try to live by ’em and we certainly use ’em to, to uh, affect the way we run our business. Um, but one of ’em is good friends have hard
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: and when you family the opportunity to have that conversation with you, you’re not doing anybody any favors.
Right. A, a recurring theme that I hear over and over again when we invite people is I had no idea. Right. A
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: times, you know, we know somebody’s dealing with something, but we don’t, we had no idea it was that bad
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Rich Brown: they won’t share it with us,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: And, and that’s, uh, it’s, again, it’s not [00:26:00] doing anybody any favors.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
and that’s, that’s absolutely true. There’s, there’s somebody I, I know who um, unfortunately, you know, took their, their own life and, uh, I talked to somebody, a, a friend of theirs who had seen them just a day or two earlier. And said, I had no idea. I had no idea something was going on, that it was, that whatever it was was was this bad or even that there was anything going on.
I just had no idea. And you know, you keep that kind of stuff hidden and you, you bury it down so much and. You don’t allow those other people to help you. Um, I mean, think about anybody that you. consider a friend or a loved one or, or something like that. If any one of those came to you and said, Hey, I’m really struggling with something right now, would the first thought that crossed your mind be like, oh my God, I gotta go deal with this?
Or would it be like, well, let’s figure it out. Like, um, obviously you’re gonna, you’re gonna wanna try to figure that out. And I think the opposite is true too. same for, for you. Um, And so that’s, that [00:27:00] I think is the the kind of message I wanna, I want to get across to folks is that can’t, uh, you can’t expect to be able to carry the weight of the world on, on your shoulders a hundred percent never allow anybody else to help, because like, if. Like, I feel like I’m not doing my job if I’m not able to help somebody, but if somebody doesn’t tell me that there’s something wrong, I I can’t do it. You know? I, I don’t know what, what even to do. I can’t start addressing a problem I don’t even know exists. So open up, tell somebody, talk to them, you know,
Rich Brown: Exactly.
Scott DeLuzio: so.
Rich Brown: in a way it’s almost like, uh, we use the phrase that, uh, excuses are lies. Lies that you tell yourself, Uh, when Don’t tell people. When you don’t share with your friends and family in ways that you are or whatever, it’s sort of like lying to ’em. And
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: you, when you lie to somebody, you deny
them the opportunity to, to make an informed choice, right?
Scott DeLuzio: [00:28:00] Yeah.
Rich Brown: you, when you don’t tell friends and family,
when you don’t seek help, you’re denying anyone the opportunity to really try to make an effort.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s right. Yeah.
And I, I have another uh,
another quote related to excuses. It’s excuses are like and so, I mean, you know, if you think about it though, like in, in all seriousness, like, um, you know, it is, it’s just an excuse and it’s, it’s. It isn’t good one.
You know, it’s, it is not a good reason to not get help. It’s not a, a good reason to keep this all bottled up inside. So,
you know, we, we, um, we, we try to protect those around us as much as we can. I know a lot of, a lot of folks, especially who either are currently or were in the military, that’s just part of our. DNA part of the culture that we, we came up in. And, um, you know, like our, our job is to protect people and, And that’s the way we, we see it. Um, but at some point [00:29:00] you gotta be able to Pass it over and, and some help with something. You know, you don’t, you, you were talking about how you, you love to lead, lead troops in, in combat you.
That that was, that required other troops to be able to do something like that. That wasn’t you just walking outside the wire going, kicking in doors yourself. Like, like, like a Rambo or something,
You know, like,
Rich Brown: I had a conversation with somebody about that on the ruck, right? So,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Rich Brown: Nat Martin, the one that I mentioned, came up from Atlanta. She’s a retired master sergeant, and she on her office wall. She was a re a career recruiter for like
10 years. And, uh, she wrote something on her office wall that said, you know, the mission is people first.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: somebody called her out said, that’s not our mission. she said, well, for me it is. Right. it reminded me of uh, you know, Marine Corps troop leading steps, and, and we talk about, you know. Uh, mission one is, is accomplish the mission. and, then number, your second welfare.[00:30:00]
But we talk about it like those, that’s a precedence,
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Rich Brown: have to, you
have to accomplish the mission and then worry about troop welfare. But the reality
is it’s a cycle. If you don’t
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: of your troops, you’re not gonna have troops to win the mission. You know what I’m saying?
Scott DeLuzio: Right. No ab
Absolutely. And
uh, similarly. If you don’t
take care of yourself, you’re not gonna be able to take care of those around You so, uh, you know, just going back to the veteran suicide uh, you know, topic that we’re, we’re discussing when you, you have other ones around and you want. Nothing but the best for them.
You want them to be, you know, happy and healthy, and taken care of, and protected and, and safe and all those things. Well, if you’re not taking care of you, you’re not gonna be able to take care of them, and you’re not gonna be able to provide those, those things for them. So, if. You kind of have to take a step back and um, to a lot of us, it seems like it’s selfish to takt time for yourself and, [00:31:00] and work on it’s not, it’s the opposite.
It’s actually when you go in and don’t take care of yourself and it gets so bad that you end up doing something like, like what we’ve, we’ve been talking about. Um, that’s, that’s when it becomes the selfish thing. Like, like what you, you were talking about. just a, a couple minutes ago. You know? So. But when, when you get these groups of people together um, the, to do these, these types of rucks, um, what are some conversations like amongst the, the people as you know, if you’re walking talked about that, that one conversation that you, you just had, but um, are, are they.
They talking about their own experiences that they’ve had veteran suicide? Or are they, are you forming new connections and new, new people kind of, uh, you know, just talking about sports or, you know, other activities that they’re, they’re into what, what are kind of, like the, you know, mild to mile, like what are people
talking about? Just
to get,
Rich Brown: I’m at a bit of a disadvantage because I lead the event and,
Scott DeLuzio: [00:32:00] uh,
Rich Brown: the front because I, I know where we’re going and when we need to be there, right? I’m
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Rich Brown: and all the things, and so one thing we did differently this year is I usually carry a flag. flag at the front of the, the ruck.
I made the choice this time that after the silent mile I was gonna pass it off to somebody and they had to pass it off after got to talk to somebody new, every leg, right? Because I had a new volunteer carry in the flag. Um, so I had, you know, seven or eight people that were walking right next to me throughout the r. The conversations you know, they range a lot of it’s just, Hey, you know, how’d you hear about us? What brought you out? So on and so forth. talking about their background and, and just getting to know the person. but the conversations certainly were, uh, they, they vary from person. to person.
Individual results may vary,
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Sure.
Rich Brown: some tendency to dominate a conversation and they, have one thing they want to talk about. Right? But yeah, a lot of it, and, and one of the things I said at the end of the day was like, you
very likely met somebody cool today. Make sure that you exchange con exchange contact info and
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: with ’em, you know, develop this relationship because [00:33:00] it, it is an opportunity to meet.
New cool people who have same type of values you do, et cetera. Uh, a lot of it is fun banter and cracking jokes and having a good time. Uh, use that three mile checkpoint every time to kind of remind everybody of why we’re there down like assholes,
right? But, uh, um, but no, most of the time it’s just getting to know people, having
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: you know, making jokes, comparing
Scott DeLuzio: Cool. Cool. And.
Rich Brown: bit of business networking, I think.
Scott DeLuzio: And.
that, that’s always good too. Yeah. I mean, and, and that’s, that’s a cool thing. You never know when, when an opportunity that, you know, with someone that you met, like, like at MIC, that’s, that’s part of the reason why I even go to conferences like that is because you never know who you’re gonna meet.
And, and the folks that you do meet um, you know, it may not be an immediate connection where. You jump right into a new role or, you know, find a, customer or some other, you know, business type relationship right away, but you form those relationships and then, you know, somewhere down the line maybe that that works into something uh, you know, you [00:34:00] know, big.
So, um, you know, it’s, it’s worked that way for me several times in the past and that’s, that’s going to, to these types of things. um, now you mentioned the uh, the GUIDON22, uh, event was the, the weekend Um. Events throughout the, year that that you guys have coming up or planned or anything that you wanna
Rich Brown: GUIDON22, and especially because we’re in Virginia right outside of Quantico, and so we, we do get snow and ice and we’re not trying to injure people. We’ve, we’ve been doing this for a year and a half, haven’t had a serious injury yet. I say serious because we, so one of the things we do, we do two big charity events every year.
One is got on 22, the other one is a, we call a food bank ruck. That’s gonna be April 11th this year. Uh, but the idea is it’s a food drive. Like any other food drive you gather food you want to donate to the food difference is we organize people or we, we let people organize their own teams up to about 10 people.
And any food that you want to donate, you have to put it in a pack and carry it three [00:35:00] miles over our designated course. But the team who donates the most pounds of food in 12 hours wins a thousand dollars in a trophy and bragging rights and all the things, right? it’s a, it’s an athletic event. You are wrecking, you can go at your own pace.
For this one, it’s the only event we do that you can go at your own pace and a lot of these guys are trotting it out and so. The last two years that we’ve done the food bankrupt, there’s always somebody that I hear back who, and they were probably wearing Chuck Taylor’s like an idiot, but they say, I lost both of my big toenails.
I keep hearing that one over and over again. Uh, so that’s the most serious injury we’ve had is guys lose their toenails ’cause they wear the wrong shoes and they run, they damn near run with, know, a backpack full of food.
Scott DeLuzio: Wow. Yeah.
Rich Brown: So, yeah, this, we we’re gonna start next year or this year with, a rux with pups. So, instead of carrying weight plates or random weight in a gonna donate dog foods. We’re gonna pack our packs full of dog food, and then we’re going to work with the SPCA and the local sheriff’s office uh, and their pound and so on. We’re gonna walk dogs that need to [00:36:00] be walked. And then donate food at the end of the day.
So we’re gonna in March, and then we’re gonna go right into our food bank rec in April. we do a, a Rush Pro, a ruck progression series for the rest of the year. Uh, we might come up with another couple of events between now and next guy on 22, but, uh, we start with about miles and We add about three miles every month.
So the fall, I think our, you know, before got on 22, we did an 18 mile ruck. Before that we did a
15 mile ruck. And so we’re allowing people to kind of. See if this is for them, so to speak.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Sure.
Rich Brown: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
And, and it’s, it’s good too because uh,
people who maybe never have, have wrecked before
Rich Brown: Mm-hmm.
Scott DeLuzio: they’re starting off. earlier in the year and they, they do the, the six mile and then the nine mile and 12, et cetera, all the way up to uh, you know, a, a, a bigger pace. They, they may be able to adjust to it and they, they may to to
Rich Brown: And
Scott DeLuzio: realize I can actually do it, you know?
Rich Brown: Yeah,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: that’s the idea. It is interesting to see that, you know, we’ll, we’ll [00:37:00] have people at the beginning of the year start out with 3, 6, 9 miles who we don’t see after 12 or 15 miles.
But then we’ll have people that we didn’t see before, 15 miles who couldn’t be bothered with a 12 mile route.
’cause it’s just not long enough,
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Rich Brown: know? So it’s interesting to see that kind of cycle throughout the year. Um, it’s, it also kind of pains me that we’ve got all these apps, like all trails and, and apps, that track your route and, and speed and all that. have yet to find one that’s mainstream, that
tracks, that allows you to calculate your calories burned with weight in a backpack
Scott DeLuzio: Hmm.
Rich Brown: people don’t realize.
rucking is, is very niche right now. It hasn’t really taken off, but it’s better for you than running. You’re not, it’s, you’re much less prone to injury when you’re walking with weight in a backpack. You’re gonna get in zone two cardio faster. Uh, you’re burning more fat because you’re in zone two cardio.
So all, all around, it’s a better athletic experience and you can hold conversations with people, have a good time, go see some stuff, and you’re not mad at [00:38:00] yourself at the end of the day. But like I said, it’s, you’re less injury prone than running. And then I talk to these people and I’m like, Hey, we’re gonna do a 22 mile R.
And they’re like, that sounds terrible, but I’m, I got a marathon coming up in three months. I’m like, that’s dumb.
Well, why are you running marathons? It’s basically the same distance, you know?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
I mean, it’s only a few
miles more, but
Rich Brown: intimidated by, by a
couple pounds in a backpack. Right? And
Scott DeLuzio: right, right.
Rich Brown: three miles an hour.
It’s a good pace and it’s
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: you long term.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Rich Brown: Uh, but I, I can’t wait to see a good app that comes out that calculates the calories burned because you burn so much more just walking with weight in the backpack.
Scott DeLuzio: If there’s anyone out there listening to this who either knows of an app that, that maybe we don’t know about right now, or you’re an app developer and you want to go figure that out uh, go ahead. I, I’m sure you gotta market right here
Rich Brown: Well, it
Scott DeLuzio: with
Rich Brown: it would take nothing, you know, uh, trails Garmin, there are, there are plenty of apps that could just put it into their software. It’s, it
Scott DeLuzio: right.
Rich Brown: next month.
Scott DeLuzio: And, and
Rich Brown: But
Scott DeLuzio: it’s just a [00:39:00] calculation, right?
Like,
Rich Brown: it’s,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
So yeah, it, it, it should be
easy enough to do um, you know, who knows Someone, someone might be able to throw that out there, but,
Rich Brown: Google Fit. At the end of the day, you guys to tell me how, calories I’ve burned, you’re, you’re not counting the 25 pounds that was in that backpack. You know what I
Scott DeLuzio: right. Exactly. So,
um,
so yeah. Um, I.
For folks who are interested in learning more about 22 and all the, all the things that you guys are, are doing, where can they go to find out more information?
Rich Brown: Yeah, honorbound fit.com uh, you know, Facebook, Instagram, all the socials. It’s honorbound fit. No spaces, no periods, no nothing. It’s Fit, not Fitness Fit is an acronym. Faith Integrity, tenacity. It’s a big part of what we do.
Um, and, uh, the GUIDON Foundation will soon be GUIDON.org, I think.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Rich Brown: always be on fit.com.
Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. So I will, I will have links to all that in the show notes for the listeners who are interested in getting involved in any of the upcoming events uh, [00:40:00] you know, in whatever capacity, uh, that, that they wanna participate. Um, but. Rich, it’s been great, uh, chatting you again. Uh, you know, like I said, it was great meeting you in, uh, in Atlanta when we were, were there and, uh, You know, great chatting with you again today.
Um, but yeah, thanks for everything that you guys are doing. raising awareness for veteran suicides, making it personal, the, the work, uh, to, to folks and, uh, and, and raise all this awareness It’s, it’s really a, a, a great thing guys are doing. So thanks so much.
Rich Brown: No, thank you you do, Scott, and helping us spread the word, and I appreciate the opportunity, man.
Scott DeLuzio: You bet.