After serving 36 years in the US Army from 1966 to 2004, with a two-year break in between, SMA Tilley shares invaluable insights into how his military service shaped his life, allowed him to care for others, and inspired his ongoing mission of service through business and nonprofit organizations. He emphasizes the importance of bringing people together and discusses his deep passion for addressing one of our community's most pressing challenges—mental health. SMA Tilley shares a heartfelt story about the power of supporting one another and the impact of collective action the role hope plays in driving meaningful change. From stories that bring smiles to discussions on the traits of effective leaders, the value of teamwork, and the importance of planning and transition, it was an honor to hear from SMA Tilley. It is a rare opportunity to hear experiences of history through a personal perspective and we’re grateful for the time SMA Tilley shared with us. https://www.linkedin.com/in/12thsma-jack-tilley/ American Freedom Foundation - https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-freedom-foundation/posts/?feedView=all American Freedom Foundation - https://americanfreedomfoundation.org/ Your Next Mission Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-next-mission/posts/?feedView=all Your Next Mission Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/6j5iMzkVBDX4XjgTVQiXOu?si=3168463fdc764529 ------------------------------------------------------------- Podcast Transcript: 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;42;27 Unknown You're listening to the Oracle Maven podcast, where we bring people together from the veteran affiliated community to highlight employees, partners, organizations and those who are continuing the mission to serve. Welcome to the Maven podcast. I'm your host, Chris Spencer, and in this episode I'm joined by retired 12 Sergeant Major of the Army Jack Tilley. After serving 36 years in the US Army from 1966 to 2004, with a two year break in between Saar Major till, he shares invaluable insights into how his military service shaped his life, allowed him to care for others and inspired his ongoing mission of service through business and nonprofit organizations. 00;00;43;00 - 00;01;03;01 Unknown He emphasizes the importance of bringing people together, and discusses his deep passion for addressing one of our community's most pressing challenges mental health. Sergeant Major Tilley shares a heartfelt story about the power of supporting one another and the impact of collective action and the role hope plays in driving meaningful change. From stories that bring smiles to discussions on the traits of effective leaders. 00;01;03;07 - 00;01;21;06 Unknown The value of teamwork and the importance of planning and transition. It was an honor to hear from Sergeant Major Tilley. It is a rare opportunity to hear experiences of history through a personal perspective, and we're grateful for the time, Sergeant Major Tilley shared with us. We have all we need to become the person we want to be. Let's remember how to connect with others with sincerity and genuine intent. 00;01;21;07 - 00;01;35;14 Unknown As we continue the mission to serve. Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed this episode, and please remember to check in on your buddies and family Sergeant Major till these contact details are in the podcast description, and you can always find me on LinkedIn. 00;01;35;16 - 00;01;59;02 Unknown SA major. How are you? Hey! I'm so pumped up here today. I'm excited. Yeah. For all those out there listening, we we almost forgot to hit record. We were going on a good path. Just what we were talking about already. So both of us enthusiastic about being here in the presence of each other to talk about some of the some of the things that are important today and always have been and kind of being transformative and thinking about the future and what we can do to work together. 00;01;59;05 - 00;02;16;07 Unknown So, so our major, you, 30 plus years in the service and you just got done talking about why you join, if you wouldn't mind just going back and rehashing that? Sure. Absolutely. Well, you know, I spent 36 years in the service. People say. They say over 30 years. No, no, I want to make sure you're missing 36 years of service. 00;02;16;09 - 00;02;34;24 Unknown Yeah, I, yeah, I, I wasn't planning on joining the military. In fact, I was, I always tell people I was a terrible kid. I had no direction in life. And I remember when I. When I graduate, I. And I did pretty good. I graduated 117, but I was sitting on the Columbia River and we was all talking about, you know, different things. 00;02;34;24 - 00;02;56;16 Unknown And I was drinking the Olympia Beer Day and somebody said, hey, what are you going to do with your life? I said, well, I don't know. And the guy says, hey, you want to go to college? And I said, hey, guys like me don't go to college. Low self-esteem. Nothing's going right. No direction of life. And then the next guy that...