We welcome Major Cyla Srna of the Texas State Guard, who will tell us about her Marine Corps service as an Aviation Structural Mechanic and her decision to join Texas’s State Defense Force, where she’s served for the past 12 years. Cyla is also an advocate for women veterans. In 2020, she agreed to enter the Ms. Veteran America competition in order to call attention to the problem of women veterans’ homelessness.

Cyla has a deep understanding of the problem, as she’s experienced it herself. We’ll talk about that and about her unique posts in the Texas State Guard, including Emergency Operations during Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19.

Cyla will educate us about the Texas State Guard, one of twenty examples of a little-known part of America’s military system: the State Defense Forces (SDFs). Authorized under Title 32 of the U.S. Code and grounded in states’ constitutional authority to maintain militias, SDFs exist alongside the National Guard but cannot be federalized. Their mission is strictly state-focused—responding to natural disasters, public health emergencies, border and infrastructure security, logistics, communications, and community support when governors call.

These units are volunteer, uniformed, and trained, often composed of prior-service veterans as well as civilians who want to serve close to home.

Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for an open and wide-ranging virtual conversation about the military experience, past and present. We believe every veteran has a story to tell and wisdom to share.

This event is a chance to listen, learn, and connect with others who understand the unique bonds and challenges of military service. If you have something on your mind—whether a personal memory, a question, or a topic you think deserves attention—we encourage you to bring it to the conversation. Veterans are also invited to email Shaun Hall at shaun@veteransbreakfastclub.org with any specific topics or issues they’d like to discuss.

The Veterans Breakfast Club’s mission is to create communities of listening around veterans and their stories, and our Open Conversations are one of the most dynamic ways we do that. These sessions are often wide-ranging, emotional, funny, and thought-provoking, providing a welcoming space where everyone’s voice is valued.

This event is free and open to all. To join the conversation live on Zoom, please use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6402618738.

Or tune in on Facebook or YouTube at 7:00pm ET. Whether you have something to share or simply want to listen and learn, we welcome you to be part of the conversation!

We welcome Army intelligence veteran Bethany Redmond to share her story. She didn’t grow up aiming for the military. She was a language and humanities student from Los Alamos, New Mexico — not the stereotypical path into national security — until an Army recruiter’s call at the end of high school nudged her into service. From there she found herself in Army intelligence, where listening, pattern recognition, and human judgment mattered more than guns or glory.

After her military service, Bethany continued on a path that few Americans ever see up close: counterintelligence. She worked protecting critical research and personnel at Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation’s premier science and national security institutions. Today she is a leader in protective intelligence, helping organizations understand how ordinary activities — travel, publication histories, personnel movements — can create vulnerabilities exploited by foreign actors and insider threats.

In this Veterans Breakfast Club conversation we’ll explore the real work behind national security “behind the scenes,” what counterintelligence looks like in the 21st century, and how the habits veterans learn in uniform translate to protecting the nation in new arenas.