Speaker 1: It's your number one preset for instant access to the
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Speaker 2: Always on fifty five KRC the talk station.
Speaker 1: A six Here at fifty five kr cet Talk Station,
Speaker 1: A very happy Friday to you. We're learning about the
Speaker 1: kidney Walk. In the bottom of the hour, Brett met
Speaker 1: Metas is going to join us. So he's a actual
Speaker 1: living kidney donor and Kidney Walk committee member. Cherry Pollman
Speaker 1: from the Board of Election on the need for poll workers,
Speaker 1: a conversation we have every election cycle, and a welcome
Speaker 1: back to the fifty five KRC Morning Show. My next guest,
Speaker 1: excuse me, author of the be The Weight Behind the Spear.
Speaker 1: He is an Air Force colonel combat physician, Josh McConkie,
Speaker 1: author of the award winning best selling book we're talking
Speaker 1: about this morning's Mulitary service includes providing critical medical support
Speaker 1: in both wartime and peace time operations, more than three
Speaker 1: hundred and forty hours as a flight surge in ninety
Speaker 1: combat hours and rotor wing medical evacuation and a assault
Speaker 1: missions in the Middle East. He's an Air Medal and
Speaker 1: Army Commendation Medal recipient for exemplary service during the Operation
Speaker 1: racking freedom. Josh, it is great to have you back
Speaker 1: on the fifty five KC Morning Show.
Speaker 2: Thank you sir, Happy Friday.
Speaker 1: Right back at you, brother, And for whatever reason you
Speaker 1: popped up in my head, because this book is about
Speaker 1: equipping future leaders with essential skills and the importance of
Speaker 1: us sharing our all of our learned, the experience and
Speaker 1: our collective knowledge with the younger people, the next generation,
Speaker 1: to make them productive and essential, critical members of our nation.
Speaker 1: And as you emphasize this, which is critical for national security.
Speaker 1: We had a brilliant man on every week on this
Speaker 1: program named Jack add And who's a former anchor, and
Speaker 1: he's an author, and he was a lawyer and he's
Speaker 1: a historian. But he talked about H. G. Wells, who
Speaker 1: was a big fan of socialism. We all know that
Speaker 1: the failures of socialism and I think one of the
Speaker 1: reasons it fails is because it does not encourage work.
Speaker 1: There is no reward for what you do when you participate.
Speaker 1: But also it made me think about and comment on
Speaker 1: we are the ones responsible for our elect officials. In
Speaker 1: elected officials don't always have the most altruistic motives and
Speaker 1: in their minds they think more about themselves tend to
Speaker 1: be malignant narcissists and end up not helping society at large,
Speaker 1: but only using the job as a springboard for their
Speaker 1: own personal benefit.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I agree with that completely. I ran a congressional
Speaker 2: race last year. I was outspent by twelve million dollars
Speaker 2: pees and just kind of learned that money less in
Speaker 2: the hard way.
Speaker 1: Well, and you know, of course, as you have showing
Speaker 1: this book, if you're the type of person we need
Speaker 1: in that leadership capacity, you're not driven by self motivation.
Speaker 1: You're driven by this this shared experience. Is this idea
Speaker 1: of using what you learned as a combat surgeon and
Speaker 1: in your business life to help others out and equip
Speaker 1: these future leaders with these essential skills. What are we
Speaker 1: missing in society here? What's your biggest concern for the
Speaker 1: future of America?
Speaker 2: Josh Boy Yeah. I go to work every day as
Speaker 2: an emergency doctor, and I see the anxiety, the depression,
Speaker 2: the suicide, and this younger population. We have so much
Speaker 2: work to do. And then as a military commander, I
Speaker 2: deal with them at eighteen to twenty five years old.
Speaker 2: They're joining the military, they have good intentions, and they
Speaker 2: just they lack the resiliency skills. They lack the ability
Speaker 2: to adapt the communication skills. This is just a generation
Speaker 2: that we shut them out of so during critical time
Speaker 2: and their development, we shut them out of school, we
Speaker 2: shut them out of church. And they already had communication
Speaker 2: issues to begin with, you know, because this is the
Speaker 2: whole social media generation. They've never known a world without that.
Speaker 2: And so now more than ever, it is important to
Speaker 2: get out there and contribute in your community, like face
Speaker 2: to face, get out there and coach, get out there
Speaker 2: and volunteer, get involved in your church. You know, work
Speaker 2: with some animals. You know, those are go to emotional
Speaker 2: support animals that these animal shells. So there's so many
Speaker 2: ways that you contribute. The government is not going to
Speaker 2: save us. It has to be you get out there.
Speaker 2: Do you see?
Speaker 1: And I have to assume you're going to agree with
Speaker 1: me on this one. But I've observed over the years,
Speaker 1: and I've talked to so many people in various capacities,
Speaker 1: from doctors to politicians, to authors and psychiatrists, psychologists, law
Speaker 1: enforcement officers. The breakdown of the family unit. This whole
Speaker 1: idea that children are being born and without you know,
Speaker 1: a solid foundation's family structure. You know, young people especially,
Speaker 1: I think boys being brought up in households without a
Speaker 1: father in them. Did you see any of that or
Speaker 1: do you see any of that with the recruits in
Speaker 1: the American military or do most of them come from stable,
Speaker 1: traditional families.
Speaker 2: You know, they're certainly coming from all walks of life.
Speaker 2: I think it's a very safe assumption that the large
Speaker 2: portion of some mental health issues and then you look
Speaker 2: at you know, crime, and they do tend to come
Speaker 2: from households without that type of support. You know, just
Speaker 2: sitting down at the dinner table with your family means everything.
Speaker 2: Everyone is so busy, regardless of how many parents are
Speaker 2: in the household, finding that time. You can get that support,
Speaker 2: but you have to make time. Just sit down at
Speaker 2: the dinner table, talk about today, what went well, what
Speaker 2: didn't go well? You know, hopefully they're making some mistakes
Speaker 2: they can learn from and then we can talk about
Speaker 2: what different choices could have been made to have a
Speaker 2: different outcome for those for those decisions. But the further
Speaker 2: we get away from that, I think you'll find a
Speaker 2: large portion of that. Think of the crime and boy,
Speaker 2: you see a lot of these school shooters, how many
Speaker 2: of these shooters actually have a stable household with the
Speaker 2: two parents, right. I think if you do some background,
Speaker 2: you're gonna find most of them do not.
Speaker 1: Most of them do not, And you see that with
Speaker 1: the crime in the streets at night. You know, I
Speaker 1: don't know what kind of structure you grew up with,
Speaker 1: a doctor, Colonel Maconkey, but you know I had to
Speaker 1: be at home by a curfew. My parents implemented a curfew,
Speaker 1: and damn it, if you weren't home or did not
Speaker 1: call them for an extension, you're in a world of
Speaker 1: hot water hurt we have. You know, young people running around,
Speaker 1: running amuck in the city of Cincinnati can maybe acts
Speaker 1: of vandalism and crime and congregating in the streets and
Speaker 1: scaring the living hell out of the folks that just
Speaker 1: want to go down and have a nice evening out.
Speaker 1: You know, I always hear about that, and I think
Speaker 1: what is going on at home that they can even
Speaker 1: get away with that?
Speaker 2: You know, I used to my dad was very strict.
Speaker 2: I came from a family of five kids, and boy,
Speaker 2: I thought I had it bad grown up right. And
Speaker 2: the older I get, the more I relate to that,
Speaker 2: Like mynd goodness. I was so fortunate to have that discipline,
Speaker 2: and I wouldn't be anywhere right now without that. So
Speaker 2: I was very blessed.
Speaker 1: Well, considering you're still involved in the American military, commander
Speaker 1: of the what four fifty ninth Aeromedical Staging Squadron, have
Speaker 1: you seen the uptick in recruits? And you know, as
Speaker 1: a corollary to that, if there's some parents out there with,
Speaker 1: you know, young people that are getting to be of
Speaker 1: military service age, put in a plug and tell tell
Speaker 1: my listeners why you would recommend that as a good
Speaker 1: choice for their young people.
Speaker 2: Boy, So, ten years ago we had right around a
Speaker 2: third of Americans aged eighteen to twenty four we're eligible
Speaker 2: just medically and physically to serve in the military. It
Speaker 2: is now down to like less than twenty three percent,
Speaker 2: oh jeez, and less than yeah, and less than zero
Speaker 2: point four percent of the population the overall American population serves.
Speaker 2: So your country needs you. You can be part of
Speaker 2: a team, something bigger than yourself. We started to see
Speaker 2: a huge increase in recruiting in December of last year,
Speaker 2: just with the policy changes. Thank goodness, seventy six million
Speaker 2: Americans got together and decided to move things in a
Speaker 2: different direction, which I was very happy with. You can
Speaker 2: take pride in your service. We're heading in the right direction,
Speaker 2: we have the right support, and then you can be
Speaker 2: part of something bigger than yourself. So America needs.
Speaker 1: You, and that seems to me to be the answer
Speaker 1: to this lack of socialization. That children are stuck in
Speaker 1: front of their devices all day long. They have no
Speaker 1: apparent desire to interact with their fellow human beings. Isolationism.
Speaker 1: You know, kids aren't getting married and have no desire
Speaker 1: to have married or children anymore. But being part of
Speaker 1: that group, being a critical element of a team, and
Speaker 1: having others rely upon you as much as you're relying
Speaker 1: upon them, that has got to be so I mean,
Speaker 1: just life changing for the good.
Speaker 2: That lack of connection has everything to do with the
Speaker 2: mental health crisis that we're having now. People need that.
Speaker 2: We have to get back to that. And I know
Speaker 2: I take a lot of pride in my service. It's
Speaker 2: been twenty four years now, and it's the thing that
Speaker 2: I'm most proud of professionally. You know, my family, my
Speaker 2: three children and my wife. That's but I'm most proud
Speaker 2: of personally, and then professionally, it's my military service.
Speaker 1: Well, since you're the author of the book we're talking about, Well,
Speaker 1: we haven't really talked directly about the book. Be the
Speaker 1: weight behind the sphere. Explain sort of a thumbnail sketch
Speaker 1: of what the book is about and the audience you
Speaker 1: directed the book toward.
Speaker 2: So be the weight behind the sphere. That's my personal
Speaker 2: leadership ethos. I've been very blessed in my military career.
Speaker 2: I've worked with some special operations, combat search and rescue,
Speaker 2: with medical director for PJS. So that's the tip of
Speaker 2: the spear. These are the men kicking down doors, taking
Speaker 2: down Ben Lauden, rescuing the children in those Taie cave
Speaker 2: systems in twenty eighteen. I'm a doctor. I don't take lives,
Speaker 2: I save lives. I can't be the tip of the spear,
Speaker 2: but I can be the weight behind that sphere. And
Speaker 2: that's what our best resource is in this country. It's people.
Speaker 2: It's teachers, it's coaches, it's volunteers and families. Every special operator,
Speaker 2: those heroes have those in their lives. That's the way
Speaker 2: behind their spear. That's where America, that's what sets us apart,
Speaker 2: is a country. So I need people to engage their communities,
Speaker 2: volunteer coach, be a mentor. That is what's going to
Speaker 2: help this generation make us stronger as a nation, and
Speaker 2: that is our national security.
Speaker 1: And so your book is really like a motivational book
Speaker 1: to get people who are maybe disconnected or not sharing
Speaker 1: their knowledge base with others to actually get out there
Speaker 1: and do.
Speaker 2: Something about it. Absolutely, this is my prescription to the problem,
Speaker 2: and I've been very blessed. It's done quite well and
Speaker 2: was nominated for Purwitzer Prize next month.
Speaker 1: Actually, oh, congratulations on that. Well, you just sold yourself
Speaker 1: a few more copies. Is based upon that nomination alone,
Speaker 1: notwithstanding the message that you bring here. Now, would you
Speaker 1: also recommend it for perhaps young adults as well?
Speaker 2: Dude, that was initially who I wrote it. Four. So
Speaker 2: the whole first session of the book is just the
Speaker 2: leadership accountabody taking ownership, you know, decision making, those basics
Speaker 2: that I see lacking in our current younger military and
Speaker 2: children that are coming to my emergency departments. They're clearly
Speaker 2: lacking those skills, and I'm hoping this is a great
Speaker 2: way for them to learn. I've got some great stories
Speaker 2: in there from the er and some combat experiences, and
Speaker 2: I hope those help some other people. And it looks
Speaker 2: like it has so far.
Speaker 1: Well apparently so very well received, obviously with the Pulitzer
Speaker 1: Prize nomination. Doctor uh, doctor, colonel or colonel doctor. I
Speaker 1: think I joke with you last time you're on about
Speaker 1: that order of importance. My listeners will decide. Josh McConkie,
Speaker 1: author of Weight, be the weight behind the spear. Your
Speaker 1: book is hooked up to my blog and webpage at
Speaker 1: fifty five caresee dot com. My producer edited so it's
Speaker 1: easy for our listeners to get a copy. What's all
Speaker 1: I mcourage them to do, and it's now in paperback
Speaker 1: form as well. I can't thank you enough for what
Speaker 1: you are doing with by but what you've done with
Speaker 1: writing the book, your service to our country, and your
Speaker 1: continued service through your motivational efforts. And let's hope some
Speaker 1: people will buy the book and maybe share it with
Speaker 1: their friends once they get motivated to do to help
Speaker 1: out as well.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be
Speaker 2: on the show.
Speaker 1: It's been a real pleasure. I'll keep my fingers crossed
Speaker 1: on the awards or well deserved, Doctor McConkie. It's been
Speaker 1: a pleasure. It's eight eighteen here fifty five k c
Speaker 1: DE talk station. It's also a pleasure to recommend to you.
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