Speaker 1: Heyo five here at fifty five ker CD talk station.
Speaker 1: By the time, it's wishing everyone at very very happy Friday,
Speaker 1: and please as I can be, and I'm sure my
Speaker 1: listening audience is happy that I have him on right now.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Joe Jacker for lining up Doctor Colonel Josh McConkie.
Speaker 1: He is an award winning best selling author, an estemed
Speaker 1: emergency physician with more than two decades of clinical experience,
Speaker 1: also as a professor at Duke University and maintains Board
Speaker 1: certification in Emergency Medicine. The twenty fwo years of military service,
Speaker 1: Doctor McConkie now commands the four hundred and fifty ninth
Speaker 1: Aero Medical Staging Squadron in the US Air Force Reserves.
Speaker 1: He also has a military service which includes providing critical
Speaker 1: medical support in both wartime and peace time operations, more
Speaker 1: than three hundred and forty hours as a flight surgeon
Speaker 1: and ninety combat hours in rotor wing medical evaluation and
Speaker 1: air assault missions in the Middle East. He's an Air
Speaker 1: Medal and Army Commendation Medal recipient for exemplary service during
Speaker 1: Operation Iraqi Freedom. I mentioned he's a best selling author,
Speaker 1: worked here to have doctor Conki doctor Colonel McConkie talk
Speaker 1: about his best selling book, Be the Weight behind the Spear.
Speaker 1: Doctor Colonel McConkie, it's a pleasure to have you on
Speaker 1: the fifty five Carosee Morning Show and thank you for
Speaker 1: your service to our country.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be with
Speaker 2: you this morning.
Speaker 1: Now, you actually perform surgeries in helicopters.
Speaker 2: So you can, Yes, a lot of it is just trauma,
Speaker 2: trauma and life support. But yes, it's a it's not ideal.
Speaker 1: But if you have to yes, oh my word, and
Speaker 1: so you were in the thick of it, if you
Speaker 1: were flying wounded individuals and in combat, that's a that's
Speaker 1: I would obviously say, that's a very dangerous proposition.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was before my before marriage and children, So
Speaker 2: I would probably, uh, it would have to be a
Speaker 2: World War three level scenario for me to put myself
Speaker 2: in a situation like that for an hour.
Speaker 1: You can get a young person to do anything. Doctor anyway,
Speaker 1: Be the Weight behind the Sphere I obviously from the notes,
Speaker 1: and I think anybody can observe we are not exactly
Speaker 1: a very unified country or quitely divided country. And I
Speaker 1: absolutely think I've noted on the air and observed many
Speaker 1: times over. I think that there are some you know,
Speaker 1: evil forces out in the world that intentionally stir the
Speaker 1: pot of division in this country. Obviously, we being the
Speaker 1: most successful country that has ever been, Thank God for that.
Speaker 1: We're the source of envy and greed, and of course
Speaker 1: we've got enemies in the world, and it does them
Speaker 1: a lot of benefit to divide America. I used to
Speaker 1: look at the American flag and view it as a
Speaker 1: symbol of unification. It stood for freedom under which anybody
Speaker 1: can stand and enjoy their own life pursuits. But at
Speaker 1: every turn we seem to be yelling at each other
Speaker 1: about every minuscule problem in the world. I guess is
Speaker 1: that concept as at least I observe it one of
Speaker 1: the reasons you wrote this book.
Speaker 2: That has a major part to play. You know, it's
Speaker 2: the most divided politically and generationally in this country that
Speaker 2: I've seen in my lifetime. You know, I'm forty seven
Speaker 2: years old, and you know, I'm hoping that we can
Speaker 2: find something in common to focus on. And if people
Speaker 2: would just focus on developing our future leaders and engaging
Speaker 2: their communities, America would be a much better place and
Speaker 2: try to bring us back together.
Speaker 1: Well, and you would think, because future leaders are going
Speaker 1: to be running the show, we want the best and brightest,
Speaker 1: that we would all work collectively for the benefit of everyone,
Speaker 1: regardless of stripes standing beneath that flag, to advance these
Speaker 1: people and help them out along the way. But in
Speaker 1: this society, part of the reasons we have so much divisions,
Speaker 1: these so called current leaders actually foster and encourage the
Speaker 1: division that we're talking about.
Speaker 2: It really is detrimental to our future. The best resource
Speaker 2: that we have in this country is our people. It's coaches,
Speaker 2: it's teachers, it's volunteers and mentors. That needs to be
Speaker 2: the focus instead of the political division. And you know,
Speaker 2: right now you feel like you have half the country
Speaker 2: that's just missing the plot completely.
Speaker 1: Yes, you do, well, I wrote as I was, you know,
Speaker 1: think preparing for this interview, I wrote down the three
Speaker 1: profound you know, the type of folks that were most
Speaker 1: profound in him having an impact on my life. My
Speaker 1: parents first and foremost, they gave me the gift of education,
Speaker 1: and they really encouraged and insisted that I get a
Speaker 1: good education. So and they helped me to get through
Speaker 1: college in law school and I went on to practice
Speaker 1: law for sixteen years. They able to build a family
Speaker 1: and take care of them thanks to the education. But
Speaker 1: also education included certain of my educators, my teachers in
Speaker 1: K through twelve and of course college. Some of them
Speaker 1: stood out and were truly inspirational. Thank you, Chuck Barkholtz,
Speaker 1: you're out there listening. He was a brilliant man and
Speaker 1: one of the most influential teachers of my life. And
Speaker 1: then my mentors, the people that I worked for, the
Speaker 1: partners at the law firm who taught and trained me
Speaker 1: and gave me all the tools of the trade I
Speaker 1: needed to be successful. That's the kind of people we're
Speaker 1: talking about. But moving aside from my personal experience, everyone
Speaker 1: I think is an expert at something and can pass
Speaker 1: that along to the next general of people. If we're
Speaker 1: all thinking about, you know, building these future leaders.
Speaker 2: Everybody has an unique skill, everybody has something different to give,
Speaker 2: and what they do every single day matters. They need
Speaker 2: to realize that and they need to get out in
Speaker 2: their community. It can be something different for everyone, right
Speaker 2: coaching little league or soccer, or volunteering in your church
Speaker 2: or your school. And some people that don't like working
Speaker 2: with people. That's fine, get out there in your community.
Speaker 2: There's plenty of organizations, animal shelters that become emotional support
Speaker 2: animals for somebody. There's this is a team sport America,
Speaker 2: and life is a team sport.
Speaker 1: So in writing this book, how do you how do
Speaker 1: you frame it in the sense that to get like
Speaker 1: people to to to answer your call to action along
Speaker 1: these lines, because again, with all the division immunity of people,
Speaker 1: I think people just like ada, hell with it, I
Speaker 1: just give it up.
Speaker 2: You know, unless you recognize the problem, you can't fix it.
Speaker 2: So our bad policy decisions over the past four or
Speaker 2: five years are now coming to roost. As an emergency physician,
Speaker 2: I see this generation. They're coming in with a huge
Speaker 2: mental health crisis. I see anxiety, depression, and very sadly suicides,
Speaker 2: and it rips your heart out every single time. These
Speaker 2: kids are so young. The mental health crisis is very real.
Speaker 2: And then as a military commander, I see the same generation.
Speaker 2: They lack the simple resiliency skills. They fold at the
Speaker 2: very smallest of obstacles. And I was so concerned that
Speaker 2: I sat down and I wrote this book. I need
Speaker 2: Americans to get engaged and this is the call to action.
Speaker 1: Well it sounds like you speak Pete Hegsath's language. Defense
Speaker 1: Secretary of Pete Tegsath. Because I worry as much. I
Speaker 1: do anything I can, by the way, sir, to help
Speaker 1: and support the American veterans, because I have so much
Speaker 1: respect for them. But I saw the recruit numbers declining dramatically,
Speaker 1: and now of course you have physical fitness problems in
Speaker 1: this country with hopefully RFK Junior may help to deal with,
Speaker 1: but we'll keep our fingers crossed. But also the American
Speaker 1: military becoming this woke entity. There was nothing but an
Speaker 1: extension of the k K through twelve and college education,
Speaker 1: identity politics, vehicle and in doctrination camp. What does that
Speaker 1: have to do with killing people and breaking things? Which
Speaker 1: is always my boiled down look on what the military
Speaker 1: should be.
Speaker 2: You know, it is a terrible and horrific job. I
Speaker 2: have been on the front lines. I have flown metavac,
Speaker 2: I did one aerosoult, scariest thing I've ever done. And
Speaker 2: that's our job. Nobody wants to do that job, but
Speaker 2: when you're called upon, you have to be able to
Speaker 2: execute that job and deliver that lethality with no questions asked.
Speaker 2: So if what your government, if what they're asking you
Speaker 2: to do, does not help you do that, then you're
Speaker 2: wasting our time. You're literally deteriorating our capabilities. And I
Speaker 2: am so thankful that we have this current leadership in
Speaker 2: office that getting us pointed back in the right direction,
Speaker 2: because the last four years have been very, very hard.
Speaker 2: As a military commander, it's been very difficult. I follow commands.
Speaker 2: We have civilian led you know, leadership for our military,
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm proud to follow, you know, our
Speaker 2: civilian elected leaders. I just disagreed with a lot of
Speaker 2: the policy decisions. And I'm very thankful that we have
Speaker 2: p tag staff at the Helm now.
Speaker 1: So you saw this firsthand because you're still in an
Speaker 1: active role, I guess, can can you explain to my
Speaker 1: listening audience did it really? Was it really pervasive? These
Speaker 1: DEI woke policies if I can call them woke policies
Speaker 1: and get away with it, I mean, was it that pervasive?
Speaker 2: It was very pervasive. It almost became a singular focus,
Speaker 2: and they were dividing people. They were dividing like my airman.
Speaker 2: So when you would sit down, you know, with the
Speaker 2: quotas and the DEI, and they were literally different awards
Speaker 2: that you would submit members for some of you know,
Speaker 2: at a wing or Air Force wide level, and meetings alone,
Speaker 2: they were separating. Here's the African American contingent, and here's
Speaker 2: the Asian contingent, and here's the LGBTQ. It defeated the
Speaker 2: entire purpose of building unity in the military. It was separating.
Speaker 2: And when you try to build your morale and you're
Speaker 2: spree to corps and then you look at people that
Speaker 2: were willing to join the military, those numbers were deteriorating.
Speaker 2: That's a direct reflection of those bad policies you saw
Speaker 2: immediately in December with one election in less than thirty days,
Speaker 2: those December recruiting numbers ramped up exponentially because the men
Speaker 2: and women that you asked to serve this country and
Speaker 2: lay their lives on the line, they just want to
Speaker 2: be able to do their job and execute. The DEI
Speaker 2: initiatives were degrading that capability.
Speaker 1: So you're answering your question, I was going to ask
Speaker 1: you there are still patriotic young Americans out there that
Speaker 1: still believe in the message of freedom and liberty that
Speaker 1: are Cory stands for that probably would have signed up
Speaker 1: for military service maybe in earlier times, but under this
Speaker 1: woke governance and this woke ideological concept that was going on,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't do that. But they're still out there.
Speaker 2: They are still there. I am proud to serve with
Speaker 2: many of them. I have one hundred men and women
Speaker 2: under my command, best war fighting medics in the United
Speaker 2: States Air Force, and I'm glad we are back on
Speaker 2: the right track because the world needs a strong American military.
Speaker 2: The American people demand one, and we are now heading
Speaker 2: back in that direction.
Speaker 1: One subset of this, and I know you're outspoken on
Speaker 1: this whole renaming of Fort Bragg Fort Liberty. Can you
Speaker 1: address that and tell me what an impact that had,
Speaker 1: just specifically.
Speaker 2: So that right there, it is always going to be
Speaker 2: Fort Bragg. It has always been Fort Bragg. Everyone in
Speaker 2: the world knows of that name. That there's in pop
Speaker 2: culture movie references, Rambo. Everybody knows what Brag stands for,
Speaker 2: and it's the men women that have served. It had
Speaker 2: nothing to do with a World War two general over
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty years ago. That has to do
Speaker 2: with the men and women and the mission that is
Speaker 2: going on at Fort Bragg, you know, the heart of
Speaker 2: airborne operations, of special operations, the JFK Special Warfare Center.
Speaker 2: I was not happy with that name changed to Fort Liberty.
Speaker 2: Nobody in Fayetteville. I live in North Carolina, and nobody
Speaker 2: called it Fort Liberty. It was always Fort Bragg. And
Speaker 2: we're very happy that it's back to being Fort Bragg officially,
Speaker 2: and in doing so, they've actually named it after a
Speaker 2: World War Two veteran from the greatest generation, Roland Brag,
Speaker 2: So it's a win on both fronts.
Speaker 1: The name of the book, The Weight behind the Spear,
Speaker 1: written by my guest today, impressive. He is doctor Colonel McConkey.
Speaker 1: Who did you write this book for? Is it literally
Speaker 1: for anyone, anybody in any capacity to pass along their
Speaker 1: own knowledge and experience from life or career to young people.
Speaker 1: I suppose the audience for this book is far and wide.
Speaker 2: It's far and wide anybody that deals with this younger generation, teachers, coaches, parents,
Speaker 2: business leaders, business leaders don't realize that this is still
Speaker 2: their problem. These kids are coming to you looking for jobs,
Speaker 2: and if they lack these skills, your business will not
Speaker 2: be successful. So really, everybody.
Speaker 1: It's been a real pleasure having on the morning show
Speaker 1: again on behalf of all of my listening audience, my family,
Speaker 1: me personally thank you for your service to our country
Speaker 1: and for writing this inspiring book be the weight behind
Speaker 1: the sphere what we've done for everyone's benefit. As my
Speaker 1: producer has put your book on my blog page at
Speaker 1: fifty five care sea dot com with the link to
Speaker 1: get a copy and it will strongly encourage them to
Speaker 1: do that and then share the book with a friend
Speaker 1: who you think might help out as well. Doctor, it
Speaker 1: has been a Colonel, I don't know what you prefer,
Speaker 1: but doctor, Colonel Josh McCaughey, it's been a real distinct
Speaker 1: pleasure having in the program. And thanks again for spending
Speaker 1: time with my listeners in me this morning