 Thank you for joining me on Think Tech Hawaii. I am Shayna Park, your host for Money Talks. My guest is Lance Baltisa and he is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. In honor of Memorial Day, we wanted to talk about the financial benefits of serving. Hey, Lance. Welcome to the show. Hey, good afternoon. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being on. So I know I gave a little quick introduction, but can you introduce yourself a little more and tell me a little more about your background? Yeah, sure. Again, my name is Lance Baltisa. I served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. I joined in back in 2000 and retired back in 2020, three years ago. Shortly after that, I worked at Amazon and then right now I'm currently a JRTC instructor and a veteran coach at Just For Veterans. Wow, that's incredible. So you served a while and why did you join the military? So to be honest, in high school, military was not my priority. It was college. However, after spending about a year in college, I felt like I needed to do something a lot more different rather than just hitting the books again. But that's when the opportunity came up with me and my cousin joining the Air Force. So 20 years later, here I am now retired. So I'm very excited that I've done 20 years, but it definitely was not the plan from the beginning. Okay, I see. And you mentioned Air Force, so what did you do in the Air Force? And tell me a little more about your experience in the 20 years of serving in the Air Force. Okay, yeah. For the Air Force, my startup was a jet engine mechanic. So 15 out of the 20 years, I was a jet engine mechanic. Four years, I was a recruiter. I worked on multiple jet engines, ranging from the fighter jets to the heavies, the tankers. Even stationed several bases overseas, I believe we had seven or eight assignments. So that's a lot of moves for us. And when I got into recruiting, that's what brought us to California. So I did that for four years. And I recruited all together about 120 recruits, ranging from high school all the way up to college. That's incredible. Wow. So I know you mentioned a little bit about recruiting, but how was that? How was that experience for you from transitioning to working with fighter jets or jets and moving into recruiting? Yeah, so for recruiting, that is something that I always wanted to do early on in my career. And once I got the opportunity, it's not as easy as what I thought it was. I mean, it's everyone wants to join, but sometimes people are not qualified. So that was part of the struggle for me was trying to get these qualified students or qualified recruits to join the Air Force. Because not only you have to pass the ASVAB, but you have to pass your physical as well. There is a height-to-weight requirement. There are certain criminal history that you shouldn't have, that you can't have, because if you do, obviously you can't join. But overall, it was definitely a great experience. I got to recruit just looking at these high school seniors. And that was like maybe six years ago and here they are now. They're probably either out of the Air Force now or continuing on. So definitely a great experience. I do get a lot of accolades from not only them, but in their families as well. So that's what makes recruiting a lot worth it. Oh, wow. So you have a lot of great connections with the 100 people that you did recruit. And do you still keep in touch with them? Like all to the same, maybe? Oh, yeah, through social media. I still followed them through social media. And some of them are doing great things and some of them are actually out. But they're continuing to do great things as well. So not only did you recruit them, but you also got to create a great relationship with these people as well. Correct, yes. That's awesome. And I know you talked about going overseas or living in different areas. So could you tell me where have you been stationed? Yeah, sure. So our first duty assignment was in Idaho. I have no idea where Idaho was from the beginning, you know, come growing up in Hawaii. But, you know, Idaho being that it was far off my or not even on my list, it was definitely my our greatest assignment. You know, from there, we went to Japan. And that was definitely a culture shock. But, you know, we enjoy Japan as well. From there, we moved on to Arizona. And then from Arizona, I went to Korea for one year. And after Korea, we moved to Hawaii. We were there for three years. And after Korea, I'm sorry, after Hawaii, we went to California. And that's where I became a recruiter. And then shortly after that, you know, that's when we ended my career over at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Okay, nice. So I know you said, you know, I did you say Korea for a year? What about Idaho when you first started off? Was it a big transition for you to be moving to one place and being stationed somewhere for a while? And how did that, you know, how did that take a toll on you? Or if it didn't take a toll on you? How was that whole experience? Yeah, I mean, there's definitely a culture shock because, you know, growing up in Hawaii, you know, you're used to seeing, you know, like, Aloha, right, a lot of people. And you go to Idaho, it's a lot different. Not to say it was bad, you know, bad, bad, you know, a bad environment. But, you know, it's definitely a culture shock. We enjoyed it as something different, something we didn't expect. But, you know, as mentioned earlier, it's definitely one of our greatest assignments, because we got to meet a lot of great people, great friends. And this is back in 2000, and you know, up until now, we're still best friends. Oh, wow. So how long were you there for? We were there for about three and a half years. Okay, so quite some time until you move over to what you said, right? Yes, Japan for three years. Yes. Cool. So, you know, being in the military for as long as you were, what are some of the active duty benefits? So, active duty benefits, there is a lot, you know, yeah, there's a lot to mention, but I do want to highlight a few, for example, medical, right? 100% medical, everything is paid, nothing is coming out of your pocket. Education, so we have tuition assistance while you're in. You have tuition assistance. You know, you get money to go to college, and I believe it is about 6,000 a year that you can use to go to college. I did take advantage of that while I was in, so it is definitely separate from the GI bill. There's 30 days of leave, and that can carry over to the next year, 30 days of leave per year, and that can carry over to the next year as well. We have unlimited sick leave, paid training, free travel. So if we were all those times that we've traveled to different bases, everything was, you know, nothing came out of our pocket. So everything was paid for, whether we stayed at a hotel because we were waiting for a house, you know, all of that was paid for as well. Okay, wow. So a lot of benefits when you're in active duty, and I've heard something about a SGLI. Could you go a little bit more into that? Yes, SGLI is basically the life insurance for the military. That is something that you put in, you pay into as you start. I believe it's, I mean, it's been a while now, so you're looking at maybe $10 or $12 a month, and basically it's a $400,000 SGLI, and anything that happens to you while in service, your family members or anyone who you put next to Kenno will get the SGLI. So definitely something you don't want to turn down as you join. So me as a recruiter, when there was that option for them to accept SGLI, you know, I've definitely had them to check the box because it's, it's, you know, one of your financial foundations you should have. Yes, definitely. And, you know, transitioning after being active duty and, you know, what are some of the veteran benefits that you have received or, you know, that you can educate us all about? So veteran benefits, you know, there's, again, that's one of those benefits that it ranges, right? So for example, the first one would be disability benefits. So whether you've got any type of injuries or you sustain any, you know, injuries while you're in the military, such as, you know, people get PTSD from going to wars, you know, combat or non-combat related, they can get compensated for that as well, back pain, shoulder pain, anything. As long as service connected, veterans can get disability benefits, which is a monetary compensation. Also, veteran benefits includes school, which is a post-9-11 GI bill. So, you know, they serve four years, six years, they can go to college. They have 30s, yeah, 36 months of education benefits. So they can use that wherever in the stateside or they can go overseas and go to school abroad and, you know, they can continue to use that GI bill. Wow, that's really cool because not only do you get to experience the world and be very hands-on in the military, but they do also, you know, hitting the books and getting some form of education and assisting you with the tuition costs. So that's very interesting to learn about. And, you know, what qualifies you to receive all these benefits? How long do you have to be in the military for in order to receive these benefits? Like, what are some of the guidelines that you could give us? So, for the disability benefits, as long as you got an honorable or other than honorable general condition, you're eligible to get those benefits as well. That includes you getting your post-9-11 GI bill. So you have to get out as honorable to receive those benefits. See, and then as for school, could you go a little bit more into that too? So how long would you have to serve in order to receive, you know, a certain amount of tuition? I believe it's 36 months. You need to serve the minimum 36 months so you can get the post-9-11 GI bill. But as mentioned earlier, while you're in tuition assistance, you know, you continue to get that paid off while you're in active duty. But, yeah, going back to the veteran, you have to have at least 36 months of military service in order for you to qualify for post-9-11 GI bill. He agreed. Thanks for clarifying that. And then what about some retiree benefits? So retiree benefits, you know, we have healthcare. So that is the difference between someone that retired 20 years and someone that got out, right? There is two options for them to get health benefits. One is through the VA. And, you know, whether you've served 20 years or whether you've served four years, you are entitled to go to the VA to get health, your health benefits. The only difference between a retiree and a veteran that served four years as a retiree, you have what's called trichare. So that is another formal medical benefit that you get as well that's specifically for. Okay. Cool. So it's really interesting how the, you know, military does offer all these benefits and great benefits as well. And I know you mentioned, going back to college, that you joined college while still serving. So tell me about your experience. How did that go? What college did you attend? What did you major in? Okay. Yeah. So I majored, so I majored in business administration. I got my bachelor's in business and administration. However, throughout the years, you know, I've got my associate's degree, actually two associate's degrees. One is tied to my actual job as a jet engine mechanic. So I have an AAS, Associate in Applied Science in aviation technology. And when I became a recruiter, there's another AAS in human resources as well. But, you know, during the 20 years, you know, we've traveled a lot and, you know, it's very fortunate that these bases have actual classes, you know, representatives from different schools. And, you know, I got my degree while I was in, through American Military University. That's where I got my bachelor's degree. Oh, that's awesome. And, you know, the fact that you are able to get two associate degrees, you're able to get your bachelor's degree as well while still serving. I mean, it seems like you have a lot in your hands, but you've missed a lot. Yeah, it is. I mean, you know, especially when you're overseas, right? It's great that they have University of Maryland overseas. You know, we were in Japan and, you know, we took some courses and, you know, it's a great benefit for, you know, all U.S. Airmen or U.S. Military, you know, no matter where they're stationed at, you know, if they're deployed, if they're even on a ship, they're still waiting for them to go to school. So, yeah, that's very interesting because I was just in Japan too. So, it's just like, here you explain that you get to take classes while traveling. Yeah. That's my ideal life. I would love to do that. And going back to travel now, since you have visited a lot of places, you know, what were some of your maybe top three that you got to experience? I'd say, you know, Japan was definitely one of our top, you know, it's definitely up there, top three. You know, not only we got to experience what was in the local area around base, you know, we got to experience outside of base such as, you know, Tokyo and Japan, you know, all those major cities in Japan. Korea, I enjoyed Korea as well. A lot of great things to see in Korea, especially the food, you know, I like to eat, you know, different types of food. So, you know, we're stationed overseas, yeah. And then, you know, we have numerous TDYs, which is temporary duty and one of them was Alaska. You know, I went to Alaska twice. And, you know, although it's way up there or the weather is, you know, kind of different, I did enjoy the scenery out there in Alaska. Yeah, I actually visited Alaska last year in August. Did not check the weather. I thought it was going to be sunny, so I packed all shorts. And lo and behold, it was raining the whole entire week. So, yeah, so the thing about Alaska is I went there twice, one during the wintertime and one during the summer. So during the summer, it's constantly, the sun is out 24-7. So that's something that you're going to have to get used through. So that's why we have those, I mean, you know, the people that are staying in the dorms, you know, it's already equipped with blackout chains or blackout lines. That's cool. That's very interesting of all the year top three places, you know, of course, Asia countries, but also having Alaska up there as well. And you wouldn't be able to experience all these places unless you did join the military, right? Or correct. Yes. Easy access as you did. Correct. Okay. So I wanted to focus this last part on what is just for veterans. And I really want you to deep dive and explain about anything and everything you can. Okay. Yeah. So just for veterans is a veteran coaching business. What we do is we coach veterans on getting their disability benefits. You know, early on, you know, I've realized that there are a lot of veterans that got out even back in 2000 or 1990s who have never filled out a disability, you know, for the, you know, to receive compensation. And when I talked to them, you know, they said I've suffered from PTSD. Even up until now, you know, I have flashbacks of me being at war. I have this back pain that's been aching since I've been in a service. And when I asked them, hey, have you, you know, talked to, you know, to anyone about this, they're like, no. So that's where, you know, that's where we stepped in, right? We help them with their claim. We help process their claim. Again, it doesn't matter if they got out 10, 20, 30 years ago, or even last week, we're here to support them because it is a life changing event when you get someone to win a disability claim. And now they're getting compensated for life. Yeah. And it does seem like the military does have a lot of benefits. So the fact that you are able to help these people and, you know, what is the percentage rate? How many people do you think that, you know, retire or are veterans that don't fill out their benefits? Do you see a lot of that often? Yeah, I mean, so far it's about, you know, I'd say about, you know, out of everyone that I've spoken to, maybe 20%, but still 20% is a high number. I mean, everyone should be, you know, everyone should be reaching out to, you know, any type of agency or, you know, agency should be reaching out to them as well that, hey, you know, because you served in here, you served this time of the years, you should be compensated, you know, because of your loss of hearing and back pain, shoulder pain, PTSD, whatnot. So although, you know, so far it's been roughly about 20%, 20% is still a significant number for people that have not filed a disability claim. Okay, interesting. And, you know, what drove your passion to wanting to help and get into just for veterans? Was there, you know, encounter you had or a situation or did you just decide to get into this? Well, so for me, you know, I mean, you know, the years prior to getting out, you know, I was always told, hey, you know, make sure everything is documented before you leave the Air Force. So that way, you know, if you've suffered any type of pain, if you've been through, you know, situations towards continuously haunting you or, you know, your headaches continue getting headaches since you're in the service, you definitely want to get that checked out. You know, but I had no clue, right? I mean, I just wanted to do my 20 years and get out. So unfortunately, I ran into a lot of veterans who taught me this, how to, you know, make sure we submit our claim and, you know, not at a mouth, even if it's after three years and now I'm with just for veterans, I strongly feel that we should be going out there and reaching out to veterans again, whether it's 10, 20, 30 years ago to help them get their claim. Because it is a life changing moment for them, especially in today's world where everything is very expensive. So having that monetary compensation, whether it's another extra thousand, 2000, or even as much as 4000 a month for the rest of your life would be life changing for them. Yeah, I totally agree with you. And, you know, I'm sure everyone who has ever encountered a meeting with you appreciates all the hard work you do to help these veterans and retirees get their benefits. And just to go back, if you could repeat yourself again, who can apply for this? Anyone and everyone? So yeah, well, as long as you're a veteran and as long as you got out as honorable or under general conditions, you're eligible for a VA compensation. So for those of you out there that are, you know, that have never got a disability compensation, you can definitely reach out to me on that. But those are the main requirements. I know we've had people that serve only two months and they still got out honorable and we were still able to help them because, you know, whether they suffered something traumatic while they were in training and it affects them up until now, you know, we still help them out as long as they got honorable condition. Great. And what does the process like? What does the process look like when, you know, they apply or, you know, reach out to you? Yeah. So basically what we do is we do a first, our first meeting would be a 30 minute consultation, you know, just introducing myself, introducing our CEO and introducing the whole company. And, you know, asking them questions as well, you know, how we're having traveled, you know, what have you experienced? Do you currently have a claim? You know, have you submitted a disability claim before? You know, it's all of that is a 30 minute conversation. And once they are ready, you know, we do send them a contract the next day. You know, I do let them know, hey, make sure you read the contract. This is what we can do to help you. And if it's something that you want to move forward with, you know, they just sign it and, you know, we'll continuously reach out to them. And, you know, it's a, I don't want to say it's a long process, but it is a process. But as a veteran coach, we're here to help them every step of the way, not only after they submit, but even after they've already got their claim, you know, we're still there for them, no matter what. It seems with everything that you're sharing right now, you guys are very hands-on to help really assist and help anyone and everyone who does apply for their benefits. Correct. Okay, so I know you brought some pictures and I want you to, you know, kind of share with us about what's going on, time of your life where you were at when you took these photos. And I know you have photos to share a little bit about your family too. So where was this taken? How old were you? Okay, so this picture right here, yeah, the one off to the left, that is my official photo before I retired. Actually, yeah, before I retired, every service member needs to have an official photo. You know, it's, I mean, it's for either, you know, applying for positions or hanging up on the wall, but you definitely want to have an official photo. The other one with myself and my wife Sherry, that is at our military ball. So it is a military ball every year. And I believe we've been to a few military balls, but this one was back in 2016. Wow, you guys look fantastic in those photos. Thank you. All right. And then are these some of the planes that you worked on? Oh, no, no, no, no. So this is a, yeah, that's an old plane. But, you know, that one, that was an air show back in Arizona. So as you can see, our whole family is there, myself, Sherry, our oldest daughter, Kaylin, Landon and Ryden. Yeah, this was back in 2009, I believe. So, but, you know, those are some of the things that, you know, I was taken to heart, you know, for my kids to be with me wherever we traveled. So, you know, look at pictures like this, you know, they've traveled and seen different places and very thankful for that. Yeah, that's incredible. Arizona. Now, what about this? Where were you located? So this one right here where I'm standing next to the jet engine. So that was my job primarily as a jet engine mechanic. That is over in Korea. And the other one up on the top, I believe that was on one of our TTY trips to Alaska. So a very fast-paced job, you know, it's not one of those that, hey, I'll do it later. It's a mission that we have to get through. So, you know, you fix the plane and you have them go out there and do their mission. So how long does it usually take for you to, you know, fix the plane or when they assign it to you, do you guys have a time frame that they give you or just get it done? Yes. No, there is a metric that we have to follow, right? There is like a eight-hour fix rate. If you're, I mean, you know, we do get dinged if we're not fixing the jet on time because, you know, there is a metric that we have to meet. It could range, you know, depending what the situation is, if it's just a fuel pump, an oil pump, you know, that can be relatively quick. But if it's like an engine change where you pull out the whole engine, you know, that could be like a one-day process. For the most part, you know, we have that experience to be, to work well under pressure. So if we have to move faster, we will. That's really cool. And then, yeah, tell me about this. So this right here is, so I am also an Air Force GROTC instructor and this was at the Veterans Day Parade last year of 2022. Here we are in front of the state capital, Sacramento. And it was our school, Hiram Johnson, along with 15 other high schools. So as you can see, we're all lined up. We, you know, we marched or, yeah, we did a parade, parade walk about two miles and then we ended up in the front of the state capital. And we took pictures and it was definitely a great time. So these are mixed students from, you know, ranging from freshmen to 12th grade. Wow. And what do you teach in the Air Force GROTC? So it is a military academy. So not only, you know, it's 40 percent aerospace, 40 percent, no, actually 40 percent aerospace, 40 percent drill and 20 percent is physical fitness. So in the academy, you know, there's a lot of, you know, we have a lesson plan from headquarters. You know, we teach everything from marching, from discipline, yeah, discipline. We also teach finance as well as part of our lesson. We can also supplement that with our experience and other video clips that we find on YouTube as well. So it's pretty amazing how we can, you know, teach these young high school students, you know, something as simple as how to open a check or how to write a check, right? So these are some of the things that we teach them in class as well. We teach them how the difference between a debit and credit card. So it's more of life skills other than just military drill, but, you know, it's very important that, you know, we teach all these skills to them. Yeah. And I love that because I know at least for me, you know, school, they teach us about, you know, math, the core subjects, but life skills as well. I mean, when I got out of high school, if my mom didn't teach me, I probably didn't know how to balance a checkbook or anything about it. So that's very interesting and really awesome that you teach that in the program. And where is this located in California? Yes, Sacramento, California. That is where the high school is at, Hiram Johnson High School. Okay, great. And how long have you been doing being an instructor for? This is my first year actually. So we're just wrapping up our school year and, you know, definitely a great experience. You know, I've taught in the military as well, you know, like, you know, short classes, you know, little mentorships, you know, here and there, but, you know, this one, it's a year long. So, you know, you have to wear multiple hats, you know, you're either instructor, and the next day, you're like a counselor, the next day, you're like a parent to them, you know, you're hearing out their problems. And, but it's been a, it's a fun ride. So it's, you know, it's fun enough to me to continue to return again next school year. Wow. I mean, with all the experience that you have, serving for 20 years, I feel that these kids could learn so much from you, and probably have learned a lot from you this past year. Thank you, you know, for sharing with me, sharing with the kids and, you know, serving. We're really, really grateful for everything that you have done. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, there is no commitment, you know, when you're an RTC, just because it is a military academy doesn't mean you have to join the military. But, you know, we always give them options, you know, hey, this is what you can do, you can join the military, you can go to college, you can, you know, work a government job, you know, we, we will overemphasize all of that in class. Yeah, that's great. So I just want to say thank you again for all your knowledge that you shared and for really touching on some of the questions I had. I, you know, I'm, I'm not very familiar with the benefits that the military does have to offer. So I feel like I've learned so much from you and I'm very, very grateful for you being on the show. Lance, do you have any other words that you'd like to say? Well, I mean, you know, I just want to say thank you again for allowing me on the show. I mean, you know, this is, you know, I really appreciate Think Tech Hawaii for going out there and, you know, all these great videos that you guys have been posting up are definitely learning, learning environment. I mean, a learning moment for everyone. And yeah, there's my business card right there. So just for veterans, yeah, if you guys need to reach out to me just for veterans, Lance at justforveterans.com. Again, Shayna, yeah, thank you for having me on the show. I look forward to seeing more of your, your videos. Thank you. And thank you for being on. If anyone wants to reach out to him, please contact him. And, you know, I hope to see you all at the next episode of Money Talks. I am Shayna Park, a Gen Z inspiring lives of liberties. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii.