 There's a lot of folks out there, and this is just my guesstimation, okay? There's a lot of folks out there that believe that if they don't pray in accordance with their faith that somehow They're not doing the memorial service of justice Let's remember What the focus and mission is for the DAV on page five of this document? It says we're non-secretarian. Does everybody know what that means? Means we're non-religious which means we're all encompassing of all faiths, okay? That's what we have to hear, too He also says we're non-politic or we're non Political, okay, I'll get there guys. I'm so tired. You have to just just be bear with me, okay? I may get tongue tied matter of fact. I'm surprised they even left the nominating committee all in one piece But anyway, it's all good Hey, you'd be surprised what a couple of jokes would get you to get you out of the nominating committee early So on page five it says we're non-secretarian. So when we conduct our Memorial services at the chapter and department level. Let's keep the mission and The focus on what our organization is now I Need to remind you Let me remind you guys yours the one you are the ones that have approved this document you approved it So then why do you want to go and then go against it page five? I just told you where to find it and The members approve this now if you want me to assist you in conducting a memorial service Let me know I will send you all The help and assistance I can give without my being there to make sure you have a proper memorial service but guys We have Jews Muslims Hindus Christian and a few other face that are part of the makeup of the DAV If we're non-secretarian then that means our memorial services should be all-encompassing for all those things correct So if we're doing something unique that's specific to a faith based event That we're not encompassing everybody What is the requirement to be a member of the DAV who knows this? What's the requirement? Be a disabled veteran That served during a time of war Honorably that's all the requirement is so when you conduct your memorial services and then I go out to these departments and Commanders if I got commanders out here or department chaplains or chapter chaplains Keep in mind what the focus is of our mission and adhered to the memorial service from that perspective I'll be more than happy as I said earlier I will send you material to help you do your memorial service in a proper manner now Let's address some prayer questions that I got prior to coming up here. I'm going to reveal to you what my belief is So that you can understand from the perspective As your national chaplain how we conduct business. I may believe her in Christ everyone understand that but I am not a Christian How can you be a believer in Christ not be a Christian? Well, here's what I believe I Believe that the term Christian is used by the outside world as it was in Antioch in the book of Acts So people looking in can call me a Christian, but I won't call me a Christian because I'll tell you why I'm imperfect I'm a human. I make mistakes. I tried to walk the walk of my faith But it doesn't always happen And for some of you have been around me long enough after about three days of me. You can't stand me Well, you guys are lucky you get to go home, but I had to go home with myself. I don't get a break Just saying it's just what it is. So here's the deal guys from my faith perspective as your national chaplain all All the members encompassing all the faiths have elected me and therefore I will represent all faiths involved in this organization It's a formality and that's we got to get out of the mindset that somehow if I conduct a church service Then we call it a memorial service and somehow I'm not doing my God justice Get rid of that. That's just a mentality What I do up here is a formality. Now when I'm away from this organization I am who I am, but I live who I am while I'm in this organization I don't know what my faith is everyone understand am I getting too complicated. I don't want to I Just want you to understand the perspective in which we need to be conducting our moral services If it was a Jewish rabbi if it was a Muslim cleric and they were the national chaplain They would have to adhere to the same rules that I'm adhering to and have to adhere to based on the constitution of bylaws There is no Give or take there So everybody understand then when you go back to your departments and chapters You need to be thinking about how to do one properly and if you all attended the memorial service this morning You get a good idea How it should be conducted and it can vary it doesn't have to be exactly like I Conducted it. Okay, it can vary You know your community. You know what's appropriate as long as you're here and stay within the mission of the DAV all right now Anybody have any questions on that? Because if you do I'm just simply going to point you to the constitution bylaws and say read the book Okay All right guys. Well good afternoon Awesome. All right Well, look guys, I think a chaplain's responsibility in the DAV can assist a commander in bridging gaps between generations Our problem is as we've got in my travels across the United States We have older veterans. We have younger veterans. We have veterans like me I'm in the middle. Okay I'm not old When I'm with you, I'm considered young But when I'm with my kids, I'm old as a Bethuselah. It's just what it is. Okay, so the reality of it is here guys is that We have a responsibility to assist our commanders and the line officers to help bridge the gap in generations First of all, you need to know what generation you came from You need to understand how that generation thinks and then you need to know how to communicate to that generation because here's the deal If you're a chapter and you have older members and You're not getting any new members is because there's a lack of communication And you don't know how to talk to the younger members chaplains You are a pivot point in the chapter to make that bridge that crossing. All right So what we're going to do is we're going to discuss Next slide, please the four types of generations. We're dealing with right now So you have veterans those that were born 1925 to 1944 you have boomers 1945-64 this oh by the way, this is not an exact science. All right I just did some research pulled out some figures laid it out there based on my best ability to do what I need to do Gen X generation 1965-81 and Millennials from 1977-94. I have two of them living in my well They did live in my house and a grandson who's picking up their bad habits All right, so let's talk about poor school or veterans Those are the individuals that were born prior to World War two or right at the end of World War two So here's the deal when they were born there were significant opportunities and jobs in education Now I'm taking the long way here to show you the difference between how each generation thinks If you understand how the generation thinks you're going to be able to better communicate with those individuals, okay And that's our job as chaplain post-war economic boomstruck America why because when World War two ramped up we had Manufacturing kicking into gear and then it just created all kinds of jobs for everybody that we got out You had the automobile business you had Enough money to go buy a house now And so the housing market came up all that was what was going on with this particular generation now Cold war tensions were beginning Okay, and there was some discomfort and uncertainty throughout our nation during that time because we had Russia Took over half of Europe at the time for those of you that remember that after we just set their fault hard Defeating one bad regime then another bad regime comes in and takes over All right value security comfort familiar known activities environments were all part of that generation Okay, let's talk about the boomers. I'm part of that group They also had good opportunity Economic opportunities, they were largely optimistic They saw the future and they say yeah, let's go for This peace time during that time except for 1950 when Korean War broke out But that generally they were optimistic But during this time we had President Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations that kind of changed the face of everything So the rights movement was during this time the Vietnam War took place and then the epidemic of AIDS broke out For this generation right here and most of us lost trust in the government And there's nothing with losing trust in your government I think it's a healthy thing to lose trust in your government because the government should always be accountable to the people but it's Taken too far if you think you need to destroy the government. That's my personal opinion That's why he's up there doing that. All right, let's talk about the generation Xers 1965 to 81. They were latchkey kids There's a lot of dysfunctionality here Chaplains you need to be aware that dysfunctionality breeds dysfunctionality Usually can tell when you're talking to someone what their background usually is and if you talk to them long enough or you with them long Enough you're going to find out what their background is without having to pry and poke those people love to talk and they'll tell you What's going on in life easy especially if you're chaplain You've got chaplain from your name. You're a trusted individual So when they give you this information You must in confidence protect that information Unless it's a murder then you have a right to report it. Okay Lowest voting participation rate of any generation they didn't want to be involved in government politics This is generation Xers high levels of skepticism. So we went from boomers who had a Had a great outlook on life to their children who ended up being exposed to lots of daycare and divorce and now they're skeptical about everything That's the guys what's in it for me, you know those folks you haven't met any though, right? You have many of those folks that says what's in it for me? Okay, but they are Really educated well Okay, next They may have a higher level of caution and pragmatism next Reputation for the worst music to ever gain popularity. That's this generation right here Have you ever thought about listening to me sit on a race like man? What is that? I can't believe they call that music now horrible absolutely horrible Millennials now. This is the bigger group 1977-94 these are the folks that are now becoming members of our organization known as incredibly sophisticated technically wise I When I left the line company went to staff, I didn't know what a computer was Then I sit down at the desk and I'm issued a computer and I had no clue how to open it power up this young PFC You know the kind of horn room glasses he's got to look And for three days he sat down next to my desk I wouldn't let him go to the bathroom until I knew how to operate that thing from suit and nuts That's how I learned about the computer But these guys the Millennials They'll dance around you on technology smartphones iPads They'll make phone calls and oh my goodness my two children When I call them on the phone, I don't get a response it goes right to the message But if I text them within 30 seconds, I get a response Because they're they're like this. They're the guys that are sitting next to you. Let me explain to you how it goes in my house So we have an Easter dinner a Christmas dinner or something. They're all at my house. We're sitting in the same room Grandpa's ready to talk. I'm ready to you know face time Everybody is all buried into their little smart phone and they are talking to one another by sending Texas And they're sitting right next to the individual. That's this generation So now we have a new rule of my house all smartphones left on the kitchen table Can't take it any further in the house Immune to most traditional marketing sales pitches You remember those times when marketers would come up to your front porch and say a vacuum cleaner or something These guys aren't fazed by that. Get out of my face. That's basically this millennial group. Okay, you know my face You I don't have to buy that. I'll buy what I want. They are much more radically and ethically diverse They cross cultural lines. Maybe something the older generations who learn from them They have no problem crossing the line whatsoever. Yes, ma'am Racially and what did I say? Well the radical they are radical in that Thank you, dear. I appreciate that Also, they are racially Divert, and you know what? I'm the one put this together Chaps do make mistakes. No, it wasn't a mistake But they are radical in their thinking in terms of cross culture. Okay flexible and changing in fashion and style consciousness. These are the guys That will get three or four guys together and go get an apartment and live together and they have no problem doing it I couldn't do that Man, I gotta have my piece what when I'm in the bathroom. You better not come in on me these guys They're more communal and they have no problem sharing the load My son is big time into this All right Raise you dual income or single-parent families That's their background where they come from remember just prior to that yet Gen X What was their background? They were latchkey kids, right? Disfunctionality breaches functionality. So the result of these guys is That they come from single-parent families most of them. Okay now Before you jump on me after I just told you we need to hear to the Constitution by-laws And we're not gonna show our faith. I have to show you this particular scripture of my faith Because this scripture is going to bring home What and reinforce what I just talked about? This particular scripture in my face says that we become what we need to become To talk to other people That's basically what this scripture says. That's from my faith perspective We need to become what we need to become to communicate with other people now There's a lot more in that scripture, but because I'm your national chaplain I'll let you read it for yourself and you can figure out what the rest is. All right, wouldn't run along So with that said and that in mind We need to become chaplains what we need to become to communicate to the younger generation So they can become members of the DAV and take us into the future of the way All right, talk work dog. Did y'all get that passed out? Yes, sir. What you got? Say again, I like to walk Oh First friendship chapter 9 verse 19 23 now that's from my faith perspective I don't know what your faith perspective is and I'm not trying to you know impose my faith on you I'm just giving you an example of what my faith teaches me. I need to do Okay, that's what my faith teaches me to do, but I wanted to put it up there Because I want to make my point We cannot have tunnel vision when we're in our chapter meat. Let me give you a story Had a young veteran who was made the department adjunct Doing a great job very motivated Was learning made mistakes that's what we do As we learn when we begin and Then in whatever department you're in based on your department constitution bylaws The commander can pick Another adjunct they want right? so the department commander who's elected In my presence commits to talking to this young veteran saying you're not going to be my adjunct after this young Person has been an adjunct for two years Because you make too many mistakes, and you don't know everything yet So he puts into place an older gentleman older veteran Who's probably been adjunct for 15 or so years? And so my question was and again the commander can make their decision. What the commander can make it I I can't change commanders mind If the DC's there they can improve his decision if that's what your bylaws talk about But here's the hypocrisy of that decision Not even 30 minutes prior to that decision being made he was talking about how we need younger members in our And oh by the way the Millennials in case you didn't get it they oh we're gonna talk about that here They want to be in charge they want responsibility when you get a young veteran in your chapter you need to find a job You need to find them a job Make them productive members not tell you what they're on point you give them a mission They're gonna go out and carry out the commanders in 10 Now they need guidance Because we're not military So we don't them running over you know other cars and stuff to make that mission happen They're not uniform anymore But what we want to do is we want to balance it out with teaching and here's what the problem is Why couldn't the commander have just simply guided that young veteran You've already been doing it for two years probably was starting to get good at it. I would imagine right So we as chaplains have to look at the big picture and it's our job to inform the commander when we believe he's wrong Which is more important why you need to know the Constitution of bylaws because you just don't go to the commander say you can't do that You need to be backed up with what the members have voted on and approved Okay, know your department Constitution bylaws know your chapter Constitution by law Oh I'm sorry generation Alright, so you had this do you want to interact? No, no, no go to the next one. Okay. All right Everyone got the past out. We passed a truck word document that looks just like this This is a really good reference thing that you can have find out on the left side of the paper Find out what generation if we don't have any more I'll make copies, okay? Find out where you fit into it and then when you want to talk to another generation That's not you at the top Find out what it to me and it tells you exactly what they're all about and how to approach them I've tried to make this as simple as I can for you because look I've been doing this for a while And I don't have it perfected Okay, and once at a time once in a while. Well, I wasn't a towel. I don't know once in a while I mess it up. It is what it is. All right. No one's perfect I don't expect anybody else to be perfect, but here's what I do expect I expect us to come together as a team chaplain's and when you don't know you need to be reaching out And if I don't know I know a whole bunch of chaplains that do know There's there's chaplains that I do trust I don't did you know I didn't know everything you didn't know that You did not know well, let me tell you now so you're not disappointed later. I don't know everything. All right But what I do know I'm pretty good at And I'm still learning and I'm learning a lot from you So chaplains our job is to pull from one another encourage one another lift each other up draw information from one another That's our job. All right, this chart work document anybody have any questions on how to read it That's for you If you want me to send you an email copy after the seminar come up here put your name on a sheet of paper I will send there are no secrets here. That's not a registered trademark My job is to make sure you're informed that you can do the best job you can at your level. Okay guys. I Want to help you. I want to make you successful. That's my job Unless I'm not reelected again, then it'll be someone else's job But as long as I'm your national chaplain, I want you to be successful which makes the organization successful what Better way to assist someone have you when you when you do someone's benefit paperwork and they come back and they say Thank you so much Isn't that worth? All the money in the world that you've stepped out and done something is a chaplain's here been service officers Very good. Yeah, right Guys, maybe you need to consider being the surface officer Ministry in many ways. Okay Yes, so let's talk about communicate to these various veterans we talked about. All right, here's the deal guys We have to build trust the inclusive language this young veteran example that I just told you about That was relieved of duty so to speak after two years in position. How do you think that? better now views the department if she's if if if the if he or she is mature and most of them are They'll take it with a grain of salt okay But in most cases We have to build trust with these guys. We're talking specifically about the millennials All right, they're the biggest group. We want them in they're the ones that are out there now trying to find a purpose in life We can give them that purpose Words your gospel you said When I tell you something you say hey national national chaplain he told me Now whatever I told you has just become gospel. You're gonna run with it Well Look guys If I tell you something I probably got good reason to tell you something But you need to follow up and do your own research And you never know I might be missing something And you may find something else. Hey, national chaplain. Did you know? No, I didn't think you're telling me and I can add it What's all about guys body language Make sure that whoever you're talking to the millennial once you understand who they are Talk their same language get down to their level and talk the way they talk because if you're not doing that they're not listening Because they're thinking that you don't care Follow me so far Use more formal language. Well, you'd be surprised how smart these guys are when I was in the military We had a lot of high tech Instrumentation and technology that was just phenomenal for its time Now they've got What do they call them unmanned Aircraft that fit in the palm of your hand. It folds up sticks into your belt. They can toss it over a berm The squad leader or his designated representative can look on this video screen before they even go across the berm and find out What's on the other side? That's how technically This generation is What used to take a lieutenant back in my time Specialists can do it now. That's how smart we need to give these guys credit But we also need to remember that if they come and they're new into our organization We're not going to throw them up into leadership, right We as chaplains need to recognize that saying Now from my faith perspective I can think of a number of scriptures that says we don't throw young people into ministry positions right off the bat I'm just saying So the same principle applies All right, use more formal language next Don't expect them to share their thoughts until trust is built. Go back up to point one if trust is not built They're not going to talk to you If you don't know how to operate a computer You've lost them already if you're not using a smartphone They're moving out Okay, if you can't text them It's gone We need to speak their language If I want to talk to my daughter and my son, I'm going to text them because that's the quickest response I get and that's how they respond to me I'm not going to alienate them because they want to text and dad doesn't it's not going to happen I want to talk to my kids. I want to talk to my grandson Don't waste their time They don't like their time wasted at all period They have a job to do they want to go and do the job. So what that means is Be brief with them. Do not give them long dissertations About life because I don't want to hear it. They got short-term memory. I call it the the hollywood Um, oh, what did I used to call it? Anyway, call it the hollywood something where we are bombarded with 30 second stuff And then it's gone That's how you have to talk to these guys in little bits and bytes If you go over a minute or two minutes talking to them, you lost them all right face to face or read communication is received best Because you want their attention Or if you're writing email or texting Read communication. That's how you go get it. All right next Communicating with boomers. Here we go. If you want to talk to me. I'm a boomer If you're a vietnam vet, you're a boomer. So if you want to talk to me, this is what you got to do You got to speak in an open and direct style plenty of body language Now I don't do that at all That is not me We lost I've lost y'all already. See you don't even want to communicate with me All right, so you see how I'm talking right? Answer questions frankly and thoroughly and expect to be pressed for details Look, I'm up front with people when I ask a question And I require details When my wife tells me when I'm watching the Super Bowl to take out the trash What goes in my mind is I'll take it out at halftime But what's in her mind is you need to take it out now because it stings Now I'll tell you some of the marital issues I've had to deal with because I thought wrong but But but needless to say there it is and you've all heard me talk about The four marriage counselors I've been to in my life She speaks southern. I speak country We had to go through four marriage counselors and work out the linguistics Next please Do not use controlling manipulative language Man these guys I do not like to be manipulated Tell me just tell me up front that I owe you 20 bucks Don't let me go and order the dinner and next thing you know You're attacking on a five dollar surcharge and a 15 dollar or 15 percent. Just tell me up front. Oh, yeah I don't have a problem paying you I came with lots of money The problem I have it with is that you weren't up front with me in the beginning. That's the problem I have So when you're talking to me just be be up and straight up and on All right, ask for a provide options to demonstrate flexibility thing don't When you when you tell them something don't make it in stone Give them the flexibility to think of an alternative way to make something happen, right? Give them that but if you tell them oh, this is the way it's going to be You just turn me off. I'm out the door. We still talk about going. Yeah. Okay. That's me. All right Give me some flexibility. Let me think about a little bit. Okay. Use face to face electronic communication I love talking to someone face to face I love it. It's who I am. It's what I am. All right Can't can't deny who I am What you see is what you get. So if you vote for me May god have mercy on yourself Because you're going to get me. That's all I'm saying. It's going to get me. You get me, you know It's a big package. All right next please Let's talk about communicating with your generation X's and I remember what are generation X's They come from what latch key families, right? It's functional families All right, so they're going to have some trust issues, right? So learn their language and speak it whatever that language is Next please be brief and concise to hold their attention. We were talking seminary And if you go over 30 minutes in a meeting or in a message, you've just lost the attention of the folks out there Well, if I was sitting out there and you were preaching to me, you lose my attention in 15 minutes because in 15 minutes I'm thinking about where I'm going to go eat That's the gospel corny to dole. Okay So be brief be concise and make your point up front quickly. All right Oh use a direct start to prevent the facts We men love you But you talking riddles And it drives us crazy And if you were direct with us, we probably wouldn't spend so much time in the doghouse Because I am poor at solving riddles And when my life Well, so we're driving down the road And she wants coffee She doesn't tell me she wants coffee what she tells me is would you like some coffee? No, no, I don't need no coffee. Let's go And then she's mad at me Because I didn't want coffee. I'm like, what did I do in 15 minutes? Only to find out that that was a message that she wanted me to stop and get coffee. All right Challenge them and ask them for their input Always have It's not one-way conversation guys with generation extras Ask them a question give them a leading question that they can respond to Make them feel part of the conversation How does it make you feel when You get upset with somebody and you're just the only one talking or god. Let me reverse that You're being talked to and you don't have a moment in there to respond to them. How does that make you feel? That's exactly how they feel. All right next please Share information with them immediately and often There are no trade secrets in the in the organization of the d.a.v Zero I told you that I will help you. I will give you information to the best of my ability And if you got something new that you want me to try let me know you're not going to be ostracized Use informal communication style. Have you ever had one of those young guys come up to you and they're like talking to you Like this like they got no respect Hats on crooked shorts down here around their knees It's their style Let me let me take it a step further Being infantry for 21 years I can tell you that I used to cuss like a sailor And when I hit my head on something That old self comes out. Okay When they're talking to you in the only language they know Don't be judgmental. It's the only language they know don't say oh i'm a chapter You can't be discussing that with me in those kinds of words It's the only language they know They're not they're probably not of your faith They don't know anything else except communicating that way. They're probably just fresh out of the military Let them communicate And then in your maturity Get them to tone it down a little better say hey, how about a cup of coffee that you didn't want earlier You guys as chaplains You guys should be approachable all the time You need to be approachable if you build up walls Where no one can come to you then how are the members going to express themselves when they have a problem with the commander These these generations Of veterans that are coming now into our organization It is our job to understand them. We may not agree With their lifestyles we may not agree with their point of view But they serve their country honorably and they have a right to be here And you as a chaplain have a right to listen to them When they have a beef And you may not want to listen you may have the same veteran coming up to you 50 times You're going to listen to it 50 times You know how long it takes for me to get from the grand ballroom up to my room about an hour and a half And you know what I'm going to stop and talk to you if you want to talk to me Because you elected me as your national chaplain And it's my duty to hear what you have to say And what you have to say may be just important enough for me to take it to mark and bury Because I've got the inside track with them You guys have the inside track with your commanders All right Listen to show respect for their opinion. They may not be shown respect to you by the way they're standing In the way they're dressed. That's them. That's the language they speak but show them respect All right email is their primary tool in communicating All right next please Now let's communicate with millennials. We talked a little bit about them Let words paint visual pictures to inspire and motivate Use words to paint a picture Look, I don't know about you, but I can't stand a dry surm. And if I stood up here And I'm talking to you in a monotone voice And I'm not fluctuating to my voice and I'm not really I'm just On and on and on and I'm not really making my point You're going to be tired of me real quick fast and hurry. That's all I'm saying Use action for to challenge them. Hey, can you help me? What do you think about this? Okay next Don't be condescending show respect. Okay, so they screwed up Maybe they didn't get the financial report in on time. Okay The world isn't going to stop The financial market is still strong And no one took any money out of my account. It's all good So let's sit down and discuss how we're going to do this, right? Okay And what we can do to fix it And when you see your commanders or officers behaving that way to these You as a chaplain need to step in and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me let me let me deal with this issue Because you're the one that's supposed to be down to earth Grounded Full of wisdom that's your job constantly seek their feedback And I'm not talking about constantly means you may have to ask for two or three times But don't ask for it once and then three months later decide to ask for it again follow up Maybe twice that week if you don't hear me first time And then maybe one week after that, but be consistently asking for the feedback You may have to draw it out of them. Everyone is different guys I can tell you right now in spite of what you know about me I'd rather be at home sitting in a chair reading a good book And rubbing the fur off the belly of my two miniature long hair doxins That is the world according to Dover But here I am standing before you Talking to you because of life circumstances that thrust me into the limelight and I wasn't looking for it And yet you guys put up with my bad jokes. I don't understand you. I don't understand you at all Your jokes are worth So so we get to our next point huge humor. What does humor do? It tears down walls You come up to Then I give you a joke and you start smiling. I got inroads now. We can talk Humor humor humor And I use it quite often in case you haven't noticed Sometimes to my detriment But I use humor to break down walls so that I can be approachable And there are some tough nuts to crack out there Chaplains But you have to find a way to figure that out, right? Humor is one of the best ways to do that Always encourage someone always How many uh got to hear me in the district meetings when I came by? Were you all present some of those district meetings? I said some really crazy stuff, didn't I? I actually thanked you For the job that I have Because you made my job easy I go around smiling kissing babies shaking hands throwing a Throwing an elbow once in a while And you elected me to this position But you do all the hard work every single one of you Should be able to replace me You should have that kind of attitude You don't have to smile all the time. You don't have to be joyous and all that. It's not required It's not not but every single one you should be able to replace me When I step off This organization shouldn't suffer and the young people right here that we're talking about They should be encouraged by you And I do and I try to encourage now sometimes if you've been reading my articles I put it out there But I always try to follow up with some encouragement So that I don't leave a bad taste in your mouth But there are some hard things that have to be discussed. All right, just gotta be Next please And then use all the stuff they're using How many here has twitter account? Okay For those of you didn't raise the hand you just lost the millennials Because you don't understand what a twitter account is maybe or and if you're not using it. How do you know how it functions? They're gone Millennials don't even want to talk to you now because you don't understand it Man, I wish the president never knew about the twitter account. Good grief Wow But hey, you know what it's america You can do what you want as long as you don't hurt someone else or violate someone else's rights That's how I believe that's what I believe Use what they're using to communicate next please All right, communication costs for generations. We're gonna talk about millennials specifically next What does the millennial generation want to be when they grow up? If you ever ask that question about Looking at it. Well, let's find out Go ahead and put them all up Want you to read that Here's what they think about corporations in general. This is your millennials They believe in that there's a scarcity of resources in the planet. So they believe in conservation preservation They believe in alternate fuels Change climate change 65 percent of millennials believe in climate change 64 percent believe in income equality They believe the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poor That's what millennials believe They want to be innovative Go ahead and put them all up there 78 percent of millennials were Influenced by how a corporation was innovating. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 78 percent were influenced by how a corporation was Innovating let's take it into our round DAV Hey, did you know we're using social media? Be an innovative What draws millennials? Be an innovation Twitter's tweeting texting Facebook We're being innovative nationals got the picture they understand 78 percent of millennials speak their language They're influenced by what you tell them if they're using what they're using Management attitude the biggest barriers to innovation. They believe that 63 percent believe that management attitude is the biggest issue in Our management. Let me read this management attitude Is the biggest block to innovation? Operational procedures 61 percent believe that's the biggest block to innovation employment skills attitudes And uh lace of diversity 39 percent believe those are the wall that blocks innovation They want to be leaders the young people think about this for a moment We've all served in the in various armed forces. We were all leaders at one time So we get out of the army. We've been in charge of folks the whole time in uniform Now we step out of the army and we're in charge of nothing Zip zilch Accept ourselves We've lost a sense of identity And they want to be leaders they want to be in charge. We need to foster that in them by guiding them Chaplains you need to cross that barrier between the commander and these new veterans young veterans coming in and being able to Bridge that gap in the language deficiency that our older veterans have with the younger veterans and the younger veterans have with the older veterans 75 believe the organization can do more to develop future leaders Is your chapter or department developing these young veterans when they come in? Are we properly training them or we just thrown them into position? Let me tell you how I got involved I was an adjunct chapter level for seven years When my father Received 100 because of the dav. I said any organization that does that I want to be part of So I went to my local dav chapter And I'm sitting in with a whole bunch of older folks And there's three or four vacancies up there at the head table And when we get to the good of the order, I raise my hand and I say what can I do to help you? Well, that was the wrong question to ask So can you take notes? Yeah, I can take notes Adjunct Oh, yeah, what is that? It's like a little little child in a candy store. Yeah, I'll do something I got there and seven years later. They wouldn't let me go But here's the deal guys That's exactly the same attitude that these young veterans have they want to come in and do something get them something I have said this at the district meetings that it is not my goal to be in this position forever Did I not say earlier that all of you should be able to replace me, right? So why do we have the mentality out there chaplains not chaplains? But commanders who've been a commander for 10 years and the chapter is not growing Because we is it just out of lack of bodies that we can't elect someone new to replace them because there's no one else showing up Are we doing a poor job of membership drives? To bring new members in or are we bringing them in feeding them to the lines? And this young generation don't want to come out. Oh, that's a that's a club for old men Okay We have to start thinking how they think if we want them to be involved in organization next, please Millennials want to make a difference didn't you want to make a difference when you got out of service? I know I did Improving society. I told you they were communal. They love living together They'll get four or five guys and they'll all share the rent Go out and buy food. They want to improve society. They don't like glitter They don't like the plastic. They don't want to go in the ocean Giving the charities. They actually love giving the charities 63 percent. They actively 43 volunteer Because it's about improving society, right? member of community organization DAV is a perfect community organization to be part of And chaplains you should be that bridge that brings it together. All right next place If you fail to address A millennial's issues if you fail to communicate with them If you fail any aspect of what I just told you what a how millennial thinks They're going to go out and work for themselves 70% will go work for themselves You know, I wonder if the reason why we have so many of these veteran organizations popping up is because somewhere along the line One of these young veterans came into our organization or any organization bsl bfw american leagues whatever And everything I just covered happened to them. They said, you know what? I'm going to go out and start my own project wounded warrior paralyzed veterans of america Just went out there and did it because we were too hard headed to see that we had talent at our door Something that we need to consider All right. All right, so let's review I think you can read that for yourself, right? I hope so because I'm going to give me some water next please This is where millennials think innovations are going to come from 44% think it's going to come from business That's not a very high figure 23% think it's going to come from studying getting some sort of degree 22% think it's going to come from the government And 6% think it's going to come from non-government organizations That's where they think innovation is going to come from pretty low figures. So that means they don't think highly of those areas If 78% of the millennials are driven by innovation Then should your chapter your department be following in line with what nationals doing? Should you not be creating the things that that appeal to the millennial? Because we want to draw them in Oh in case you didn't know this You only have so many years on this life Now I don't know what those years are But what you leave behind as a legacy is what you invest in the young generation today Tomorrow's not guaranteed guys No one promises you tomorrow. We just assume we go to bed. We're gonna wake up But tomorrow's not guaranteed. So what have you done for some young veteran? What are you doing to train them? Take your place You're not working yourself out of a job. Think about this. Think of yourself as an elder Once you get that young veteran in place that's replaced you in that job Your job is to guide and give them wisdom with all that experience you have if you just read my uh latest article understanding leadership Wisdom is by far far cheaper Experience is it is expensive if we do not guide These new veterans into the position that we need All right, so here's the criteria for successful cross-generational relationship number one You've got to be interested in generational differences If you're refusing to talk to other generations because well, this is the way we've done it for many years And that's the way it's going to be done. You just shut the door on any kind of relationship You can have didn't I just say at the beginning of this seminar that you the chaplain Have to be approachable We don't shut doors next know your own generation. How do you know that the best thing to do Is know yourself first? What are your limitations? What do you like? What are your dislikes? And sometimes it takes some effort to get over that to be able to communicate with someone else Let me tell you I told you I didn't know what a computer was but I had that pfc with little honor and blessings Sit down for three days. I think I sent him to lunch. I'm not sure And he told me everything I need to know about that computer because it was my job to know next No other generations in general. You don't have to be a subject matter expert I'm not asking you to go out and get 16 doctoral degrees become a psychologist And be able to read people's minds. I'm not asking you to do that What I'm asking you is take what you already know about people because you serve in the military Right chaplain or you were married to a military guy God bless my wife. I have taken her through hell and back Boy, she ever finds out that I got the better deal in this marriage. She'll leave me So what was said here stays here. No one talks to her All right. I already did. Darn it Cheesing crackers. All right avoid hoarding grudges from classes over there. Why are we I can't tell you how many veterans get upset Because their ptsd kicks in and they were cut off in traffic by some young young punk exact words and then of course the The explicatives that came out of their mouth was something else to Be awed and admired I guess Because I didn't know that many cuss words But my point being is If you don't if you hold a grudge With other generations, you just shut the door to communication chaplains. You are an open door You are accessible at all times successful cross generation relations. Okay next Have positive feelings towards different genders. You may not like I alluded to this earlier. You may not like What they wear You may not like how they think But they're a human being they serve our country honorably They have a right to be here. We do not have a right to chase them out Make them part of our family And the only way we can do that chaplains is making sure that All those officers that have ptsd and take a medication You're the balance in their life All right, not all my not all my vice of spiritual make sure we take our medications, right? Happy wife happy life that sort of thing. Okay Focus attention on our thoughts feelings of behavior knowing yourself and how you react to something You may have to change that in order so that you don't send the wrong signal when you're communicating Recognize how our perception affects other encounters. Look guys think about Yes, I have an article if I'm reelected. I have an article coming out or we'll submit called ptsd and offense I'll just let you know it'll be out there about three magazines out if I'm reelected I'm not taking anything for granted You have to be careful what your perception is when you're communicating with this interaction Okay Because they have to build trust and if they're perceiving no trust you've just closed the door and chaplains That's not your business. You're excessive Be aware of the impact of our behavior on other generations So other people looking at you. What was the old saying if america? looks at how the government treats the veterans And we and the government's treating them right that usually we get a whole bunch of folks signing up for the armed forces, right? But if they see that we're not being well taken care of which is the 80s mission ensure we are Then they're not going to join the service And continue on the honor traditions that we've all experienced in our life. So That's the down and dirty of it guys. Are there any questions as to what we just covered? All right, good Appreciate it I tried to be sorry You don't sit down. Okay. Yeah, we're not we're not falling over here. All right. We're challenge Uh, well, I'm the minister but I'm not a chaplain I'd like information on how I would like to be schooled on how to go about the process of becoming legitimate chaplain Okay, do y'all hear the question? He said that he's a minister but it's not a chaplain and he wants to know about how to go about Becoming a certified chaplain. I'm assuming that's what you're asking. Okay. Did I repeat that correctly? Okay That that like I said at the beginning when I was clarifying I said That's not an exact science about boomers and win the actual dates That's just a generality of what the uh subject matter experts think So you you may be a combination of a little bit of both, okay They even break the boomers up into two sections But anyway, let me answer your question. The question is is no, I don't train you I'm a non-secretarian national chaplain in this In this format, but you can go to your denomination Preference and look up and find out what requirements they have to become a chaplain Okay. Now. I don't know all the inner work. I know where I got my certification from. Okay Anybody can do that You can go out and there are plenty of schools Colleges university seminaries where you can go And take what you need to become a certified chaplain All right But but but but before we but but before we go down that road What is the requirement to be a chaplain in the disabled american veterans? You have to be Thank you lisa You have to be dishonorably Oh That's the sleep coming out of me. Uh, you have to be honorably discharged from your service and a member in good standing That's all you have to be a chaplain in the dav if you want to Go out beyond that scope and do what you need to do Then you'll need to go out and search for what's the best thing for you to do But the dav does not sanction any kind or does not recommend any kind of seminary or programs That's on you all you have to do Is have served your country honorably and care Don't take the position if you don't care If you're taking the position Because you think it's a springboard to another Position you are wrong You must care All right, read my article understanding leadership. I got all that in here. Okay guys Any other questions? Yes, sir Okay The question was how do we have all inclusive prayers that's not specific to our faith now I abbreviated that was that correct? Okay The ritual book that we publish that you get Has some prayers in there. Okay, you can use those prayers. They're canned prayers. I don't like using them Because the ritual book is just a guide So you can go out there and write your own prayers if you'll notice that all my prayers start with heavenly creator Okay, it starts with heavenly creator pretty much encompasses everything All right, I'm just being generalized. I'm not offended That I'm not praying according to my faith because this is a formality. That's all this is I'm praying in the context of the constitution of bylaws That's mandated by you the member who approved those constitution of bylaws That's how I'm praying. Okay, so don't come up here by my hand later and say chapter. I disagree with you. You can disagree It's okay. I don't mind I got scars all over my body. They heal pretty good. I'd notice though that as I get older They don't heal so much but anyway point being as I'm digressing to the question of his ass I've had And we'll cover this because we covered this at the beginning of the meeting before it all started The ritual book is Generalized prayers that you can use over and over again if you want I choose not to I like to do my own thing But I've heard people tell me chaplain. You've got to use those prayers out of that ritual book Well, if you ask Ed Hartman, it's a god So if I have to use the prayers out of the ritual book Then why aren't we setting up our chapter meetings in a square like the ritual book says to said my You can't have one without the other If that's how you're going to be if you're going to staunchly tell me I got to use the prayers out of the ritual book and everything in that ritual book is going to be by the ritual book Now didn't we just cover with The generations and sometimes you've got to let them free think for their own self and let them expand out Well, that's not giving them the opportunity to do that. We're not communicating when we write stuff in stone It's just a guidebook And I want you chaplains to understand that so when someone says where's the ritual book? You need to use the ritual book use the same thing. Since I just told you then I want the meeting set up in a square Okay You have to know your members. You have to know what the membership makeup is And then formulate your own prayers And you can do a good job of that everyone in here can do that Without having to go denominational Okay, or a specific religious faith as a matter of fact, I was thinking about including Jewish rabbi and a muslim cleric in my memorial services. Are we all in company? Now when I do that, I wonder how many jaws are going to drop. What's that chaplain doing? Well, I'm in all comesy But you know what be judged. I'll be judged sure enough. I'll be judged Chaplains, you will be judged too with the decision to make. Yes, sir Oh, I'm sorry before you ask that I answer your question. Okay. Yes, sir Oh, no, we talked about the Lord's prayer And here's the reason why it's not appropriate in this con in this format Our father, which is the first two words in is is something the muslims have a problem with Yes Yes, yes, indeed Jewish Now now now now here's the deal. I don't have time. What time is it? I have uh Oh, we good. I got 15 minutes I don't have time to go into the reasons for But would would be happy to talk to that four o'clock. I've got to be somewhere else. Okay But no, it's not appropriate. So we're talking about non-secretary prayers and the our father specifically christian. Is it not? All right, so Yeah Well, if you can't use jesus's name because muslims don't believe jesus was the son of bella And therefore they believe he's a prophet and that's all he was So now you've got you know now you start to talk about some deep Uh cultural religious, you know discussion here, and I don't want to go down that road But but sir did I answer your question? Thank you Yes, man. Yeah, I agree. I you don't have to agree. You are you don't have to agree Okay, it's okay. You don't have to agree But we have to live by the mandate of the constitution by law. Right. I'm with you. Yes If you'll come up here and give me your email address The the question was can I email this? To this fine young lady over here. I will email it to anybody to leave me your email address You'll get a copy Of the whole seminar. I I have no trade secrets I can paint the big bucks You know Please no more promotions. All right any more questions? Okay, this will come out. Here's what happens once the convention's over and The uh dominating or the convention committee and the members agreed to the changes to this book In about two months. I've printed a new book and it will be sent to your adjutants and chapter commanders To include the department commanders and department adjutants. They'll all get a copy. All right So what you're going to have to do is get with your chapters And ask for a copy of this Now anybody know what these colors are based on? What why they choose the colors for each constitution bottle every year? It's whoever wins the super bowl It's whoever wins the super bowl is the color that they choose for the constitution by law That's how we know guys now, you know, that's how they choose the color. All right guys any other questions?