 Hey, yep, we're on What is up my exchange family from all over the world and thank you for tuning into another episode of chiefs chat My name is Chief Massar and Kevin Osby, and I'm your senior listed advisor for the Army and Air Force exchange service Before we get started with our guests today. I would like to introduce my lovely and they told me to stress lovely lovely Matthews and Julie Mitchell. How y'all ladies doing? Gosh, hi chief doing good. Hi chief. We are good and we do you want to say that your predecessor never referred to us as lovely So thank you. Thank you for that. We appreciate it. I'm gonna change the game So today we have a very special guest that's been doing some outstanding work for our veteran Julie Do you mind introducing today's guests? Not at all chief You're right. We are very honored to have today's guest with us He served in the Army National Guard for 27 years including two tours in Iraq and after his retirement last year He was unanimously elected as national commander for disabled American veterans Please join us in welcoming commander Stephen butch whitehead Thanks guys Butch thanks so much for joining us and taking time out of your day We really appreciate it and for everybody watching. Thank you as well drop a note in the comments Let us know where you're tuning in from and if you have any questions for butch will be reading those live throughout the broadcast Now's a good time to start your watch party to enjoy this live interview with your friends And if you're not already following us, you should because cheap chats are every Tuesday and Thursday. So then you'll know who's coming up next Awesome well butch. Thank you for joining us today. It's great having you with us Uh, I first want to start off asking about your your name butch It's a very unique name. It probably comes with a lot of misconceptions So Can you please give us a little insight on on your name? I sure can chief, you know, and it's actually first of all, thank you guys for having me on I was truly an honor to be joining you chief and your talk here. It's great to be part of it The nickname though chief that's it is very unique. I actually had it ever since I was a little baby You know, I think I was the first name my Mom and dad's friends gave me was butch and it stuck with me all through my life all childhood all the way to today So it's very unique because the fact of it's actually I don't know where my friends my mom parents friends came up with the name butch So I asked I always asked it was because of short hair. I had did I not have hair? What was this whole thing that got me butch? I never got a true answer out of anybody about how I got the word butch So it's just but it's stuck I I think the dog in in tom and jerry's name was butch too. Uh, that could be maybe I was the cartoon guy, you know It could be that exactly that Awesome. Awesome. Well, I told I was telling my co-host uh yesterday I should change my name to butch because then that that'll our our complaints will probably decline a lot if I have to go to chief butch There you go That's awesome. So where you calling us from today? Well chief. I'm actually on here this great state of minnesota Uh, and I'm talking to the host this morning. We finally we flipped the page a little bit And it's gorgeous weather for us right now. Um, I think at today's high it's supposed to be maybe 78 70 degrees low humidity It's gorgeous up here minnesota. That's awesome. When is the when does the switch flip up there? Well, I'm sure we'll get a nice couple more a couple weeks of hot weather humid weather But the the weather the slide I would say july was very very hot for us I mean, I think we're in the 90s and then with the heat index into the hundreds for several days in july So it was very hot and here in minnesota with all of the lovely 10 000 plus lakes that we have the humidity Thanks up pretty high pretty quickly when you get those warm days. Yeah Absolutely. Okay. Thank you So butch can you tell us a little bit about your military career and kind of what led you to a life of service? You know the military for me. It was kind of a family-driven thing. Uh, both my grandparents my father I'm the bkb of seven and all three of my brothers joined the military as well Um, everybody thought I was going to be joining the air force chief. I'm sure you'd like to hear that Uh, my oldest brother was army next brother was navy next brother was marine So that just left either the coast guard air force. So all of my aunt's uncle So I guess butch is going to air force and here I went army And it was one of those things that I was actually going to enlist in the marines My brother that was in marines. He was uh, when I turned 17 He was actually deployed to kawai for the gulf war And uh, he was one of my idols and I looked up to him, uh, obviously he and I were the closest in age Uh, but he had the power of calling back to talking to mom dad the same day actually He set up a meeting with the marine recruiter to cover my house and he said do not let him join the marines I'm so baffled by that, you know But he wanted me to go off to be a college. Uh, so I joined the army national guard at the age of 17 And uh, one thing that's changed from the bio that you read there, uh, Julie is I'm actually still serving I actually didn't fully retire. I took a leave of absence when I became commander and instead of going into the full retirement, I stayed in and now I am also the Division 34th infantry division commands aren't major for the 34th infantry division up here in minnesota One of the one of eight army national guard Divisions. Oh, that's great. I did not know that. Thank you for I'm sorry. I got it wrong. Um, I Is the bio that was out there last year, you know when I was when I was elected, that's the true thing, you know But later on, um, I decided to keep the uniform on I never fully retired Um and uh continue to serve today Oh, that's that's awesome. And so just to give you a little uh history on myself I started off in the marine corps. So, uh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And so nobody gave me that briefing. Don't join the marine corps I just went well the recruiter showed up at my house and then the rest was history. So that story behind that but Must be some of the marine recruiter's a little bit more aggressive than the army the air force marine recruits Must be a little bit more aggressive when it comes to that. Yeah, I think I was 16 when they started Started nearly Wow, and so butch now you're serving still with the disabled american veterans or DAV So can you tell us a little bit more about DAV? What's your mission? Who do you serve and then what resources do you offer? You know, I you know Leah, that's a great question because you know one thing that really thrives really well with me with the DAV and why I'm so proud to be you know part of it and not just because I'm a national commander but Just being a member of the organization is it's truly my passion that is taking care of those that You know fight for our our country and when I came home from my deployment to iraq um We had a bunch of vietnam veterans there that met us when we got off the bus and uh the message that they told me is that We'll take care of you we have your back and I truly it really sunk in really hard with me because of the fact of I didn't know what I was getting into now. You know what a lot of things have changed life does not stop When you deploy and we're in the military life continues and on a deployment I was on a 18 month long deployment to iraq and a lot of change when I came home knowing that somebody was there for me and The dv was that so I was able to lean on the dv through some struggles that I had They got me to identify the resources that needed to continue to move forward and not You know fall into deeper into a darker hole, but the dv was definitely there for me Awesome, so okay, which can you tell the viewers about the benefits of having a dv membership and how can you know you know chief you're When you're in the military you're part of a family right and when you wear that uniform Your brothers and sisters all around you and being a member of the dv Is just that too, you know, none of us have a uniform on we take the uniform off Southern country now we put a different uniform on that's our civilian uniform But the dv is still a family and some of the perks about getting a dv member is we are very tight We're very connected, but some of the you know special perks, you know, we have great benefits that our members They can save on their prescriptions for their medication. We get discounts when you purchase, you know More for the company is a huge huge support of ours and being a member They give us a little perk for when you're buying new vehicles and stuff like that um When we rent vehicles, you know aphids budgets and stuff like that So there's all these little miscellaneous small perks, but I would say the biggest benefit we have is being it We have another family that we can lean on through some tough times that we don't we're not left out there by ourselves That's awesome So you took you mentioned this um Little bit before but you became national commander Last year 2020 has been pretty crazy so far So how has the pandemic affected dav and veterans in general? You know, I think the biggest uh Well, I want to issue the biggest hurdle that we've had across julie when it comes to the kovat and what it's done to the veterans it's really You know put a hinder on our veterans getting the health care, right? The va's really slowed back cut back on their appointments You couldn't you know, they shut down the doors at some moment for inpatient. It was only outpatient only But it also it forced us to expand, you know Making sure the va's looking at other resources and that has been a great resource to The kovat has helped us become more telehealth right now We have veterans understanding the telehealth and how that's also still being able to get you the health care You need you know Seeing a doctor and things like that. So that's been a big thing for us. Uh pushing for that advocating for that Um, the kovat also is affected, you know a lot of our this is a hundred year We are actually celebrating a hundred year centennial this year And we've had to cancel a lot of our events. Well all of our events actually so far since my last travel was in february I haven't traveled since and We had a lot of trips planned in between there. So while it's a good thing I've been able to stay home longer, but it's also I look as a downfall for the fact of I wanted that you know The country needs to know that we made a hundred years and here's why we made the hundred years You know, we're doing such wonderful things taking care of our veterans out there that fought for us and But we're so continued to do that. Uh, but it's we just had to change the way how we do it Oh, well, happy anniversary. Happy 100th to you guys. That's that's quite a milestone and I'm sorry that you guys that it's kind of been More subdued this year. That's that's disappointing for sure But I hope that you guys are able to you know, find other ways to connect whether that's virtually or find other ways to celebrate their Great work that you guys are doing Julie, that's a great point. I'm glad you brought that up because you know one thing I want to highlight Through this pandemic stuff this covered what it really did is we were still able to help Thousands of veterans, you know with their benefits, you know, we really shall we're still able to do because of technology We didn't stop helping veterans through any of this covid time and that was a huge win for us because As we all know the covid-19 affected so many people when it came to Unappointments and loss of revenue and things like that And our veterans rely on the disability and if that's only income they have coming in or maybe we're waiting on it We're able to still help them through that as well as we we started up a Grant process that veterans could apply for Small grants if they were a disabled veteran that we were able to help give a supplement income as well That's great. That's great that you're still taking care of family Just like you have done for 100 years. You didn't let the pandemic stop that so hats off to you for sure Yes, and uh, I got a happy anniversary To da v and all the viewers out there So earlier this year the the exchange was honored to provide a new benefit to veterans All veterans with service connected disabilities were welcome back to their exchange with in-store shopping privileges In your view, what's the feedback that you get get from the veteran community on that benefit? It's been long overdue as a vote up in here. You know, they were so happy We've been advocating for that change for several years and we were so happy and our members Were so happy the disabled veterans were happy to have that change You know, as we all know a lot of our veterans They have a tendency to live really close to Through the military base. So that's just the life they knew that's where they tend to go back to and be close to the military bases and Have the ability to go in and take part and be you know The a fees and the great service that you guys provide is a great tool It's a great thing that the veterans really are proud to be part of and they wanted to use So they were very very excited to be able to come in and use the the benefits of a fees. Yes, they absolutely deserve it So we're glad that they're you know back back on bases and uh and shopping with a fee That's great in butch You've been with da v for a while Including as the adjudant for the department of minnesota. Can you talk about how you first became involved with the organization? Yeah, lia, you know, as I said a little earlier, you know When I got off that bus and that vietnam veteran who happened to be a da v member You know when that that organization itself reached out to me to make sure that they were there for me That really excited me it fell in love Made me fall in love with and kind of drive my passion and you know My wife has been a huge support of that and I think that's what kind of drove me to be part of the da v Is she always said when that phone rang it would be one of my soldiers I would literally drop what I was doing and be there for that soldier and that's literally what Got me excited got me through my tough times as well. And that's what the da v did for me and I wanted to continue doing that So here up in minnesota being the adjudant uh being part of the Setting up program of services at the local level that national does but even expanding them a little further For instance here in minnesota, we have a wonderful, you know, obviously I said earlier I talked about the 10 000 lakes, right? We're a huge outdoor community up here and you know taking disabled veterans and getting them acting the outdoors When you're disabled not knowing that well, I suppose I can't do that anymore because i'm disabled And we're showing these disabled veterans that even with a disability They can still get back out enjoy the activity. So that's one of the great passion about here in minnesota being the adjudant And at the national level continue to spread the word and let the disabled veterans Know that they're not alone and that there's somebody there to help them through any struggles He or she may be going through that there's people out there that care and want to help them And that's so important Especially right now when people are feeling more confined and feeling that they can't go out and do things to be able to Show them that you can go outside and you you can still have a life and you do still matter and you We are all part of a big connected family. That's terrific. Absolutely terrific Exactly and yeah to still feel connected to people Yeah, absolutely, you know the one of the great programs at the national level that we partner with veterans affairs I want to highlight there's two great programs that we do One is called the winter sports clinic, which is out in colorado and that's um A program where we're showing these disabled veterans that do know there's downhill skiing and it's uh sledding it's cross-country skiing Rock climbing we bring in hundreds of disabled veterans all across the country and A year bonding with other veterans maybe have a similar injury or illness that you have but we're also teaching them like I said earlier that You can still do things and then the other event is the t tournament It's partnered with the va as well. That's held in iowa iowa city and I think about 80 of those veterans that Just do we lose them? Yeah, I'm not sure if we lost them or not Which I think you may be frozen if we might have lost yeah, we might have lost you Let's cross our fingers that you come back Can you hear me now? Welcome back to chief It's not about that. I don't think I'd love this technology. Um, I know right Boom it's gone. It's okay So but now what I was saying is about the t tournament and how 80 of the participants are legally blind And we're all golfing three or four days, you know legally blind person and showing them that they can still golf You know and that was when you see it you get you know choked up you just get emotional yourself You're like oh my god. I'm glad I'm part of an organization that's doing this for veterans. Yeah, and I'm sure that can still beat me in golf So you became the national commander last year and then you were talking about how this year there wasn't a convention So you kind of have an additional what you have an additional year to serve an additional year to get things done Um, so what are some of your goals and any specific initiatives that you're focusing on, you know With it being a one-year commitment and like you're saying we didn't have our convention So I did get extended one more year, which I'm honored to serve, you know, I'm very honored to serve One additional year But one of the goals I'm still very pushing for is the advocacy for veterans and making sure our legislators are, you know Doing what there should be to take care of those that serve, you know A couple big things that we'll continue to push for Is the caregivers, you know and people forget about they don't forget But they have a tendency to not remember that when that service member is wearing that uniform There's usually a caregiver on the back side, you know a spouse and things like that And when the service member becomes a disabled veteran That caregiver sometimes has to make some sacrifices here. She is well And we want to make sure that they're taken care of so that's a big initiative of mine And then as well as I want to make sure we continue to uh advocate, you know For the burn pit and toxic exposure. It's another big issue that I think Our service members are being exposed to uh, we were calling it very similar to the Agent Orange that are vietnam veterans Are exposed to so the advocacy is very important to me But also the on the other side is continuing to make sure that all of our veterans are being taken care of Awesome and and yeah those burn pits. I know a lot of uh, you know fellow fellow service members that that uh were in charge of, you know stirring the the burn pit and and being, you know, uh at lower ranks doing those type of duties So i'm glad you're you're advocating uh for their health, uh because it does have long-term effects it does And it's and so we find out what they are. We don't know what they are. Yeah So and you mentioned about the uh convention being cancelled uh last year and congrats on your new term So, uh, and I know kovic you just changed a whole bunch of stuff So, uh, how are you guys gonna reach out to the veterans despite not having a annual event this year? You know, we're we're actually doing a virtual uh Update here actually next week. We're actually going to do a virtual Update with all of our members we sent out So we're still going to do our reports. It just will be no elections. It's just going to be all informational only So we're doing that virtual Events as well as we're continuing to rely on our our local chapters And departments to continue to get out and do the outreach and just maybe smaller gatherings We can't do these big gatherings obviously because the cdc and this covet keeping our our members safe is very important to us But we can still get out there and research not research But reach our disabled veterans to make sure that they're being taken care of And i'll tell you what we're using today the zoom meeting That's a great tool And who would have thought you know five years ago This is going to be the way we're holding meetings conducting interviews But i'll tell you it's been a godsend to be able to still do our work and still be able to reach out to veterans Excellent So butch just want to pause for a second and take a look at the live feed Wanted to share that people are tuning in they're watching from really all over the world As far as germany right now it looks like Christina says so very honored to be of service to our military. I couldn't join and so for me This is such a great way to serve Oh awesome. Thank you. I'm not sure what capacity Christina is serving in but thanks to Christina and butch. Thank you for your service as well Thank you Yes, and thank you for your time this morning and then before we wrap up Can you tell us where can veterans go to find out more information about da v and all of the resources available to them? You know our website has a lot of great information on it You know the da v.org and i'll say that again da v.org um You can go there and if you need help or And have some questions about a particular filing for benefits or anything with the va You can click on and type in your zip code and it'll tell pull up the closest resource for you But as well as if you want to volunteer Our website has a great link to show you where you can sign up to be a volunteer as well So da v.org is a great great tool Got it da v.org Last year liya and i were honored to attend the convention in orlando We had a great time and we really enjoyed talking with yes It was it was a good weekend We got to talk with some of your members and I remember liya We talked to a 92 year old world war two in korean war navy veteran who was going to have Be welcomed back with his exchange shopping privileges in store in january and he and his wife They were overjoyed. They lived in columbia south carolina They were going to be able to go to fort jackson to shop in person and he was just blown away He was one of the most memorable people i've ever met in in my life. Um, it was such a great i'm so honored to have been there with y'all and to Be able to talk to him and um help make you know a difference to to those who have served And our great nation so it was great You know, it's a great tool and we got to keep advocating and let make sure everybody knows it's out there I still think we have veterans that are not aware that this Policy changed and we got to keep pushing for that to make sure that again It's such a great great tool a great resource for our disabled veterans to be able to take advantage of We got to make sure that they know about it Awesome. Absolutely. Yeah, well butch man. Thank you so much for for just your dedicated service of In uniform and out of uniform you've been doing A ton for for our country for for a lot of years. So thank you for your Unwavering service to our our country. Thank you for taking some time to chat with us today You shared a bunch of wonderful valuable information out there. So hopefully people get on dav.org Maybe we can post it in our comment section So people have the link this means so much to the airmen soldiers sailors marines and coasties We wish you all the best and thank you for taking care of our veterans Thank you chief and lia. Julie. Thank you. I was truly an honor to be part of it And I really enjoyed my time chatting with you guys today Yeah, and if you don't mind staying uh staying after the live feed, uh, I gotta get some information from you Absolutely It's our pleasure. Thanks, butch. Thanks everybody. Take care. All right. Thank you chat out