The experience each person has in the military varies by branch, unit, and whether they served in wartime or peacetime. But there are also differences between fully enlisting and serving in the National Guard, or – as the British Army calls it – the Territorial Army.

In this interview, host Scott Luton speaks with two Royal Engineer veterans from the British Territorial Army: Dan Reeve (who regular Supply Chain Now listeners will know from Esker) and Rob Chell. They served together in the same troop, and although they didn’t initially get along, they found a way to “figure it out” in the end and became good friends.

Dan and Rob joined Scott to share their stories and thoughts about:

• Why serving in peacetime can be more dangerous than serving in wartime
• The importance of decompression – and the process associated with settling down from a high state of alertness
• Why even journeys taken side by side can be very different from the perspective of each traveler

Scott Luton (00:02):

Welcome to veteran voices. A podcast is dedicated to giving a voice to those that have served in the United States, armed forces on this series, jointly presented by supply chain now, and vets to industry. We sit down with a wide variety of veterans and veteran advocates to gain their insight perspective and stories from serving. We talked with many individuals about their challenging transition from active duty to the private sector, and we discuss some of the most vital issues facing veterans today. Join us for this episode of veteran voices. Hey, good morning, buddy. Scott Luton and special guest host Dan Reeve with here on veteran voices. Welcome to today’s show Dan, how you doing?

Dan Reeve (00:49):

I’m good. Just had some time off in the mountains, uh, with my man Rob here, who’s over from the UK. So, uh, life is good.

Scott Luton (00:57):

Life is good. I can’t wait to dive into Rob’s story. And by the way, I love your, um, and you got snow on these gorgeous looking like pine trees. What you got some wonderful shots behind you.

Dan Reeve (01:09):

It’s cold. It’s cold actually in the mountains last night, we came down and threw an immersion. It was a lot, you know, 10 degrees warmer, 15 degrees warmer that’s Fahrenheit, not real money. So it was, it was a lot warmer up there in the mountains and was down. Then it is right now, down here in Denmark. Yeah.

Scott Luton (01:25):

Well, I love, I love the, the, the shots behind you. So we’ll have to see if we see some, uh, some grizzly bears or some snow, rabbits or something. We’ll see what kinda wildlife might, might move behind you as we go through. Today’s outstanding conversation with a, uh, a wonder full fellow, uh, rural army role engineers, uh, British army role engineers veteran that you serve with, right? Dan?

Dan Reeve (01:51):

Yeah. Rob and I were in the same troop. Can’t say we always liked each other at first, but we came to work together, learned to appreciate one another. Rob was actually my best man, my wedding. So really we the army sort of for together for, to figure it out and we did in the end.

Scott Luton (02:06):

All right. Well, we’re gonna, we’re gonna dive into that story, uh, on today’s episode of, of veteran voices, but Hey, before we do so listeners stay tuned for a great conversation, but quick program note, before we get started, Hey, this program is part of our supply chain. Now family programming today’s show is conducted in partnership with our friends at vets to industry. You can learn more about this powerful nonprofit that’s serving so many folks, so many veterans and families at vets, the numeral two industry.org. Okay. So with no further due, Dan’s been speaking, uh, about our guests today as if he’s not even in the same room with him. And he is, this will be the first time we we’re interviewing a couple of, of veterans that serve together on the same show. So we’re really excited about today’s conversations. Welcome in Rob chill veteran, again, of the rural engineers, which is a core within the British army, Rob, how you doing very well. Thank you. It is so neat to hear, to meet you, I guess, I guess the 20, 22 version of meeting, because I don’t know Rob, if you know this or not, but your ears have been burning because on a couple of Dan’s appearances with us, Dan, I believe you’ve referenced Rob a couple times, right?

Dan Reeve (03:13):

I didn’t say anything good, but you know, maybe

Rob Chell (03:17):

Five. Huh?

Scott Luton (03:19):

All right. So let’s get an opportunity to get to know Rob chill a little bit better. So Rob, let’s start with the universal question that, that, that drives so many conversations here. Where did you grow up and give us a few anecdotes about your upbringing?

Rob Chell (03:33):

Well, I grew up, I suppose, mainly in DHA, which is in the middle of, uh, Britain pretty much countryside. Um, and I probably spent most of my time outside rather than inside sort of watching television or playing ball games.

Scott Luton (03:52):

Okay. What, what was your favorite thing to do outside?

Rob Chell (03:55):

What is a child or as a sort of a teenager?

Scott Luton (03:59):

Well, do the that’s

Rob Chell (04:01):

I think it’s just exploring sort of adventure sort of declining things. Just, just, you know, being quite physical but outside. Right. And I was aware when I was youngster, I was aware that although I had friends that did that with me, that a lot of children of my age, you know, back then spent a lot of time inside the house rather than outside. And of course I was encouraged by my father to spend as much time outside as well, probably just to give him a break.

Scott Luton (04:33):

Were you so, um, did I don’t know about y’all but when I was growing up as a kid and Dan little love to get your take too, we loved a good old fashioned dirt bomb war. Right. So I grew, I grew up in South Carolina, we had a lot of clay and, you know, especially after a rain, you’d have all these dirt bombs and we would have the best time hitting each other with these clumps of, of, of clay. Is that ring a bell for your upbringing? Uh, Rob.

Dan Reeve (05:00):

Oh yeah. We, um, when I was in the Scouts, we did, uh, bags of flour. We’d have flower walls at night.

Rob Chell (05:07):

What was the commission of the elders or, um,

Dan Reeve (05:10):

Yeah. Yeah. It was like an organized sort of ambush, two sides with go each other with, uh, that was kind of before the days of paintball and laser tag and all that stuff. The Scouts would camp out

Rob Chell (05:22):

Know way.

Dan Reeve (05:23):

Yeah. It was in Norfolk.

Rob Chell (05:24):

Yeah. Probably Norfolk thing.

Scott Luton (05:25):

Bags of flour. Is that what you said, Dan?

Dan Reeve (05:28):

Yeah. Like little bags and you know, a flower, you throw them each other and it

Scott Luton (05:32):

Love it

Dan Reeve (05:33):

Come away. White. I suppose we

Rob Chell (05:35):

Made water bombs. That’s folding bits of paper up.

Scott Luton (05:39):

Okay.

Rob Chell (05:40):

That’s an EST thing, but

Scott Luton (05:42):

Hey, different strokes, different folks, whatever it takes to, to help fuel your fight against your friends as you’re outside, enjoying the outdoors, uh, growing up. What else? Um, Dan, uh, you’re gonna ask Rob about what made him join the army here in just a second, but what else sticks out? Let’s talk about food for a second. Darbyshire is that where you grew up again? Rob?

Rob Chell (06:03):

Pretty much in Darbyshire.

Scott Luton (06:04):

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So what, what, what was, uh, what was a go-to food dish that your folks would make that, uh, I mean, you might miss about your childhood. That’s

Rob Chell (06:13):

Pretty, that’s difficult, honestly, because my mum was quite a good cook. So pretty much all the food was good. I don’t really know. I can’t think of anything that was, uh, in particular that I really liked, I suppose, stews. Okay. You know, stews and pies. Okay. Um, chips or fries. You course chips, fries over here.

Scott Luton (06:33):

Don’t you?

Rob Chell (06:33):

French fries. So that sort of thing was pretty good.

Scott Luton (06:38):

Roast beef one last thing. One last question. Did you grow up a sports fan? Did you follow any teams as a kid?

Rob Chell (06:44):

No.

Scott Luton (06:45):

No, really. So it was outside exploring the outdoors, uh, at your dad’s behest, it sounds like.

Rob Chell (06:53):

Yeah. Yeah. I couldn’t couldn’t sound sport. You

Dan Reeve (06:55):

Must have got into shooting quite early.

Rob Chell (06:57):

Uh, well, yeah, I’m shooting with my father probably less, you know, less than 10 years old. I was probably shooting

Dan Reeve (07:03):

With him. And when I say shooting, I, I assume that you mean is more, is it more like in the UK game, hunting birds, rabbit Fox.

Rob Chell (07:11):

Yeah. I, I guess it started off with, um, sort of, um, going out with him shooting. My grandma was that had lived in Wales in the, um, in the valleys in Wales and she had a small house, but with some land she used to walk around the fields, shoot a rabbit, bring it back, you know, paw it really got it. And, and then, um, cook it up for dinner.

Scott Luton (07:36):

Okay. So you were so here in the states, we call that hunting and it sounds like you were hunting at an early age or shooting as it, uh, might be. How do Y all refer to it there?

Rob Chell (07:47):

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Going, going, um, I suppose we call it rough shooting.

Scott Luton (07:53):

I think

Rob Chell (07:54):

Shooting refer to it. Rough, rough shooting. Yeah.

Scott Luton (07:56):

And you still enjoy it to this day?

Rob Chell (07:58):

Well, I’m not against it, but, um, I do a lot less of it than I than what I did when I was younger. Yes. I

Scott Luton (08:08):

Gotcha.

Rob Chell (08:09):

I think when I, when I was younger, I really enjoyed doing it with my father. And then I went on in my, you know, teens and my twenties doing that. And then I guess something changed. And I don’t know if it’s, I don’t know if it’s just the, uh, the process of getting older, but I, but something changed inside. And I started perhaps, you know, where used to, used to observe the behavior of these animals. Right. And I suppose now I sort of, um, appreciate the animals, you know, in a different way. So I just observe them and then let them be,

Scott Luton (08:47):

Hey, I’m with you, Rob I’m with you. I, we could have a fuller conversation around that. I’m a, and particularly I’m a big bird fan right outside my home studio here. I’ve set some pole feeders up and it is amazing how much more of appreciated blue Jays and Bluebird and Cardinals and gold benches. And it, it really to kinda kind of to your point, but I’m gonna use a different word. It’s mesmerizing. You know, when, when I’ve got, uh, you know, 20 birds special, you, when the sunlight hits these things, uh, at certain time in the morning, and then in the afternoon, it is absolutely mesmerized in the city, these birds, uh, feed and interact and stuff. But, uh, we’ll have you back on the bird podcast. Maybe next time you come, uh, Rob, uh, so Dan, so Dan, we wanna get into, uh, kind of how y’all serve together and you both wore uniform. So where do we wanna start? What, what do we, what do you wanna ask Rob next?

Dan Reeve (09:38):

Well, it’s funny. I asked Rob this question just yesterday. We were discussing, you know, Rob, we were talking about how we, we both ended up in, in three troop, 5 75 fields called 73 engineer regimen. That was, um, effectively for the American listeners. It’s it’s it was a national guard regimen. Didn’t call it guard in the UK. They called it the territory army. Well, most people assume the territorial army didn’t deploy well in 2003. And that’s in the S they proved that was not the case. You know, the army needs ballot, casualties reserves you are going to,

Rob Chell (10:11):

And, and also the TA. And I think it’s great now, but the TA certain back then made up one third, right. Of the armed forces on operations.

Dan Reeve (10:22):

Didn’t they? Right. General. But I think the public and, and many didn’t certainly when I deployed even ESCA, they were a little surprised, very supportive. I’ve gotta say that about ESCA, very supportive of my deployment. You know, I came back in deployment of ESCA, say, oh, by the way, you know, you’ve got four weeks vacation to have and six months, wow. Seven months away. No, no, we, we not, we think this is really important. You go going have vacation. Okay. Thanks very much. And when you get that sort of support from a, an employer’s fantastic, but the question for you

Scott Luton (10:53):

And Dan, one, one quick thing, I just wanna level set for the handful of this that may have missed your earlier appearances. When you say ESCA, you’re talking about the, the worldwide technology firm that you work work with and work for. Right.

Dan Reeve (11:06):

Did indeed. I’m talking about ESCA where, uh, the company’s a global organization, a thousand employees across 13, 14 locations around the world. And I joined ESCA very young. I was, I think I was, uh, 21 and, um, probably guys think I was deployed in 2003. So 19, I’ve been there four or five, six years.

Scott Luton (11:29):

Okay. They’re really supportive. And it sounds like y’all, uh, I know you wanna ask Rob this question, really one, one quick follow up, I think ask her tens to invest in its veteran, uh, team members and, and recruit veterans and which, which we can’t get enough of companies that really deliberately bake it into their strategy of finding veterans and giving them great job opportunities. So love to hear, uh, that aspect of the escrow culture.

Dan Reeve (11:57):

There’s a reason for it don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t mean just cause somebody’s a veteran. Well, that person automatically gets the job. What, what it means is if we think our criteria skills, experience, attitude, results, cognitive skills, and the habits we call it, search Syria. Often what we’re looking for are, are they self-starters, can they keep going through tough times? Will they study and apply themselves? Will they ask for help? Do they have grit? And sometimes folks have said to me, Dan, you know, you, what you look for is just, uh, these athletes in Colorado, like to ski climb and do the stuff that

Rob Chell (12:32):

You do.

Dan Reeve (12:33):

That’s not true. You know, what, what, what, what we care about is folks that can be humble and listen, can learn, can work and apply themselves. And we, we found veterans across. We have, uh, junior positions in the company in sales, the sales development, uh, staff. We have two air force veterans there. We have, we’ve had veterans in our it group information to technology. One of the leaders within the sales team, uh, gentleman called Chris moley. We give him a hard time cuz he was in the air force like yourself. And whenever we go back country fly fish. And I, I often, if I should, you know, make his bed and put a Tet on. So we have a number, one of our sales leaders, a former, a Naval chat, us Navy of them. He served in the carrier battle group and he was a swimmer. So we see that the, the veterans often bring experience, drive tenacity, the ability to play nice in the sand pit with other people.

Scott Luton (13:28):

Love it. I, I agree with you. I think it’s a, win-win all the way around. So I love that element and I’m glad we, we brought that up to today. So, so bringing up full circle, perhaps let’s talk about Rob, uh, what made you join the army? Right? Dan? That’s the, that’s the burning question, right?

Dan Reeve (13:43):

Yeah. What made you join the army? How did you end in three? True far true. How, you know, how did I get someone lucky? What happened, man? Did you end up there? You

Rob Chell (13:52):

Know, we were very unlucky. I think, I think we really started off was when I was going through teenager. I mentioned earlier that, you know, I spent a lot of time outside, um, shooting, just, you know, climbing, exploring in the countryside. And then as I was just at the beginning of my twenties, I realized that a number of things. So I realized that a lot of my friends didn’t wanna do any of that. So if I did it, I either did it by myself or just with one or two other friends. And the more I immersed myself in the countryside in my early twenties. So I realized that, um, I had less and less people that were interested in doing that. That was one reason. There was another reason my grandfather and my father and various other members of the family were in the armed forces

Scott Luton (14:46):

Legacy.

Rob Chell (14:48):

Yeah. And I think that’s, I think that’s a thing for quite a lot of people that when they’re, you know, parents or other members of the family are in the forces, they sort of have an interest and, and, uh, want to join. And my thirst for adventure and sort of a sense of hardship because adventure is when you’re doing things adventurous. It is hard mentally and physically. So I think my thirst for that was there. And I think I’d started sort of perhaps the, the journey of trying to discover sort of, I don’t know who you are or what makes you tick or, you know, that sort of, that sort of, uh, thing. So they, they were really the, the driving, the driving. So there was one more, I, I felt that I was very shy. So I felt, I remember being, if I was in, um, a group of people, I felt that I was quite shy compared to, uh, the other people in the group. And I thought, well, you know, the army is gonna beat that out of me. So I think that was really more or less the reasons.

Scott Luton (15:55):

So you, if I heard you correctly, uh, you were in your early twenties when you joined the British army, is that right?

Rob Chell (16:02):

Yeah, I think I was, we think I was 20 it’s a long time ago now. So do forgive me, but I think I was 20, 23, 22, 23, something like that, I think.

Scott Luton (16:15):

Okay. So, so you joined the British army and then talk to us about how you determined what you were gonna do and, and what you did and where you went.

Rob Chell (16:25):

Well, the first thing to do is you always interview, you know, interview, whatever you’re going to go into. So instead of just joining the British army, I, I went and interviewed a load of different cat badges and

Dan Reeve (16:37):

Of units we refer to cat badge is like a, it’s a shortened form of saying this unit or that unit, cause each unit in the, just like the us, you know, different regimens cause battalions or battalion different regimens of cause will have different vari or different

Rob Chell (16:53):

Can batch. And they’ll have, you know, you’ll have logistics or, or, you know, a group within the army that drive LORs and distribute materials and goods and stuff, and you’ll have another unit that’ll do something else. So, so I interviewed, I think it was, I same to you yesterday. Wasn’t I, um, I interviewed, um, the Staffords that were a, at the time were a wrecky platoon,

Dan Reeve (17:17):

So that’s infantry

Rob Chell (17:18):

And they were the ones I wanted to join all along. I felt that my, my skills of spending most of my life in the countryside, um, would sort of, you know, suit that sort of unit really well. So I interviewed them and then I interview the para medics.

Dan Reeve (17:37):

So that’s paramedics. Yeah. That’ll be it airborne airborne, which would be a division of the parachute regimen.

Scott Luton (17:43):

Okay.

Dan Reeve (17:46):

Forget. Yeah. The Airborn power. Yeah.

Scott Luton (17:48):

Rob, what I’m hearing you, you, you interviewed with all the toughest units, sounds like to me, the British army, you weren’t messing around, you were, you were ready to see some actions what I’m hearing, I guess.

Rob Chell (18:00):

So, but I guess you want to go in knowing what those units can sort of offer you and what you can offer them. So I did the other two were little, which are well, you know, delivering and picking up materials and things like that. And then, um, and then what was another one? Yeah. And I wanted the, I wanted to do the, but they were changing. They were just about to change to SF, which is sustained fire, which is a operating with machine guns. That sort of thing. I didn’t feel that though, that sounded pretty boring. So I decided dip out on that and then, oh yeah. I, um, I went to the Royal engineers, which happened to be fairly local to me and they seemed to interview quite well. Um, so I, I just thought, well, I’ll give them a shot.

Scott Luton (18:47):

So the Royal engineers is what it was. That was gonna be your cat badge if I heard, heard that right. Badge. Okay. So, and that’s where you met Dan, is that right?

Rob Chell (18:58):

Very, very shortly after. Yeah. Joining, I met Dan. Yes.

Scott Luton (19:02):

Okay. Yeah.

Rob Chell (19:02):

We took a, I dunno why we did take an instant dislike to each other.

Scott Luton (19:07):

Yeah. Why? All right. So for our listener, I’ve heard a little bit of this story, Dan, but why didn’t, y’all like each other,

Rob Chell (19:14):

I guess you were quite bossy working.

Dan Reeve (19:16):

Yeah, I think I was young, you know, given a little bit of rank. I was a section leader effectively and I’d been in the unit two or three years before and I’d, I’d joined. I think I was the youngest corporal in the, in, in that regimen to be my, I was very young and maybe I was a bit full of myself. And I think also Rob came in, you know, we talk about Rob’s experience with land rovers and improvising adapting as a farm boy effectively as city slicker. And I think perhaps I thought I knew knew it all. I knew enough and I’d been in this regimen longer than two or three years longer than Rob and Rob came in with, you know, probably some smart ideas and some pauses this to, is this the right way to do it, or maybe there’s another way of looking at this. And I think it was only when we got sort of forced to work together on a survival exercise that we realized, huh, maybe he’s all right after all.

Rob Chell (20:05):

And, and I think that, I think that’s true what Dan has said that, you know, he was very irritating, but I think something that, that I had, which, which has to be, you know, uh, bod is that I don’t think I had a very good way of, of putting over maybe an idea or, or a thought. So I think, I think partly, um, I don’t, I don’t put all the blame down speed, but I think partly I was blame as well, because I think that when I had a good idea, I knew it was gonna be a good idea, but I didn’t, I didn’t voice it or approach, approach it correctly, which obviously irritated. Um, Dan, because I guess he felt, you know, undermined or, you know, um, or perhaps even, you know, if you’re given a situation and you don’t really know quite what to do, you might feel a bit inadequate, especially if you are higher up the chain, you’re, you’re sort of expected to know. And yeah, I think that we learn to sort of communicate better with each other and also, and also not big bike. So

Scott Luton (21:09):

Y’all bridged those divides. Cause you went on to do some, some big things together. Dan, you were gonna add something there.

Dan Reeve (21:14):

No, I think the army taught us one of the things they stressed in the leadership training was you don’t have to know, even though sometimes often in your army, you were expected to, but you really Tru leaders don’t have to have all the right answers. What you want to do is get, be able to encourage your staff, to have the freedom, the agility, and feel safe, to suggest options. And then you say, great, keep going with that idea. Or that’s a good idea. We’re gonna take it and adjust it slightly. And I think that’s one of the things, you know, I finished reading a book called multiplier. It’s all about how you can get outta the way and, and, and, and support your staff and get 50 up to 50% more productivity. And, and, and I, I realized a lot of it was back to that idea, which is you don’t need to have don’t steal all the oxygen in your room.

Dan Reeve (21:58):

Yes. I’m pretty guilty of that in my life. Um, have a couple of coins, but use less chips. It’s almost like you sit at the poker table. I’ve only got a couple of chips and as a leader, I need to let every else sort of maybe speak and, and, and, and contribute. And at the right time, I’ll shape this. So I think I was mistaken going into the army, thinking that, yes, it’s the Sergeant major’s style of leadership. That’s important. Well, actually what I think we both discovered from very good man managers, including great warrant of in, in our, who came and worked alongside us is they listened. They understood you. And then they should sort of guided you and show illustrated the way to go forward. And so I think great man management, it’s not a case that it doesn’t exist within the army or the military forces often. It does in a often, some folks can take it and transition that into civilian street and, and very easily others. It can be more of a challenge.

Scott Luton (22:57):

Agree. Yeah. It

Rob Chell (22:57):

Takes a while, takes a while for that to bond it, it’s part of, part of forming a team, I guess, that you, you know, you sort of, for instance, what we were talking about earlier that, you know, he, he was a section commander, I wasn’t at the time and you are all, you all bring to the table, a wealth of knowledge and you’ve got to work well, he’s gotta work out who has that knowledge and that understanding and ability, but also then’s gotta work out, you know, what, what the strengths and weaknesses are as well. And then as that sort of bond is forming, I guess certain boundaries are broken down and you learn perhaps how, or for me how to pull across a suggestion. So it sounds like a suggestion rather than dictatorship.

Dan Reeve (23:44):

I think when you, as you do things in your army, you go through tough things or tough times together, maybe trust develops. You’re like, okay, that guy or girl was weirdy, it was cold. It was wet dark. That was hard, right. That person’s always there when we do these things, maybe sometimes when you like that person or not a bond starts to develop. Cause you’re like that person went through that, that person stuck it out. Agreed. That customer surprised me. I mean, wow. I mean, and I’ve seen that. There’s been times when I remember working with somebody from a different country and I caught my own bias. We were doing a as a command exercise in, in, in lake Louise on the ice in Canada. And I remember thinking, uh, my own bias is getting in the way and I recognize them in a minute. This guy’s pretty good. Right. But I, my bias is I can’t really understand the chap cuz his language differential, just like you probably can’t understand me cuz of my accent, but I realized hang on, I’m I’m guilty being biased again. Right. And what I think the army did is often, it, it shoved you together with people from all different walks of life, all different social, social, economic status, the

Rob Chell (24:50):

Full statue really.

Dan Reeve (24:50):

Oh it was amazing. You know, people from not even in the, the mainland of people from Jamaica or, or other parts of the Commonwealth Australians and you had to sort of look past that. I think there was a point there were times when you don’t even notice someone was a different color, right. Different, a different from a different region. They were, they were wearing the same cat badge as you or they were not. That’s what you noticed. Oh he’s from the goon guards. We don’t see them very often or you know, he’s from, he’s from the Airborn. Right. Well, cool. We don’t get to work with those guys that often. So it wasn’t really, you know, I think you saw pass those things that maybe, I don’t know, people always see past them in, in civilian street. I don’t know.

Rob Chell (25:32):

It’s a great opportunity to be immersed with a full spectrum of society because I think normally in society you stick within a certain, a certain sort of, I don’t think it’s a conscious thing, but a certain sort of, you know, you might, you know, go on the fringes of that, but you just eat within that sort of that area. But in the, in the army, you definitely get thrown in amongst a full spectrum of, um, of individuals and experiences.

Scott Luton (26:01):

And that’s a wonderful thing as jar, both a testing too. So let’s talk, give us an example, uh, you know, time won’t do it justice to kinda walk through probably all the things y’all did as part of the Royal engineers, which Dan, I think the nickname, the Sapers Sapers is that, uh, part, is that nickname for the Royal engineer? Is that right?

Dan Reeve (26:20):

Yeah. It comes from the first world war. So, uh, Sapers were responsible for trench warfare and uh, well, not just French warfare, but I SAP Poer in French. You know that certainly when you first joined the Royal engineers, you know, you’re not known as a private or trooper you’re known as a Sapper. Right. Then you go on corporal Sergeant, et cetera.

Scott Luton (26:43):

Yeah. So, so Rob, give us an example of the work, uh, of a project y’all did, uh, together. What, what, what made up one of your projects or deployments or you name y’all? Well, um,

Rob Chell (26:58):

We, we didn’t didn’t often do stuff together. We would try on different sort of training exercises and things. Yeah. I mean, we, we did, um, we down south, we put in a, uh, or refurbished a shooting bus on a range and it was really, uh, horrendous weather. Wasn’t great. And it was very sort of flat open ground next to the sea. So we were bombarded for about three days, three, four days visible. We were just rain and wind, you know, horizontal rain when it, when it hits inside needles. Um, that was pretty, that was pretty, um, taxing.

Dan Reeve (27:36):

We, I literally got the plane I’d been on the sales event in Dominican Republic, got Ary, got off the plane, sick, anything drove down there and we just worked night day, did this job. And I think, you know, we didn’t enjoy at the time, but we also knew it was kind of amusing and funny that we still, we just had to do it and we just got off with

Rob Chell (27:56):

It. And we went to have the day R and R, but because of the weather it was taking, um, it was taking so long. So we ended up having to work our day, our day of R and I seems to revert. So

Dan Reeve (28:08):

We did, we did deploy together. You asked about deployments. So, uh, both Rob and I, we did a lot of outdoor adventure. Rob spoke about that earlier. We went and did two week trip to the Mon trip and pure. We, we went to Nepal as a regimen four weeks in Nepal. And uh, we organize our own trip to climb Mon bla and France. That’s right. Yeah. Four of us from our troop. So certainly the army encouraged and fueled us to pursue that passion and, and that adventure and that planning and that self-reliance. And then, uh, there’s a point when he and I were stood on a peak in the end, Anna circuit in Nepal, we were there with our regimen and Rob says, you know, this will come out of cost. Don’t want something in the terms, this doesn’t come free. And sure enough, about six months later, we were stood in the desert in, uh, uh, Ali, a air base in, uh, in Northern Kuwait. I told you, you know, and sure enough, we were there. So we were deployed as part of operation tele, which was British Army’s contribution 2003. This is where we separated. Cause Rob was sort of allocated to, uh, one squadron, although we were in, uh, reserve, uh, guard squadron was together, right. We were in the same back home, but,

Rob Chell (29:23):

But we’ve been pulled from

Dan Reeve (29:25):

Different. Yeah. They don’t do that. The America as much. I, so it’s a different mantra. I think,

Rob Chell (29:29):

I think the, I may be wrong here, but I think the process at the time was that the British army wanted certain expertise and they looked at their system computer system, no doubt, and worked out who had all these expertise that they wanted. So they drew on those. So we happened to be called up together and we were with some other laps from the same troop, as well as the same squadron and the same regimen. But then there was a whole host of other people from other units and cat badges and stuff all over the place, whether they were, uh, TA reserves, retired reserves, aren’t retired, aren’t they? So we were all full together and then we did some pre-deployment training and then we got kitted out with some kits and then, and then we flew out in a civilian PLA yeah. Cause I always thought, I dunno why, but I always thought we’d fly out on a C one 30 and sort of touch down and jump out the back and you know, ready to go. But we didn’t even flew out in a civilian plane.

Dan Reeve (30:30):

Well, I think what was going on back then is they first we thought the Royal airport had got the, get us there and subsequently spoke to my friend who was a staff Sergeant in the command, no logistic regain. He said, no, it just means you guys weren’t important enough on, on the task of ignore it. He said, you know, so, and on top of that, I think what happened is we got there and, and this is why I think that there is, it may have changed, but there was a fundamental difference. Traditionally, I believe the national guard or the, uh, the army reserve in America, mobilizes and deploys as a unit. Right. But the Brits may, I think they’re changing this now, the Brits have typically been, we have you train in your local squadron troop and when you go to war, we’re just gonna sprinkle you across these regiments.

Dan Reeve (31:14):

So the regimen will go to 110 or 115% of normal strength cuz you are basically a battle casualty preserve and your job is to help us plug holes. And so that was, for me, that was a bit frustrating because we had always trained together for years and years and years yet we, and, and when we went over there, we lost some of that cohesion that trust that experience. I think Rob had a different experience where Rob coming from, you know, as a cons, Rob obviously runs a construction business in, in, in, in, in his normal civilian life. It all had all that experiences, improvising and adapting as a farmer. And suddenly they’ve got a pipeline to build in nor in Southern Iraq. And so Rob looks at it with a different set of eyes to the regular, uh, active duty soldiers and says there’s an easier way, more efficient, a way for us to accomplish task. Let me show you how. Yeah,

Rob Chell (32:05):

So, so, so once, once we landed in, in Q eight on, on the air basin and we sort of got, um, you have to sign in to the theater at war, just let em know that you’re there. And, and then we, we got separated then. And then I was, I was put with a, a unit. So I spent, I was attached for the pretty much, the whole period I attached to 40 and 42 rural Marine commandos. And so I left, I left this air base in QA, went over to the border and then, um, join, um, more attached to this, this, uh, this unit. And then we were tasked, the first job we were tasked with was to put a water distribution point in. So the unit I’d been attached to broken down. So one, one section did the, uh, the pump house, one section did water of purification. My section that I was attached to did the, uh, the pipeline, which was 2.2 kilometers long. And then another section did the water distribution point, which basically taps and that’s force it for you just to, you know, so, so we would,

Scott Luton (33:16):

Or SPECT and the south spigots is what we’d call that in the south there. Uh, Dan,

Rob Chell (33:22):

So then I was, I was sent out in a R to join my, uh, my section and, um, they’d been out there, I think, uh, pretty much most of the morning anyway, I sort of jumped out the back of the, uh, the Rover, uh, land Rover. And I didn’t really know, uh, there was no one to introduc me to them. I didn’t really know what I’m really supposed to do. And some of the communication issues that we had in the earlier sort of, you know, came to my mind and I thought, well, you know, I’ll approach it in a similar sort of manner. So walked over there, introduced myself to them. And they’d been there for several hours trying of put this pipeline together, push fit pipe, basically to start with. And, um, they weren’t getting on very well. I think the temperature was when we first got out, there was about 48, 48 Celsius.

Rob Chell (34:12):

It went up to 52 Celsius, I think in, and, um, I was standing there talking to the section commander and I knew how they could sort of speed up this process a lot quicker. But I knew that if I was going to offer any sort of, um, suggestions had to do it in a, in a very careful manner, not to stand on anyone’s feet. So thinking back to the issues that Dan and I had together, I suggested to the section commander that I might have some ideas that might speed up the, uh, the process and, um, which I, I suggested to him and he went away. He came back with all this stuff that we needed and, uh, the, the pipeline started going in a lot quicker. And I think my experience of my whole journey, uh, in the theater of war with, with, with that unit, I think that I just hit it off with them straight away. And I was able just to suggest something that was credible important, made life easier for everyone. Then I was just, I think I was just on a, uh, a role there from, from then

Scott Luton (35:19):

I was so really quick for listeners 52 degrees Celsius is 125.6 degrees Fahrenheit. So it was hot and I’ve been to Kuwait. I had one TDY in the air force and it was 45 days at, at, um, algebra bar air S bar in Kuwait, which is no longer around, I don’t think, uh, Dan and Rob, I think they shut that. At least I don’t think us has a presence here anymore. If I’m not mistaken,

Dan Reeve (35:46):

I sold about 20, um, 20 chocolate Magnum ice creams from the, uh, DAC there Going in there. And they didn’t know who we were. There was seven, eight grapes on, on site, down the airfield of all the British, uh, hard aircraft shelters and, and munitions. And we went in there every day. And basically we couldn’t believe you, the, the Americans were given out Magnum ice creams. So we went back for seconds and thirds every day.

Scott Luton (36:13):

Well

Dan Reeve (36:15):

Like, wow, you really like these, these, these screens and our reply was your army or your military is really good at morale, right. You know, ours is not, so we’re gonna keep coming back, even McDonalds out there

Scott Luton (36:27):

Pizza. We had,

Scott Luton (36:30):

Hey, those 45 days we ate great. Uh, we had lobsters and steak every Thursday night in the chow hall there. Um, as our recall, but you know, one of the things you, you, you reminded me Dan and, and Rob, I’m not sure if you ever spent a little time at Al bar, we were able to tour the actual, we went beyond just the American installation, which is really pretty small. And we toured the, the hardened bunker aircraft bunkers that the French sold to the Kuwaiti government in the eighties. And they were sold the French sold these hardened shelters that they were, they were indestructible. And it was so cool to be able to go into those things. I still have some old Polaroid pictures of where bunker busters cause Saddam used those hardened shelters to hide aircraft. But our munitions, the, the coalition munitions were able to bust through those things. They were big, all holes. You see all the rebar hanging down cause their aircraft Sadam, Husain hidden, there were not hidden for long. Uh, so it was really cool. Oh, story

Dan Reeve (37:31):

Goes further. This story goes further when I was at Ali M, which is just north of there, there was this fleet of MI garage by jets in disrepair. I’m thinking this is a very expensive fleet of equipment,

Scott Luton (37:44):

Right?

Dan Reeve (37:45):

I’ve just running it or in dispa. I understand this. And then I found the story was because the, um, the French, you know, the Kuwait, the, you know, the qua said the French, there was hardened aircraft shelters. You sold us were subpar the American themes in their pav, two lazy guided bombs,

Scott Luton (38:03):

Right?

Dan Reeve (38:04):

So, um, we’re not gonna pay you all the money we owe you. And then if we apparently the rumor is, you know, the French said, well, we are not gonna send you any more spare parts or maintain those spider jets. If you, if you are not gonna play ball and pairs for the, the hang is, I don’t know, three sides dirty your story, but that’s why I,

Scott Luton (38:21):

I love that. I’m gonna start adding that element, your story, uh, to, as I talk about those hardened shelters, Hey, the business of military financing and equipment and, and fleet fleet maintenance. All right. So we’re gonna talk again,

Rob Chell (38:35):

You work for a French

Dan Reeve (38:35):

Company. I know,

Scott Luton (38:38):

Uh, we’re gonna talk about Rob’s transition in just a minute, but one final question before Dan, you ask him about that, you know, communication and communication skills is certainly one of the themes thus far as we are halfway through our conversation here today. And Rob, that strikes me as one of the key skills you developed in the rural army with the, uh, the British army with the rural, uh, engineers. Is that, is that accurate?

Rob Chell (39:02):

Yeah, I think so. I think, I think it teaches you because it teaches you to get on with a whole spectrum of people. And I think generally speaking, if you are upset with someone in the army, you generally know about it one way or another, uh, it’s never really very pleasant and you, you have to hone your, your skills, you know, quickly to, you know, to get on with it. And then through your normal training training is a basic soldier or going on to being section commander, you are ex it’s explained to you how to communicate clearly and precisely, and not put a lot of waffle in your communication, which can sometimes, you know, mislead people or they, you know, attention span starts going and they’re not listening to you. So, yeah, I I’d say so.

Scott Luton (39:51):

Okay. All right. Good stuff. I agree with you. All right. So Dan, we love talking trend around here and certain we certainly wanna, uh, learn more about Rob’s transition, right?

Dan Reeve (40:00):

Yeah. I think it, it, the transition question is interesting Rob, because you and I, I believe that our transition and, and like many were in the national guard and us reserves will understand our transition. We went through, I believe transit almost every weekend, every drill period, every Wednesday night, every fortnight and, and all the extra duties we did. And we would have a period where we’d go back to the civilian world and you were running your own business. So how did that transition work? And I, I do believe that transition when we came back from Iraq was a bit harder, remember worried, well, I remember how this software operates. Well, I even remember how to engage with clients and customers and sales software. I was worried, you know, this is just head trash and, and over time it did come back over time. I had to change my attitude. And what about you? How was your transition coming

Rob Chell (40:54):

Back from Iran? Yeah,

Dan Reeve (40:55):

Well,

Rob Chell (40:56):

To start with, I was out in the theater of war. It, it had just changed actually gone from a war state or liberation state to whatever the state is actually peacekeeping, I guess, peacekeeping. Yeah. Which, which is often more dangerous than the, the war state, because traditionally in war, you know, where the enemy is, but afterwards they’re sort of, they start sort of out flaking you and they also

Dan Reeve (41:23):

Got the

Rob Chell (41:23):

Uniforms and they take off uniforms and there’s IEDs and well there’s IDs anyway, but just, it, it starts getting more complicated. And the, you know, instead of it being quite a clear picture in front of you, you really have to be, you know, on your rear guard. So I was there for the, for pretty much the full six months, right. To the end. And then, uh, um, I think a few weeks after the end of the war, and then I was sent back to the UK. And so I was basically, as I see it now, I was plucked out of a theater of war and then put on civic street within about 16 hours. I think that was it, time wise, and we’d been working or operating sort of your normal sort of working day would be 18 to 20 hour days. And then the four hours, let’s say you did 20 hours, four hours.

Rob Chell (42:16):

Wouldn’t just be sleep. You’d do admin, like cleaning weapons, sorting your kit out, sorting your food out, getting supplies, whatever it might be. And then whatever time’s left over, you go to sleep. So I’ve gone from that 16 hours later. I mean, there’s C street. And I sort of, I remember to myself almost like doing a, uh, self check to see if I was, you know, physically right. And mentally alright, or what have, and I thought, well, I’m right, I’m fine. And I, I think my first stop was, um, to see my grandmother, cuz it was just on the, the natural course back to my home and my grandmother opposite from my father. Um, when I got there, I had a quick chat with them and they were about to go to the theater. So my father asked me if I, my grandmother, a lip to the theater.

Rob Chell (43:01):

So I gave her a lip to the theater and she was by herself because my father hadn’t turned up with his friends. So I thought I’d go in. So I was just in, I don’t normally wear this, but I was just in a t-shirt track suit bottom to a pair of trainers, probably looking a bit scruffy, uh, with my grandmother in taking her to the theater. So I went in, sat her down and I went up to get a drink and I felt that I was being ignored. Cause everyone was in pretty much black tie, you know, um, formal, formal, formal dress, both I right. And I was at the bar and it was my turn to, uh, take the order, uh, to put my order in. And barman looked over the top of me and took the order from the guy behind me. And I swung around.

Rob Chell (43:51):

I’m not proud of this, but I swung around as I was spinning round, I realized what I was about to do and I managed to stop. I dunno if he knew what I was about to do, but I knew what I was about to do and I managed to stop and I, I eyeballed in, but I just turned around, placed more, got my drinks and then gave them to my grandmother. And I realized that it was probably gonna take a bit of time to sort of settle down from that high state of, of alertness I guess. And I think it took well for me, I think 18, 18 months to 20 or to two years to just come down from that sort of just that state of alertness, you know? Mm. Uh, it’s pretty hard.

Scott Luton (44:33):

So naturally that made your transition as, as you were, you know, finding employment and a job in the private sector, it made that more challenging.

Rob Chell (44:42):

I think actually I think it probably didn’t because I think I used it as a, as like, um, a medicine or, or sort of therapy to sort of take me away from, from what I’d been, if I subjected to and just allowed me to focus on something else. So I think I found it quite, uh, soothing and rewarding and I was probably a bit too, probably a bit too sort of addicted to it really. Cause it sort of took you away from, you know, various thoughts and feelings and

Dan Reeve (45:13):

Stuff. I think we went out, we didn’t expect to come back with any baggage, so to speak and I don’t personally feel, I was very lucky. Didn’t get a scratch, glad I went and did it all, but I don’t in the way going out there. I don’t think anybody ever said, by the way, when you come back, I believe American, unit’s good at this. We’re gonna decompress or of two weeks. Yeah. Why don’t you mention, go back to your families?

Rob Chell (45:34):

I, I, I think, I think, sorry about that down. I think that, I don’t know why we were just sent straight back, but I think very soon after that, that they did send guys over to places. Like, was it the ZOS essential Cyprus to for, I don’t know, couple of weeks or so to, to sort of deep depressurize. Yeah. And although if I’d been given that opportunity to do that, I know that I wouldn’t have wanted to do it. I mean, in the army, you don’t often get given an opportunity. You’re told what to do, but it was pretty, pretty harsh just to, uh, just come straight back, just plus out to that environment and just put into the other, you know, different environments,

Dan Reeve (46:17):

Which is funny. Cause you, you always heard stories about during the second world war, the first world war people would, um, be thrown back into the working environment in the UK and, and society knew that didn’t work or he would never speak about his time in the service until he just before he passed away. Or I think we knew the British army knew better in some ways. And, but, or, but for some reason it wasn’t there wasn’t planned. And now I think with the, with the recognition of PTSD, et cetera, I think the British army and the us army, uh, the national guard are a lot better at looking out for it, recognizing it. I, I, I remember when I remember to parade and we got back and the friend said, I asked him how he is doing. He said, I’m struggling a bit to be honest.

Dan Reeve (47:01):

Mm. And, uh, well, and I said, why, and I don’t think I, I should have investigated more, but we were talking about again, he got separated a different unit. And, and he said something like on the first night it was going across the border, the fed, which was the local militia in Southern Basra with were attacking opposition, throwing kids 10, 11, 12 letter carrying AKs. And he said, I, I had to, you know, shoot a child carry. And, um, it’s only, it was only years later hit when I was living here in the us. I realized I failed him. I failed him to say, well, well, you’ve spoken to anybody. What are your thoughts? How are you doing with this? You know, I, I think that was a cry for help and I missed it and I feel guilty about it. I should have, I should said, well, should we do something about this? Have a chat. Should we get, get for coffee? And I didn’t, you know,

Rob Chell (47:55):

I think that

Dan Reeve (47:56):

Only a train just to look at Pam

Rob Chell (47:57):

For that. Yeah. I don’t even think you should feel guilty about that because you are all going through your own journey. And I suspect that all our, all of our journeys, even if you were fighting along side each other during that fight, and after that fight, when you are thinking about it, I should think that your journey through that process is different from each other. You know, your thoughts, how you saw it from your side, you might be two meters away from me. Yeah. But how you physically saw or think you saw the, the whole, so

Dan Reeve (48:28):

Your perceptions and those perceptions change at the time and right. Yeah, for

Scott Luton (48:32):

Sure. It was probably to be fair. I think it, it was Y’s first time, uh, Dan, as a manager, even needing to be mindful of, of those. I mean, it was, it was your first time, you know, coming back from a war and, and having to even worry about out the, maybe the mental state of your troops. So, you know, hindsight’s always 20, 20 war and deployment and, and I, I’ve never served in combat. I’m not like, like, like y’all, I didn’t deploy to Iraq or anything. So I can only put myself in those shoes, but I can, it is such a complex thing, so many different levels. And, uh, I appreciate y’all sharing because I think these conversations I believe are what is gonna help the veteran community, you know, tackle, unfortunately, whatever the next conflict, uh, looks like, you know, the middle state, especially

Dan Reeve (49:23):

For the say, sorry. Yeah. The us military, I, 2010, I was over here and I was thinking, I was watching, I was watching units get deployed and individuals doing five tour. And I think when we were there, the fourth, was it 30 infant division and fourth division got extended right. To 18 months in things. And on top of that, they’d done three or four months. Pre-deployment you, you’re talking two years away from your family,

Scott Luton (49:49):

Right,

Dan Reeve (49:50):

Kid. I mean, we, when we came back children, I remember seeing, well, certainly even when we were there, one of the roughest toughest soldiers crying on a telephone just destroyed. And I’m thinking that guy’s a real warrior he’s inviting and he’s a friend of mine. I said, what’s up mate? He says, well, kids wanna talk to me. They feel abandoned me by coming out here, you know? And, and, and it was hard to see that, you know, and, and I think maybe when you join up, nobody says this, this is some of the side side, the side effects that are gonna happen. This is what you have to deal with.

Rob Chell (50:22):

I mean, I think, I think the, I’m sure it’s the same for the American army, but for the British army, I think they, they do a very good job in training you as a professional soldier. But I think they do a really, a really bad job at, um, that sort of training you or, or helping you to understand what, what it might be like, you know, sort it’s alright. You know, you know what the, you know, you know, what the warfare part of it’s like, but there’s a whole host of other things that take place, you know, like phoning, if you get the chance of phoning home, speaking to your kids, I don’t have children, but if you did, you know, they don’t, they don’t tell you or suggest what, how you might approach that or keep in touch with them. So yeah, they do a great job of training to be a professional soldier, but allows a job at yes.

Scott Luton (51:11):

That there’s certainly opportunities to improve. So let’s, let’s skip ahead for the sake of time. There’s so much we could, we could, I really appreciate y’all sharing and be really transparent about your experiences. Again, I, I think the more we talk and I think what use the example of the, the gentleman that was on the phone is bawling. Dan, you know, tough guys and getting them to talk about their experiences can be challenging to do, but the more we can talk about this as veterans, I think the more non-veterans and veteran advocates and our respective governments and branches of the military in the more, more understanding and, and hopeful the, the stronger, the programming that supports, you know, our, our military, our men and women in uniform can be. So, so Rob curious, what do you do now? Can you shed a little light on what you do now without not too many specifics, but what are you up to now?

Rob Chell (52:03):

So I run a, a draw new business, which shows a bit of bit of building as well, or construct basically, uh, specializing in, uh, historical properties, main maintaining them, alterations, repairs, that sort of thing, where pretty much everything has to be bespoke for that period of time. And that is pretty much what I do, which a lot of the skills that I use within that, either running the business or actually hands on, uh, understanding and, and creating things. A lot of, a lot of that skill comes from being in the army, being able to sort of, uh, identify where the, you know, the problems are and how to, um, how to, uh, uh, correct them.

Dan Reeve (52:49):

Some kind of the context, what are the age of the houses? Mm.

Rob Chell (52:52):

A few hundred years old, maybe 2, 3, 400 year old properties. Wow. Yeah. And so there was, there was a property this isn’t really to do with your question, but there’s a property that I do a fair bit of work on, and which is about, it’s about 300 years old. And I was up on some scaffolding removing a piece of zone from the wall. Cause it deteriorated. And I just had a moment as I had it out in my hands was holding this bit of stone. And I was just thinking the last time, the human touched this bit of stone was about 300 years ago.

Scott Luton (53:23):

Wow.

Rob Chell (53:23):

And here I am sort of 300 years later taking this piece of stone out, Man.

Scott Luton (53:29):

So, uh, that is awesome.

Rob Chell (53:32):

Very rewarding.

Scott Luton (53:33):

Yeah, I bet it is. So let me ask you a quick follow up. How did you, that seems to be a very niche part of the construction industry. How did you stumble into the historical property? The aspect of construction?

Rob Chell (53:46):

I found it quite difficult because there’s no one, there there’s very few people that specialize in in it. They, they may say they do, but they probably don’t. And it took a long time to sort of get into that area. I had gone through the normal courses of education in terms of building techniques and construction and drawing and stuff. Uh, which as far as I was, are concerned, that gave me the, the, um, the foundation work to, to build on for that. But the rest of it was just trying to get hold of information books, um, detailed books on historical properties and how of, um, the techniques were used back in the day. And then over a long time, you sort of, you meet someone and then they put you in touch with someone else, right. And then it sort of, it starts growing quite quickly.

Rob Chell (54:39):

Once you sort of, you know, you get into that sort of environment, but that, that environment is still, you know, it’s very, very small, you know, even in the whole of Britain there, there’s not a huge amount of people that specialize in historical properties. So you’ll be working on one, you know, one job and you’ll be talking to someone else on that job that might be a plaster. And they’d been a few weeks working up in Scotland, maybe a few weeks beforehand. And they would be working with someone that you knew, or almost a little bit like the army. There’s, it’s quite a small, quite a small hub really

Scott Luton (55:12):

Well. You got plenty of business. Uh, Rob, since there’s not many folks in there, you got plenty of business, is that right?

Rob Chell (55:18):

That’s true. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

Scott Luton (55:21):

Well, I can only imagine having that, uh, again, back to your initial story there about, you know, working on that, a home that dated back to sounds like the early 18th century and holding these stones that hadn’t been held by human hands in 300 years. I mean, gosh, the epiphanies you’re having day in, day out as you work on these old properties, that’s gotta be pretty cool.

Rob Chell (55:42):

Yeah. Very, very, and, and very rewarding, you know, just sort of holding that piece of, I know it’s just a piece of stone, but just knowing that a guy put it in, you know, 250, 300 years ago, and here you are just removing it, you know? Right. And the building’s still there. You know, the building’s still being used as a home or, or, you know, an office love it. And these properties, these aren’t gonna be here until three years time. These will probably be knock down in maybe 40 years time and then something else will be built.

Scott Luton (56:14):

Right. It is fascinating. All right. So speaking, I, I gotta, I gotta throw this in, cause your, what you just shared there reminds me of a really thought provoking movie. Uh, and I think the name of it is just ghost. It is I’m gonna have to put that’s

Dan Reeve (56:30):

Crazy ghost.

Scott Luton (56:31):

Uh, no, no, not that ghost that, that, not that ghost, this movie was released just a couple of years ago and it follows, uh, this guy that passes and then he’s, he’s kind of a ghost until he gets his on disposition. And to your point, Rob, he kinda lives this one property and, and the movie kind of follows the arc of what happens to that property. You don’t even think about how, you know, in 40 or 50 years, to your point, how a lot of, a lot of these properties are gonna change. And then certainly over the course, you know, of two or 300 years, uh, and, and there moment in that movie where it, it really illustrates the point you just made. So I’m gonna have to, um, I’m gonna have to track down that movie title and, and the big actor that was in it ghost, I wanna say, but anyway, ghost stories or ghost tales or something, but I I’ll think of it.

Scott Luton (57:17):

I’ll put it in, in the show notes. Okay. So on that note, let’s make sure folks know. So, so Rob, you kind of operate under the radar a little bit. Um, we, we usually invite our listeners to connect, but uh, Hey, different strokes, different folks, but for folks that may want to learn more from Rob Dan, uh, we’re gonna promote you to agent agent for one Rob channel. So how can folks connect with you, Dan, whether it’s about Esther, whether it’s about your experiences in the British army, or if it’s about, Hey, gimme some more information on Rob chill. How can folks connect with you, Dan

Dan Reeve (57:55):

That’s right. I mean, if, if, if you have a, a very old property that needs some work, you know, it won’t be cheap. Maybe I should take a cut of this as the middle name, but you can reach esco.com uh, find me on, uh, LinkedIn at ESCO.

Scott Luton (58:10):

Wonderful. So it’s just that easy way. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation. I love that y’all spoke about your time together in uniform. Uh, really appreciate that. Uh, Rob, we look forward to having you back soon. I want, I wanna get some snapshots of you are some of your, your construction sites, Rob, that’s gotta be pretty cool. Sorry,

Rob Chell (58:29):

Say that again.

Scott Luton (58:30):

That said, I wanna, I want, I wanna get some video tours of your, these construction sites, these homes that were built back into, uh, 17 hundreds and whatnot. That’s gonna be really cool.

Rob Chell (58:40):

I look out an old video camera of mine and take some, uh, videos for you.

Scott Luton (58:44):

Awesome. Hey, thanks for your time rush.

Dan Reeve (58:48):

I, I hear you a video.

Scott Luton (58:50):

Hey Dan, thanks so much for your time. We’ve been chatting with Dan Reeve with Esker, uh, also a veteran of the Royal army. Hey folks, hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did, uh, folks, make sure you could check out vets to industry.org. Our big nonprofit partners are there. They’re doing great work for the veterans community, uh, on behalf, our entire team here at veteran voices, Scott Luton wishing all our listeners, nothing but the best. Hey, challenge you to do good. Give four B the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see next time, right back here on veteran voices. Thanks to everybody.